A slow paced, methodical survivor horror masterpiece
Cryostasis manages to pull of an astounding mix of reality, culture, myth, and fantasy that i have never seen before, in any way shape or form. The reality comes from the setting, a frozen Russian Nuclear tanker which is apparently based in design upon an actual Russian tanker. Even though this points towards repetitive level design, the atmospheric tension is so incredibly great throughout this eight-ish hour experience that the fact that you are going through a frozen hallway that resembles a previous frozen hallway is for the most part forgotten.
This brings me to the games most unique, and surprisingly well executed feature; the flash backs, in this game known as "mental echos." These snippets of the ships prior life are not done in the traditional flashback sense, that being the character you play having vivid memories of past events, but in a entirely new, highly original way. When you find the frozen corpse of a former crew member, you can go into their mind and live their last moments, and often alter the present by affecting the past. Let me elaborate; these flashbacks are, for the most part, interactive, and you have to change something in the past so that you can progress in the present. This may seem simple in theory, but the game manages to throw at you some unique and challenging situations. Not all of the flashbacks are just for the purpose of your progression though; many of them are plot related, and through these cutscenes (sometimes interactive, sometimes you play simply as a viewer of other characters interacting, but you are still able to roam around in the flashback and view the centerpiece from different angles) you will gradually unlock the secrets of this ship, and learn why it is in its current, frozen state. The story comes out gradually, and is for the most part enthralling, and is well punctuated by snippets of a Ukrainian folk story you find bits and pieces of as you progress through the game.
To support the game frozen setting is a very strong game engine, which renders ice and snow in such detail as to make the frozen surfaces of late Crysis seem last-gen. Ice crystals reflect light sources appropriately, ice melts when near a heat source and runs down the walls in an flow which never ceases to amaze; all this, along with the increasingly nightmarish foes, and astoundingly detailed sounds, add up to a very, very atmospheric game. Later on, some of the enemies are simply nightmarish, and the slow, clunky, hyper realistic gunplay(how fast could you reload in -50 degree temperatures?) accentuates the horror of fighting them. Some will clearly hate this combat, but in my opinion it just adds to the tension.
What sets Cryostasis apart from other Survival Horror games is that it goes at its own pace. Some games in this genre become predictable about when and where enemies will pop out, but in Cryostasis you will sometimes go through entire levels without encountering a single enemy, others will be infested. This i am very, very glad the developers did, because it leads to some of the most atmospheric moments i've ever experienced gaming. Unfortunately, the game is marred with inconsistent frame rates, but i managed to keep them at playable levels 90% of the time, and seeing as how the devs are trying hard to fix this issue, i won't hold it against the game.
Seeing as how this game is very, very slow paced at times, it is not for everyone; some will simply find it boring and repetitive. BUT, it you are in it for the experience, go in open minded, and realize that the game is not trying to be a action game, you will likely love it to pieces. The best i can do in recommending it is to say that if you liked the gameplay in Penumbra: Black Plague and Condemned: Criminal Origins, you will likely love this game, and should definitely try it out.