Past Cure - Review

Earlier this year Past Cure was released, which is a third-person psychological thriller.  It caught my interest due to the story.  It got slatted quite badly when it came out, but rarely does something like that stop me playing a game.  I saw it pre-owned the other day and thought to myself, why not take the risk?


I like spare ribs done in most styles.  There is one though that does not really do it for me, which Peking Style.  I like Peking Duck but for some reason, it just does not quite do it for me, even though in theory it should.  Playing Past Cure I found myself asking was this just not a tasty style?

Story

The story sees you follow ex-soldier Ian who has can't remember the last three years of his life.  His brother Marcus has put him up in his swanky beach house to help him recover.  Ian wants nothing more than to remember, mostly because he is having scary ass nightmares and hopes that if he remembers what happened he might be able to get rid of them. The worst thing for Ian is that sometimes the dreams start becoming real and trying to keep sane is a full-time struggle.  Luckily he has magic blue pills to keep things in control.


It sounds like an interesting story, right?  It is but it's told poorly, and it was hard to get invested in Ian.  The ending semi-pays off but in honesty, it's all pig and no bacon (I just made that up, not sure if it works).  Overall it is not the worst story but could use a lot more development.

Visuals 


At first glance, the visuals look reasonable but I quickly realised I was mistaken.  Most of the buildings and locations you enter have a very modern look and feel, very minimalist.  However, playing the game I could see this was less to do with an intended design and more to do with possible budget restrictions.  It looks like a game that was released on the XBOX 360 or PlayStation 3, which would be fine if it wasn't 2018.  The nightmare sequences seem interesting at first but very quickly look dull.


Overall not a very exciting visual experience and is in need of more development.



Music


The score is purely backing music and there is not anything engaging or exciting about it, with the exception of the closing credits song.  The composers are Roman Duda, Charlotte Jacobs, and Jen Paeyeneers.  I was unable to find any real information on the composers or their previous works.


The score has eight tracks and runs at just over forty minutes, the only tracks that really stood out were the 'Atmos Fight' and the ending song.  Overall very underwhelming.

Gameplay


Past Cure is a third-person psychological thriller, which sounds exciting, unfortunately, it is not.  Even basic movement feels clunky and awkward, melee combat isn't fun at all, and the cover system is almost non-existent.  The weapons in the game are not very accurate, often shooting an enemy in the head who was only ten feet away would end up missing him altogether.


Early on we learn that Ian has been experimented on and this has granted him certain abilities.  Time Manipulation, Astral Projection and Mind Blast.  Most of the time these abilities will be used to solve puzzles.  The puzzles themselves feel clunky, but most of the time this comes down to the ability being awkward to control.


The thing that scares me is that Past Cure was released this year and got really negative reviews.  Since then Phantom 8 Studio has released patch 1.05, which makes improvements to story and gameplay.  So the version I played is the improved one?  I'm curious what it was like before then.


Overall some disappointing gameplay that could have been so much better.




Final Thoughts

So, after six-plus hours of playing how did I feel?  Disappointed.  The story had some interesting parts to it but just never quite reaches its full potential.  The visuals, music, and gameplay all feel bland and underdeveloped.  This one gets a low 1 out of 5