I love horror games.
Let me rephrase that, I love well written, tripped out psychological holy crap what the hell did I just see out of the corner of my eye WHAT WAS THAT SOUND horror games. The kind that make you afraid to be in dark places alone for at least a week after playing them. Silent Hill 2 and 3 did this to me, the phenomenal Penumbra series did this to me, and for a time at least, Korsakovia did this to me. Full write-up after the cut.
Korsakovia is a new mod for Half Life 2 by UK group The Chinese Room, makers of the cult hit Dear Esther. Set in the fragmented mind of a man named Christopher, who is suffering from Korsakoff’s Syndrome – a disease with which patients are unable to develop new memories and also suffer from severe amnesia. Patients are also known to invent new memories to ‘fill in the gaps’ for memories they have lost. The prologue for the game mentions that he was found in his apartment by paramedics after a failed suicide attempt with severe burns on his hands. It is also mentioned that the paramedics were unable to find his eyes, and that they believe he may have eaten them.
The premise for this story is a fantastic concept and one that I think would usually be extremely hard to pull off, but this is the area Korakovia truly excels. The script, voice acting and art direction used here are all top-notch, making for a very immersive story wrapped up in a truly frightening atmosphere.
Christopher’s journey in Korsokovia sees him wandering the fragmented pathways of his mind, through the hallways of the psychiatric ward he is staying in, the apartment complex that used to be his home, and a warehouse which he refers to as ‘the place where they make the pieces’, all leading up to a truly spectacular finale that is an incredible sight to behold. During this time, Christopher is also pursued by dark entities he refers to as ‘The Collectors’, clouds of dark mist that appear to be set on hunting him down in his own mind. All the while you are exploring this broken world, conversations between Christopher and Dr. Christine Grayson – a consultant neurologist attending to him – are played back in segments broken up by static, with some really mind-ruining dialogue later on in the game. They seem innocent enough at first, typical doctor-patient exchanges, yet later on they spiral into twisted confabulation which makes you question what the truth behind this distorted tale.
Myself, I’m still unsure what of the events in Korsakovia ever actually happened, or if the entire thing was just another memory Christpoher invented to fill in his dark, lonely existence. Multiple times throughout the game, references are also made to ‘The End of the World’, in past, present and future tense. My own interpretation of this is a cataclysmic event that erased Christopher’s memories, the time his mind was fragmented, and the inevitable conclusion that it is all going to start over again.
Another area Korsakovia succeeds in is atmosphere. Everything from the lighting, level design and incredible sound work come together to portray a psotively chilling experience. The game is also easily one of the most psychologically terrifying and twisted games I have ever played, with some situations what literally had me yelling out loud, trying to run to safety, and some areas that generally had me twisting my face in abstract horror over new revelations or bizarre locations. Only a few games have succeeded in giving me chills like this, and many other games have tried and failed miserably by trying to make the player jump with cheap ‘tension scares’. The single biggest thing that increased the level of atmosphere to insane porportions, however, was that not once during Korsakovia did I ever feel like everything is going to be okay. Quite the opposite, in fact. This game carries a heavy level of forboding through its entirity.
Unfortunately, despite Korsakovia’s great strength in terms of setting and atmosphere, it is not without major flaws. It would have been nice if The Chinese Room took a leaf from their own book with Dear Esther, and did not try and add a combat element to this game. Whilst The Collectors were terrifying enough at first – the first one I came across literally had me running up and down hallways screaming trying to escape its wrath – later on in the game they just become a frustrating chore to either avoid or beat into nonexistence with a crowbar. Two friends and myself also encountered an extremely annoying bug later on in the game where some of the clouds would not be rendered, so we’d be getting attacked by unseen enemies whilst trying to get through the game’s few platforming segments.
Another major issue I had with the game was a lack of direction at a couple of points, the worst being in the large warehouse at the beginning of the second chapter, where I honestly could not figure out where to go. A friend and I actually ended up stacking boxes to get on top of a caged walkway and walked over the top, dropping into a little opening at the end. As it turns out, there is an almost completely unnoticeable ladder hidden in the corner of the enormous room. The two chapters before the epilogue also contained the same ‘puzzle’ that was more than a chore to complete, and ended up being more of a hindrance causing players to spend far too long in one chapter than a fun way to progress the plot.
Although Korsakovia was – in my personal opinion – a masterpiece in storytelling and design, despite its strengths I cannot give a strong recommendation much more than to just give it a try. However, if you believe you can muscle through Korsakovia’s annoyances, you will be pleasantly surprised with what it has to offer beyond the gameplay. Also bear in mind that The Chinese Room are not finished with their work on the mod, so hopefully they’ll get the kinks worked out and make it a more enjoyable experience further down the road.
Korsakovia can be found in its ModDB page here, or you can head to The Chinese Room’s homepage here.
TMIF is a new weekly feature where I will talk about a new mod every Friday. Stop back next week for a Haunting experience!
