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Brilliant concept - terrible execution

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: November 10, 1999
Author: Amazon User

The subject matter of Sanitarium is eerily dark, surreal, and occasionally disturbing (wait until you see the town of deformed children) and starts with a bang. From the 3rd chapter on it all rapidly goes downhill. I got the feeling that the first two chapters were the only ones that were really thought out, and the rest were just sort of tacked on to fill space. The levels where you morph into a four-armed cyclopean comic book character and an aztec stone god seem to belong in a different game entirely. The mood is broken so many times in the course of the story that it's irrecoverable by the end. Speaking of the mood the AWFUL voice acting nearly kills it all on its own. You'll want to play this one with the sound off. Biggest problem - NO challenge! Its a puzzle-style game, and I've played a lot of them granted. But I beat this game in approximately 6 hours with no looking on the web for clues. Not a good return on my investment. Bottom line, find a demo and play the first two levels. You won't be missing anything after that.

A good beginners game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 16, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I loved the subject and the way the transformations were handled. I loved playing the Aztec god.

The puzzles aren't as hard as some games but you won't be banging your head against the wall either because the puzzles don't make sense. If you just sit back and enjoy it the game will embrace you into its world.

Great game for moms with little time to play!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 24, 1999
Author: Amazon User

As a new gamer and one with little time to play, I really appreciated this game. It's puzzles don't take endless hours to solve, and when you die or leave the game, you return right where you were without all the tedious making up to do. The graphics were pretty good though I would have liked more of a first person view. I would recommend this to those who like to play, but cannot devote their life to a game.

Sanitarium Makes Your Mind Work!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 02, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game is the best i've ever played on a pc. i bought it last year and never got to finish it so i bought it again and man was i hooked! i finished it in two days..i just couldn't take my hands off the computer or my eyes off the game...I definetly recommend this game to those who like a challenge...I will say that the ending could've been alot better but overall the game kicks @ss!

One of my favorite games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 05, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game blends fantasy with human nature. Some of the episodes can seem a little hokey, but at the end you realize that they are all kind of symbols for Max's real life. Altogether, this is a "mood" game- it sets a mood and puts you into one. IN conclusion. . it's great! Play it!

Riveting

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 18, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I thought the plot of this game was excellent. One scenario flowed into the next, and the end tied them all together. It also kept me wondering what was really going on, if I was sane or not. Graphics were good, and so were the characters. The music got a little annoying, but it always does. This was a pleasure to play, and I was disappointed when I finished it.

Involving and challenging

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: December 22, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Sanitarium is a rare gem of a puzzle-solving adventure game. All puzzles are a challenge, but not too hard, and none are just there for the sake of being there (such as to prolong the game or frustrate the player). All levels relate to an overall theme which reconstruct one man's life. Each level is set in a world that the player must learn about and find clues to unlock secrets and eventually reach some goal. Levels include waking up in an asylum with no memory; a townful of mutant children, a circus, cave, and mansion, a lab where hideous experiments are conducted, and a few others. The background music was excellent, the learning curve was very easy, the puzzles were relevant and challenging, and each level was unique and had it's own story that logically relates to the overall story. I have played over a hundred PC games, and this is definitely one of my top five favorites. It is engrossing and rewarding. Worth buying by all means.

Excellent game, highly recommended, but before you buy it...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 22, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Sanitarium was an extremelly involving game, and I devoted myself to it, greatly anticipating the ending, where all of the unusual scenarios come together to form a picture...while the ending was not as bad as many say, the final puzzle definitely is truly wretched. While not as difficult (sadly) as most adventure games that I have played, it IS one of the most involving.

As I said, this game is not very difficult...to some of you that may be a good thing, and may enhance the experience, while for other experienced adventure gamers this will be a definite downside. I was only stuck at a few points, and then not for long. I was never really frustrated - a good thing of course - but then I never had the awesome sense of accomplishment that comes from solving a truly difficult puzzle, ala Rama or The Last Express (though I believe this to be a much better game than both of those)

If you're looking to be frightened by this game, it may happen, but only at a couple of points, and then more grossed out than scared - can you say Silence of the Lambs? ICK! (though I love that movie, own the DVD)

One last thing - if you have a lower speed CD drive, you may want to hold off on Sanitarium until you've upgraded it. The designers sadly made the installation size only 70 mb (I think, maybe a bit more) which is much too little for a 3 cd game in my opinion. I had rather long load times (up to a minute) with my 40x drive. Of course, you could just copy the cds to your hard drive and hack the game registry...if you know what you're doing of course, though its not too hard to find a web site that'll tell you how I'm sure.

I Want More Games Like This!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Sanitarium is the idyllic horror/comic-book/mystery game. Each level is different from the next, and you never know what to expect. One moment your character is a lonely amnesiac suffering from frightening flashbacks, the next, you're a little girl wandering around a freakish circus, the next, you're a monstrous cyclops in a slimy hive, trying to escape from a Fuhrer-like leader. The graphics are wonderful and the story is choppy but fascinating. Some of the puzzles can be frustrating - But this game is definitely worth your money. It's very intense and absolutely enraptured me. I haven't been able to find any other games like it, and I wish I could... Ah well.

Bizarre...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Sanitarium is, well, a bizarre game, which is what probably everyone buying it hopes for. It is also quite fun and sometimes more than a little creepy. However, some of the most distracting aspects of this game are the voice actors. Most of them, including the main character, are terrible. This doesn't ruin the game by any means, but it certainly diminished my enjoyment. Further, the chapters are short, and it can feel like you've gone to another level before you even began the last one. The game is, however, fun and unpredictable.

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