How do I get the Russian version?

[valerian]

So, it appears that the administrator does not know where I can obtain a Russian vesion of the game. The problem is that I cannot go to a Russian retailer website and order a boxed DVD version; apparently, posting DVDs out of Russia is against some law. And I do not know any other website where I could buy and download the Russian version.

[Nike-it]

You can try on-line shop Ozon http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/4185344/, the site states, that it can deliver the product to all countries.

[valerian]

Originally Posted by Nike-it

You can try on-line shop Ozon http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/4185344/, the site states, that it can deliver the product to all countries.

Thank you. I have been checking the website from time to time, but they still do not have it in stock.

Again, where can I buy the Russian version of the game ?

[Nike-it]

Originally Posted by valerian

Thank you. I have been checking the website from time to time, but they still do not have it in stock.

Again, where can I buy the Russian version of the game ?

They have it, checked a minute ago.

[valerian]

OK, so I got the Russian version, and got through about a third of it. To be honest, I was expecting an atmosphere created by yells in the native language (like it was in Stalker), but the voicing was unimpressive. It was rather bland. I could well get an English version, and would not lose on the atmosphere.

The gameplay is uncomplicated and is probably what the first year students in game development would have done. Some people liken it to Penumbra, but it lacks the Penumbra atmosphere, in my opinion. The game lacks polish -- for example, once I slipped into the water (which means death), and the game made an automatic save. (This means each time the game loaded the last save, I died.) The other moment was when I opened the door and hid behind it from the monster. The problem was that I got stuck behind the door. Oh, and I could not get through the introduction stage of the game, the very first seconds -- I was constantly falling through the cracks when trying to get to the icebreaker. That was ridiculous. I had to resume to the walkthrough to get past that stage.

The other thing which confuses me is the mental echo. I just could not relate the actions of the protagonist and the actions of the dead character on the floor during mental echo and during the 'replay' of what was happening on the ship. They are just disconnected in my mind, i do not know where I am going and why. This does not add to the atmosphere, but rather to the confusion.

But the game has some positive moments, too. For example, it was an original find when the protagonist had to fight off the monster trying to climb into his boat.

The game has some influence from Dead Space, however Dead Space was a highly polished game. If Cryostasis was as polished, it would be a winner.

I will finish the game, because I am suitably motivated. However, I told to my gamer friends that they did not lose much by not playing the game.

[Xiaopang]

Originally Posted by valerian

OK, so I got the Russian version, and got through about a third of it. To be honest, I was expecting an atmosphere created by yells in the native language (like it was in Stalker), but the voicing was unimpressive. It was rather bland. I could well get an English version, and would not lose on the atmosphere.

I couldn't agree more. I'm a fan of original voice overs. I also had Stalker in mind when thinking about how the russian one might sound, but it was truly unimpressive, yes, even narcotic in some way. In a review I read that the english voice overs were bad, but I thought they were quite good. In the russian version, the captain always sounds like he took a bottle of sleeping pills, while the english voice actor actually emoted. They were trapped in the ice with some serious problems after all. People died constantly, so who would be so ice cold (no pun intended)

Originally Posted by valerian

The gameplay is uncomplicated and is probably what the first year students in game development would have done. Some people liken it to Penumbra, but it lacks the Penumbra atmosphere, in my opinion.

Well, the gameplay was pretty basic, but it doesn't always have to be as complicated as in Stalker to bring the story across and the story was what drove the game, not the gameplay. As for the athmosphere, I thought the game had plenty of it. You just had to have a feeling for the situation of the falles seafarers

Originally Posted by valerian

The game lacks polish -- for example, once I slipped into the water (which means death), and the game made an automatic save. (This means each time the game loaded the last save, I died.) The other moment was when I opened the door and hid behind it from the monster. The problem was that I got stuck behind the door. Oh, and I could not get through the introduction stage of the game, the very first seconds -- I was constantly falling through the cracks when trying to get to the icebreaker. That was ridiculous. I had to resume to the walkthrough to get past that stage.

The game sure has its bugs. Luckily, I didn't encounter any when I played the game for the first time. When I played it again, I had the full arsenal though: falling through the level, being pushed tohrough obstacles so that I got stuck etc etc... Still, I have to say that the game is worlds away from being unpolished. After all, the game only had a few critical bugs after its release and that is quite impressive, especially since the release was only delayed by 3 months. Compare that with Stalker, which was delayed for 2 or 3 years and still was buggy as hell when it came out.

Originally Posted by valerian

The other thing which confuses me is the mental echo. I just could not relate the actions of the protagonist and the actions of the dead character on the floor during mental echo and during the 'replay' of what was happening on the ship. They are just disconnected in my mind, i do not know where I am going and why. This does not add to the atmosphere, but rather to the confusion.

lol that's a personal issue then. I pretty early realized that these echos were only available when I had to overcome an obstacle. Also, the puzzles were rather easy.

Originally Posted by valerian

The game has some influence from Dead Space, however Dead Space was a highly polished game. If Cryostasis was as polished, it would be a winner.

lol certainly not, otherwise the game would have had to be developed after Dead Space came out and that was clearly not the case. Both games had been in development for years and the first thing you do is to decide the gameplay and layout, so it's clear that all similarities are only coincidental.

Originally Posted by valerian

I will finish the game, because I am suitably motivated. However, I told to my gamer friends that they did not lose much by not playing the game.

I thought so too while playing it, but the ending turned it around for me.

[valerian]

Originally Posted by Xiaopang

I couldn't agree more. I'm a fan of original voice overs. I also had Stalker in mind when thinking about how the russian one might sound, but it was truly unimpressive, yes, even narcotic in some way. In a review I read that the english voice overs were bad, but I thought they were quite good. In the russian version, the captain always sounds like he took a bottle of sleeping pills, while the english voice actor actually emoted. They were trapped in the ice with some serious problems after all. People died constantly, so who would be so ice cold (no pun intended)

I will elaborate what I liked about Stalker. For example, the bandits were saying in the natural voices "Come here, you son-of-a-bitch !" or "Ahh, I caught a bullet". It brought so realistic an impression that I thought I was in the streets of Russia. That was some atmosphere, and I was enjoying it !

But I am not enjoying the atmosphere in Cryostasis. The voices are unimpressive; I experience no immersion. Cryostsis seems to be the game of the same kind as was Penumbra, however Penumbra was a highly atmospheric game. Not so Cryostasis. Is this because it has the same textures all over the place, of bad quality as well ? Or is it because of the enemies regularly jumping at you, so that it because boring ? Anyway, I have already done half of the game, because I rather like the game than not.

[Xiaopang]

i agree, the voice overs in stalker made up a good deal of the atmosphere alone, while the russian ones in cryostasis are unimpressive. you should try the english, or spanish ones. they are much better.

i also know what you mean with lack of immersion. i experienced the same. it wasn't until the very end, when the story turned everything around for me and made me realize how well done the game was. i aleady stated on another forum that many people will most likely enjoy the game most on the 2nd play through when they know the complete story.