What do Darkseed, Blade Runner, Strangeland, Dead Space and Event Horizon have in common? They all feature a male lead, but they’re also influential towards Stasis, primarily in aesthetic design, though more importantly, horror, survival, and a lot of space.
Beyond the sci-fi realm, The Brotherhood’s game is probably closer in comparison to Beautiful Desolation with its cinematic setpieces, isometric viewpoints, and somewhat retro presentation. Oh, wait: it’s the same guys! Fans of the horror genre with a focus on narrative design will appreciate this more, and it’ll be a bonus for veteran gamers to wave their Wand of Nostalgia at. That’s not a euphemism.
In Stasis, you play as John. He wakes up from a cryogenic sleep thing while floating through space. He’s travelled with his wife and daughter, yet they’re nowhere to be seen, nor are there any other signs of friendlies on board the Groomlake spaceship but an ominous gloom and that all hope is lost. Regardless, you can’t just hop back into sleep and need some answers.
Stasis Review (Switch 2)
The first step is to heal, and without a coffee in sight, you’ll be doing a hack job of fixing yourself physically, much like in the guise of a David Cronenberg film. Without anyone to ask how to use the remote, you encounter your first puzzle, which redirects power to the apparatus that’ll fix your heart. No, not the yearning for your family, but to fix the palpitations before you hit the deck.
John’s heart isn’t the only one getting some action as Stasis has a fair share of jump scares and gore, and if you’re invested in the storytelling, that ‘absence creates presence’ vibe exists where it’s impossible not to fill in the blanks, high on anticipation which ultimately leads to nothing other than your imagination.
Alas, for all the cinematic bravado and exposition, of which there is a healthy amount, the initial pace and technical aspects when playing on a Switch pop the immersion bubble. A Switch 2 was used, so it doesn’t get put through its paces in terms of processing power; it has more to do with the feel of the Joy-Cons and handheld mode that lets it down. It’s a bit clunky.
Back In The Day
It’s worth mentioning that this retro vibe isn’t just for aesthetics, but because Stasis was released in 2015. Even then, the game was dated, but we point and click fans will embrace anything linking back to the past and are fiercely loyal. It all depends on whether you can go through the paces, which are rather monotonous to begin with.
The tone is set with the opening sequence. Like the Cronenberg reference before, we don’t see any action scenes, just credits on who made what. Undoubtedly a passion project, it creates an intriguing environment that is momentarily put on the back burner when you see how janky John is when moving about. Games should never be about the graphics, but he stands out like a sore thumb against some gorgeous backgrounds.
And while having a moan, the voice acting is hit and miss. They’re either very engaging or pretty much off, with the acoustics somewhat inconsistent from when they were recorded. There’s no middle ground: it’s either good or not. Now would be a good entry point to also complain about the actual gameplay, but aside from the slow start, the puzzles are good.
Give Me Space
Stasis is more in line with a Wadjet Eye Games story rather than a LucasArts affair. Not everything can be interacted with, so your inventory doesn’t instantly fill with tat. Instead, you can hover the cursor over objects for some insight and whatnot. It’s easy to skim over as not needed, but… it’s all about world-building and would therefore encourage you to digest everything.
Again, playing on the Switch 2 and moving the cursor around is clunky, but that’s the nature of this sort of game without a mouse. On that note, I didn’t try using the new mouse feature with the Joy-cons…
If I’d played this around the same time as the Blade Runner game (buy it on GOG!), I’d have been blown away. As this isn’t a game from the past, it didn’t do enough to evoke nostalgia. Some of the animations and sound clipping/quality are straight out of the 90s, but when it works, the latter can be very atmospheric. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough to make me stray from some of the other point and click titles these past couple of weeks, hence a delayed write-up.
Stasis Review Summary
A decent sci-fi horror with some excellent world-building, challenging puzzles, and gratuitous death scenes, mildly let down by some awkward technical issues, inconsistent audio and a somewhat erratic pace. When Stasis does hit the beat, it often excels. Best suited to retro gamers, horror fans, and those having ‘what if’ moments, whether they’d be better off without their family.
