Awkward to play, but has a peculiar kind of realism which is quite addictive.
Sorry, couldn't resist the tag line from the old Quantum Leap TV show, which is what the mental echo in this game reminded me irresistably. That animation effect when you first activate the mental echo looks stunningly similar to the leaping effect on the show - hard to believe thare wasnt an influence there.
There's nothing flashy or expansive about Cryostasis - its a grinding, cramped, awkward, uncomfortable game to play, but within its own limited nature it succeeds well enough. It has a peculiar kind of realism that works surprisingly well. Your character moves at a funereal pace, he's clumsy, slow to aim & fire - in fact exactly what a scientist thrown into to this kind of situation would be. This is the antithesis to the Gordon Freeman-type character who starts the game with no military training, but instantly becomes a super soldier capable of slaying hundreds of powerful monsters. Your character in this game struggles to deal with one monster at a time - 2 enemies attacking at once is at the absolute limits of his capability to handle. There is no dynamic crosshair in this game - to shoot accurately you have to use iron sights. You'll curse this repeatedly when trying to deal with enemies in confined spaces - but it adds significantly to the curiously addictive realism of the game.
There are some nice touches in the game - using warmth instead of health for instance. And it really does the cold effects well. Several times I found myself actually shivering when the charcater had to go out into the arctic blizzard raging above decks. All, in all, I think a fair bit of thought has gone into this game. Its never going to be a classic, but in its own unambitious and limited way it ticks all the boxes.