User Reviews (1 - 11 of 65)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Very straight-forward and engrossing game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 25
Date: April 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Tired of complicated controls that require you to remember 10 keyboard buttons and 5 function controls? If so, then this is the game for you. Previous games I have purchased have included: Longest Journey (too long, too many dialogs), Myst (too slow), and several of the Dreamcatcher series (Dracula and Messenger; definitely require walkthroughs). My most recent game was Black and White. Though exceptional in it graphics and permeabilites for story, the controls were IMPOSSIBLY difficult to manage. Not my cup of tea. Santitarium, on the other hand, was wonderfully simple to use. Don't get me wrong, the game is not simple in either graphics, gaming or story line; all were excellent. The game begins with a cutscene of you (the main character) driving and crashing on a wet and windy road. The game opens with the main character stuck in an old insane asylum, hence the name. The main reason that I LOVED this game is that the interface is simple; with the left and right click mouse controls giving you access to all vital components of the puzzles and characters. If you interact (talk with) another character, previous converstations are easily available to review without consulting a separate menu. Also, you are encouraged to revisit characters after you have continued on to other places in order to gain more information about the puzzles and the mystery that you are trying to solve. This game is excellent partly because of the simple, intuitive interface, but also because of the great story and cut-scenes that are woven into the game. There are also several fight/challenge sequences that are puzzles in themselves, albeit simple to overcome with some determination. True, the acting is somewhat amateurish, but it also gives the game an intimate feeling, since you will hear the same person acting the roles of several characters. Overall, a great, fun, and simple game that engrossed my son and I for over 5 days. We were not bored for a minute. Buy this game. You will not be dissatisfied.

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.

Breathtaking and haunting

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: August 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Most adventure games do not lure you in to such a haunting story with such detail and innovativeness as this one. Others I've played, while good are more light-hearted such as the King's Quest series. Others go for laughs like Day of the Tentacle or Sam And Max Hit The Road. But this game not only skillfully delivers a chilling psychological horror, it sprinkles in gimmicks that I have not seen before in this type of game.

The story literally begins in an insane asylum. You wake up, your head wrapped in bandages with no knowledge as to your identity nor why you are there. Your only clues are the inmates that gibber and bang their head against the wall and sometimes cluck like a chicken. You slowly begin to unravel the strands of a plot, but then are catapulted into an entirely new story altogether it seems.

Sanitarium throughout brings you in and out of "consciousness", traveling to different landscapes , sometimes in different bodies, and yet th ewhole thing flows very cohesively. I must admit the ending was a little disappointing and predictable but it did not spoil the fun.

Some of the new features include the direct-X like feel where you see a building, you enter it, and the side of the wall disappears to reveal the room you step into beyond. THis trick is very ingeneous in packing in all the areas and objects to investigate although on one of the chapters, I had a little trouble with it at one point.

As with all good adventures, it made me want to rush home from work to spend another evening figuring out difficult puzzles, wading through the compelling story, and guessing just what suprise would come next...despite my reluctance to discover just where this strange little story would take me next.

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.

Intelligent, engrossing adventure

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: October 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is the first adventure game I have played, and I think I picked a really good one. The narrative is often up there with the best of Stephen King fiction. I liked that the mystery slowly unfolds with enough subtlety that I couldn't predict it. The writing is very intelligent for the most part. You get very emotionally involved with the story. The graphics are very well done and the animated movies are very stylish. The puzzles range from easy to difficult (I had to visit the walkthrough web site several times). This game mostly involves collecting objects and using them appropriately, and talking to the characters to receive information. There are 3 or 4 Myst-type puzzles and 3 or 4 action sequences (attacking bad guys or negotiating a maze--this is where it can be annoying to control the movement of the character by holding down the right mouse button). You have to do several gross things in order to solve the mystery, but I wouldn't say it is overly violent. It is much more psychological horror and mystery.
I found some of the voices annoying so I did most of it with the sound turned off.
Note to deaf/hearing impaired: you can do almost all of this game with the use of subtitles. However, there is a puzzle that requires you to hear a tune and replicate it. In addition, there is a radio broadcast during the closing credits that wraps everything up and tells you what happened to the main characters, but it isn't subtitled so ask a friend to tell you what they say.

AWESOME GAME!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Sanitarium is possibly the greatest game ever created. It has an in-depth, unpredictable storyline with lots of interesting (and usually bizarre) characters. Switching identities inside your mind can give a feeling of insight and makes the game interaction much easier. All in all, this game is as close to perfection as they come.

Fantastic symbolic journey through nostalgia and nightmare

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Sanitarium is a fantastic, unique, unmissable game. For emotional depth and symbolic resonance, it's light-years ahead of mechanical, linear shoot-em-ups. Sanitarium raises computer roleplaying several rungs on the ladder and creates one of the few truly human and genuinely likeable protagonists in the genre. The plot is beautifully developed through a series of dream-within-dream convolutions that leave the player guessing while building a credible and deeply interesting bond with the main character. Puzzles are not only interesting but generally relevant to plot development. To say more would be to say too much, but don't miss this one!

Highly Recommended

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: June 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game recently through Amazon by a 3rd party seller. It is the "original" game, not the re-released jewel case XS version. It worked flawlessly on my XP. The game is great if you enjoy puzzles (most weren't too difficult to solve)and a good story line. The graphics are old compared to more recent games, but who cares? It was good fun, & I will play it again (unlike other games). I definately recommend it!

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.

Freaky, But terrific!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: July 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is about a man named Max who gets in a accident, and can't remember anything when he wakes up. As he goes through the game, he starts to remember his past, which is both sad and creepy. Also, some of the levels in the game include some weird stuff. Like mutant children, and even an old man in a tutu, where whenever he hears a certain song, he stands up and does some ballet. The graphics and sound are excelent, and the acting is fabulous! Although, the storyline is a little hard to follow, and you may need to play it more than once to understand it.The puzzles aren't too hard or easy. They're just right. It has some humor in it ,too. (Like the old man in the tutu!) If you like adventure and don't mind that it's a little complicated, then you will, with no doubt, treasure this game. I highly recommend it!!!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next 

Actions