Rate top gamesPathologic 2
About
Pathologic 2 is an open world survival horror game set in a town that’s being consumed by a deadly plague. Face the realities of a collapsing society as you make difficult choices in seemingly lose-lose situations. The plague isn’t just a disease. You can’t save everyone.
Get to know it, winning the affection of the locals and gaining allies, or try to carve your own path alone. Explore the Town, its inhabitants, and their traditions; fight both the plague itself and its victims; try to make a difference before the time runs out.
Figure out who killed your father while fighting a deadly plague. Find your alleged twin sister. Was she the one who had brought the plague to this town? The local kids are hiding something. Try playing by their rules.
You only have 12 days.
12 days in an odd town ravaged by a deadly disease.
Time is of the essence: if you don’t manage it carefully, it’ll simply run out. You’ll have to choose how to spend the priceless minutes you have.
Survival thriller. You’ll have to manage your bodily functions, offsetting hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and so on. But it doesn’t boil down to scavenging resources. Surviving on your own is hard; you’ll have to win over allies.
An uphill battle. Managing your bodily parameters may seem bearable at first, but as time goes by, it becomes harder and harder. Your own body is only waiting for an opportunity to give up and betray you. Things are changing from bad to worse and the odds are stacked against you.
A duel with an enemy you can’t kill. Your main foe is the plague itself, an incorporeal and malevolent entity that you have to defeat… without having the means to. It’s more powerful and more treacherous than you can imagine.
Loot, murder, mug, steal, barter, beg… or don’t. You need resources to survive, but it’s up to you how to obtain them.
The fights are short, ungraceful, and vicious. They don’t have to be lethal though. Many people—yourself included—would prefer to exchange their wallet for their life.
System requirements for PC
- OS: Windows 7, 64-bit
System requirements for Xbox One
System requirements for PlayStation 4
Where to buy
Top contributors
Pathologic 2 reviews and comments
The plusses:
- The universe is still as bewitching as ever.
- Its excellent story, full of mystery.
- The characters, always mysterious and endearing.
The neutral:
- The dialogues are always abstract/imaginative and in English, but they are much easier to understand than those of the first Pathologic.
- The graphics are classy, compared to those of the first game, but it's not "Wow! It's so beautiful! "either.
- Pathologic 1 has the three main characters (Daniil, Artemy and Clara) and their scenarios. Pathologic 2 has only Artemy Burakh.
The minus:
- Moving around the city, although faster than in Pathologic 1, is still slow.
- Survival. The f*cking survival. Especially the hunger bar. Damn hunger, you got Artemy by the ass! Seriously, he's never satisfied. Your worst enemy of the game, it's not the time limit (the 12 days), it's not the Sand Plague disease, oh nope, it's HUNGER!
- Fighting. Still as rotten (terrible system) as ever.
- Death and its "punishments". Every time Artemy dies, he gets a penalty at one of his stats. Ok, I get the concept that death is inevitable, that the world of Pathologic is dark and "artistic", but with the insurmountable survival, what's the point?
- Did I ever tell you about survival? Yes. Because of it, you're going to spend all your time trying to keep Artemy alive instead of... I don't know... exploring the city, discovering its mysteries, getting to know the characters, and fighting the f*cking disease, the Sand Plague, as it's his duty as a healer!
- Limited saves. You can only save to certain locations.
- To sum up: Slow moves (walking slow) + rotten (terrible) fighting system + survival (especially hunger) insurmountable + punitive death + limited saves = disaster!
- Speaking of disaster, the game optimization. It crashes and lag on many PCs. On mine, I often get lag "jumps" (the image freezes and unfreezes). Very annoying.
In conclusion, I was more frustrated by this game than anything else. I have nothing against hardcore games, but here I don't recommend it.
UPDATE: I've pushed through a bit more and came to a conclusion that the buginess and unfinished translation is a part of the unbearable nature that the developers were trying to achieve. It's simultaneously great and shitty game design. It's immersion breaking, sure, but that disconnect really made me think of the game from a different perspective. I think the developers found a way to fit their shortcomings to suit the game's narrative, the lack of polish goes along with the themes. Frustration was intended. I still haven't finished, but I'm thinking about how I want to, among so much more. As a work of art, this game is phenomenal, so I've changed my rating from meh to exceptional. I don't think I would recommend this to just anybody, so that's why I wouldn't grade it as so. At the very least, some of the graphical issues could be fixed. Can't believe I'm gonna say this but the aggravating loading screens are fine. Though if they were to get fixed, either there needs to be less or they need to be shorter, time and health also shouldn't be affected.