Developer: Alterego Games
Publisher: StickyLock Studios
Platform: PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PC
Sanity of Morris – Review
Sanity of Morris uses a blend of genres, combining a psychological horror adventure with walking simulator elements and puzzles. The result is a tense story where you sneak your way through creepy locations to discover secrets and uncover a mystery, all the while gradually losing your tenuous grasp on reality with horrifying results. Not the most relaxing experience in the world, but one that is sure to intrigue.
Story
The game puts you in the shoes of John Morris, who receives a voice mail from his estranged father Hank. The call prompts John to head off to Greenlake, the isolated place where his father lives, a place with enough history to fill a library. Most notably the area has a suspicious government research facility that to nobody’s surprise has dark secrets hiding beneath. When John is almost killed by secret agents upon arriving in the town and he can’t find his father anywhere, he’s pulled into this conspiracy plot against his will.
The game has a great balance between cutscenes, text fragments and audiotapes to deliver the plot. Some of those latter two are optional finds, meaning you’ll have to do a bit of searching if you want to get the full story. But even without these additional items, we still have a pretty concise plot here that manages to pull you in from the start.
Graphics
Sanity of Morris looks pretty decent, with the exception of some slight graphical glitches. Overall we have a good-looking game, great attention was clearly put into the locations you travel to. The shadow and light work is also well done, which is essential for a horror game. Nonetheless, you do have to put up with the occasional floating book or other strange assets from time to time. When John loses sanity, the screen darkens and becomes blurry, indicating him stressing out. Sometimes this effect can come in a little heavily, making it impossible to see where to go.
Sound
In terms of sound design, Sanity of Morris is a little more inconsistent. The soundtrack itself is good, with eerie and tense tracks that fit the game’s atmosphere, but the sound effects can be a bit cliche and seem to go off at random moments as well. This might cause a few jumpscares at first, after which it will just become annoying and break immersion. On the other hand, the game does have excellent voice acting. All the dialogue and audiotapes are fully voiced by a cast that does not sound half as inexperienced as you’d expect from an indie title.
Gameplay
Sanity of Morris is a psychological adventure game that utilizes a lot of sneak mechanics and throws in the occasional puzzle to keep you on your toes. Due to the very linear narrative of the game, it’s usually pretty clear where you have to go and the game guides you along a straight path from location to location. Within these locations you do get the opportunity to explore, solving puzzles and finding plot-relevant information.
The controls of the game are pretty basic and so are the puzzles, usually consisting of you finding relevant items or codes to use at other places. The sanity mechanic is important, however, which is quite clear by looking at the game’s title. John is not the most stable person and the happenings in Greenlake won’t help him in that regard. Straying from the well-lit areas or seeing strange and horrifying sights can have a real effect on John’s mental wellbeing, making it harder for you to run away and hide, or even just see what you’re doing.
This is important since John is not a fighter, and will have to deal with enemies by hiding or getting away. The game does not make this too hard, as long as you turn off your flashlight and crouch you are good. You can even get quite close to enemies or stand straight in their line of sight without them noticing you. During cutscenes, the game transforms and uses a quick-time event, asking you to mash buttons or press them quickly before time runs out.
Conclusion
Sanity of Morris presents a solid experience for people wanting a mystery adventure that feels like old-school shows like the X-files. A dash of horror and good graphics keep the game from blending in with other indie titles, even if it drops the ball in some other minor ways. We enjoyed the story for the most part, which is already a very important and deciding factor for horror titles.
Sanity of Morris - Review,
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