Past Cure Review

Past Cure Review

Past Cure is a new game from a small group, Phantom 8 Studio.  A dark psychological thriller that blurs the lines between dreams and reality. A cinematic, story-driven experience, blending combat and stealth gameplay.  Is it worth a play?  Read more about it in this Past Cure Review.

Developer: Phantom 8 Studio
Publisher: Phantom 8 Studio
Platforms: PC, PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One
Released: 23 February 2018
Copy provided by publisher

After his years of being captured, ex-elite soldier Ian lives in the safe house of his brother, struggling with the consequences of the military experiments he was put through. It imbued him with super abilities such as time control and telekinesis.  Haunted by hallucinations and his thirst for revenge, Ian enlists his brother’s help as he sets out on a hunt.  His prey — the perpetrators of the conspiracy against him, and for the truth underlying his torment. On his missions Ian experiments with his new powers, realizing their inherent danger: with each use, his sanity frays a little more, inviting the nightmarish attention of something beyond reality.

Stealth. Action. Light puzzles.

The game is actually paced quite well.  Past Cure mixes it up every chapter so you are always experiencing something new.  The powers that Ian have are: Time perception and Astral perception.  Time perception is more like ‘bullet time’, but also allows you to sneak past encounters easier.  Not exactly a new idea but fun, nonetheless.  Astral form acts as a free-form floating camera, but can also interact with things to help you solve puzzles.  It’s a fun mix that benefits both stealth and combat.  Besides enemy encounters, you’ll experience light puzzles and exploration.

The only critique I would have is to make the combat experience more refined.  When you’re using Time perception, you are interrupted when hit which can be annoying.  And when faced with a melee enemy, engaging with them physically will leave you open to being shot dead quick.  Which means the physical abilities Ian has is discouraged.  The game doesn’t have a cover system.  So basic cover during gunfights is iffy as sometimes you feel it is inadequate.

Red Pill and Blue Pill

The initial chapters do well enough to set up the game.  Ian suffers from nightmares and needs to take blue pills to keep him sane.  These same blue pills also helps him use his powers.  Finally he’s had enough of them and after one dream with a girl, he enlists his brother for help in tracking down his former captors.  With a truncated game as this one is, the story is unlikely to be layered deeply.   This game is no exception.  Though it is not necessary as you don’t need much more than revenge as a motivator.

The voice acting and performances for the most part are sufficient.  I wish there was more explanation after completing the game; without spoiling anything.  One of the collectible items hints at something you can connect the dots to.  But I felt that the journey’s end could have been more conclusive.  However I think it’s left open for a sequel.

Yes there are bugs

Not the insect variety, but issues with the game.  None of them game-breaking, or a checkpoint reload can’t fix, but you will experience them.  At one point I went the wrong way, and ended up outside the map.  It was a bit of fun exploring the open space.  There is another bug towards the end, where if you closed a door at the wrong time, an enemy would get stuck preventing the next sequence.  There are a few sound-mixing issues.  Subtitles that aren’t in sync.   But really, none of these things really put me off the game.  Also because it was a small developer not established, my expectations were none.

In the end, I enjoyed the game for what it does and tries to do.  The gameplay, varied pacing, and intriguing story held my attention throughout.  The game probably won’t leave a lasting impression, but if there is a sequel, I’d check it out and hope to see some more improvements.

Score: 6 out of 10

Playtime (estimated): Players can expect about 6-7 hours out of this budget-priced game.  I completed the game on Normal difficulty.  There’s not much here for replayability, unless you wish to try your skill on the Nightmare difficulty, or collect the achievements/trophies.