Floating human carcasses in a lake of sludgy water, asylum inmates strutting around like chickens and bashing their heads upon the wall, brain matter splattering everywhere, rotting corpses strewn about an ancient Aztec village, mottled and horribly disfigured children??! What kind of game IS this? Not for the faint at heart, that's for sure.

Sanitarium, a 3rd person psychological thriller that sends our hero, Max into a web of his own nightmares and dark secrets of his past. You assume the role of the main character, Max, his sister Sarah, a multiple-armed cyclops named Grimwall and the Aztec god, Olmec. Each character has their own story that ties into Max's real world. The story begins with Max getting into his car and driving home(?), he then calls a friend and says he has the answer. The answer to what is revealed later. He seems to speed up and crash into the winding curve's guard rail, falling off a cliff. He wakes up to hear an alarm blaring and he finds himself in a dingy room, with no recollection of who he is, what he is doing here and why. You talk to a few other people that are here with you and you learn you are in an insane asylum. Each person you talk to gives you a hint on what the rest of the game is going to be like. A ghost town, all the adults gone, children that are starting to turn into plants and trees and a otherworldy being only known as "Mother". A lone circus on a island with no way to leave, creepy clowns and Iggy the squid-man. A hive, high upon a mountain filled with creepy crawly grubs and slugs. And a Aztec village overtaken by a murderous god Quetzacoatl, dead warriors strewn about, the flies feasting upon their pale dead flesh and restless spirits hovering about. You also explore the rest of the asylum as Max, finding out the true story behind the car crash and what answer he had and the overall evil enemy..

The graphics are excellent for it's time and the music adds to the emotional and psychological aspect of the game. The only downside is that you can't walk very fast, but to me, that's a very MINOR problem. I did have a slight problem with choppy, black flickering on some of the puzzles and every time you talked to someone, and in the menu. But that's because it was running on XP and I didn't have compatibility running..

It's an awesome game and it doesn't leave a lot to be desired. It's a classic in my book.