Pathologic.(computer role playing games)(Product/service evaluation)

Byline: Jonathan Parkyn

Pathologic

From Russia with strangeness comes this unusual and unsettling flawed gem

It's possible that many people will more readily associate Russia with vodka and furry hats than video games. That is, of course, until you remind them that the former Soviet Union was the birthplace of one of the greatest games ever made.

While Buka Entertainment's Pathologic is unlikely to unseat Comrade Tetris in the universal popularity stakes, it could lay claim to being one of the weirdest and most overlooked games in recent memory.

Pathologic achieved much critical acclaim on its initial release in Russia before slipping quietly into UK stores in late 2006.

It doesn't help that the game resolutely defies classification. It's a first-person title with an action element, but its spookily slow pace shares little with most modern shooters. There's a role-playing aspect in that your character has certain attributes that are affected by your in-game actions and an inventory of usable items. But Pathologic owes just as much to the adventure genre, given that its curious storyline is influenced by the places you go, by the people you meet and, importantly, by what you say to them.