“Oh God. I’m sorry. No, no, no…” – Kip Mattas, Narcosis
Images and gameplay for Narcosis are courtesy of Honor Code Inc.
Narcosis was developed and published by Honor Code Inc. There’s very little information about Honor Code to be found, even on their Facebook page. Narcosis appears to be their first game.
Story
In the near future, man is delving deep into the ocean floor mining methane hydrate as an alternate fuel source. Unfortunately all of that digging has caused a rather large earthquake. You’re part of the twenty man crew stationed down there and since things are falling apart, it’s obviously time to bug out. As a special treat, you get to watch your dive partner die right in front of you. If you hadn’t guessed it, you’re alone, in the middle of a disaster, on the bottom of the ocean, with a limited air supply. Enjoy!
It goes without saying I’m sure, Narcosis has a lot in common with another undersea horror game. I’m talking about Soma. A long, isolated, trek along the ocean floor. The goal to get to an escape vehicle. A twist ending? In fact, we could almost call this a spiritual predecessor to that game. Fortunately the ending for Narcosis is a slightly harder gut-punch than Soma.
Flares quickly become your best friend.
Gameplay
Narcosis is a story driven adventure game. It’s a walk in the park. A wet park to be sure, but you’ll be walking none-the-less. Trapped in a dive suit, the biggest challenge is finding the canisters of oxygen you need to stay alive. There are a few undersea creatures that prove to be nuisances, but nothing that you can’t handle with a few quick taps of a button. I should probably mention that it’s dark down there, and you’ll need to use flares to light your way. The only other interesting mechanic is the thrust mechanism. It’s limited (mostly) but necessary to skip some unmissable gaps.
It is a good thing that Narcosis has an adequate story. The rest of the gameplay is elementary at best. There’s a lot of walking broken up by a few button taps here and there. The fighting mechanic is so broken, it’s easier to let the mob grab you before even trying to attack. Oh, and don’t forget to look in every corner for the corpses and personal belongings of your co-workers. Yes, they are a collectible requirement, but they do add to the story. If you pay close attention, you may even guess the twist ending.
These critters belong on “Deadliest Catch.”
Style
Graphically, Narcosis isn’t going to win any awards. The ocean flora is beautiful and the highlight of the game. It’s mostly downhill from there. Animal life fluctuates from acceptable to meh. Corpses and internal environments have a good deal of opportunity to improve. The hallucination scenes are a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, they don’t quite reach the level of scary that other games in the genre do.
The games music is mostly forgettable. I could feel it attempting to pull me in and set the mood. Unfortunately, it just couldn’t quite seal the deal.
Is It Worth It?
At the end of the day, Narcosis is…okay. The achievements are few and fairly easy to obtain. Unfortunately, it’s just not very exciting, so not worth the $20 price tag.
Wise Old Gamer Says: Wait for a sale…
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