Sublustrum is the first, but rather promising project of a young and promising studio from Peter Phantomery Interactive. This psychological and detective quest is filled with the gloomy aesthetics of decadence with a mix of steam-punk and an atmosphere of "complete immersion." In our review, you will find a full description of the game Sublustrum: the characters of the game, release date, review, reviews and passing. So get ready for a complete immersion in the world of gloomy puzzles, scary secrets and interesting puzzles.
Sublustrum Game Review
System requirements:
- Processor: 1.5 GHz.
- RAM: 512 MB.
- HDD: 1.5 GB.
- Video card GeForce FX or ATI 9600 with 128 MB of memory.
Time travel, a parallel world, and long thoughts to atmospheric music - all this you will find in the game Sublustrum. Its release date in Russia is May 29, 2008. The quest was presented on the world stage on August 28, 2008.
Despite the small budget and debut work, the Phantomery Interactive studio was able to fully declare itself and its game Sublustrum. The genre of adventure detective stories is very poorly represented by domestic developers and, of course, glad that young enthusiasts were able to create something similar. This quest has raised the bar to a new level. After all, now you need to create something more epic than Sublustrum. Reviews about the game are positive both among gamers and among critics. This is evidenced by many awards that this detective story easily took. So, at the Game Developers Conference in 2008, Sublustrum received two awards - “Best Sound Design” and “Best Adventure Game”. In addition, the famous and popular magazine "Gambling" called it the "Best Quest of the Year."
Game plot
The main character, a part-time writer, receives a letter from his brother professor, who asks to pay a visit to him and casually mentions some great discovery. And of course, our traveler decides on an adventure, especially since he has been looking for some interesting plot for his book for a long time. But the writer is not destined to meet with his brother. After all, upon arrival, he finds only a deserted and abandoned house, filled with mysterious mechanisms and traces of obscure experiments.
Gradually, the details of the picture open before you - the professor tried to open the door to a parallel world with the help of narcotic plants. Reading notes and tips, as well as exploring obscure devices, the writer goes in search of his brother, and this journey will bring him many adventures.
Atmosphere of the game
In each frame, subject and scene of the game, the accuracy with which the developers approached the creation of the project is visible. Dusty and dotted with scratches, the picture looks much more spectacular and elegant than the bored and banal "white noise" that the creators of such adventure games are used to. All the decorations are made in one gloomy surreal style, and even the sunlight breaking through the dusty windows is not able to disperse this "atmosphere".
At the same time, Sublustrum is a fairly simple game. Here you will not find a cumbersome interface, special effects or amazing spaces. But at the same time, throughout the journey, you will be haunted by a clear feeling of some kind of anxiety and danger, and you will want to turn around and see more than once if someone is behind you.
Musical arrangement occupies a special place in the game, thanks to which the project received a well-deserved award. The soundtrack, specially created by Georgy Beloglazov and the Anthesteria collective, immerses us even more in the atmosphere of surrealism. If you liked the tunes, then the official CD with all the compositions and the cover, which appears on the logo of the game, can be purchased in the gift edition Sublustrum.
Quests and Tasks
Single games or puzzles will often make you think hard, even though they are extremely logical. The fact is that for the passage you will need to study all the information that falls into your hands. For example, your hero will run from room to room for a long time in search of scissors, and they will find themselves in the professor’s long-found but unreadable notes. Single games created with special ingenuity once again emphasize the individuality and originality of the project called Sublustrum.
Interesting Facts
The logo of the game was created by Oleg Pashchenko, the famous art director of Artemy Lebedev Studio. In this case, the Russian emblem and name is significantly different from the English edition. After all, for foreign players, Sublustrum is known as Outcry. At first, only three people worked on the development of the quest, but in the end their number increased to six. To voice the key figure, the professor, a real scientist was invited to work at one of the research institutes of St. Petersburg, while recording was carried out in the repository of this institute, among the bones and skulls of relict animals and people.
Sublustrum Walkthrough
The adventures of the protagonist begin in the hallway of the apartment of his deceased brother. First of all, you need to turn on the light. Now read the Military newspaper, which lies on the suitcase. Go down the hall to the dressing table. On it lies a letter that you need to read. Next, enter the room and listen to the message left by your brother professor. Now you will see the goal - to explore the mysterious car. To the left of the gramophone you will find a letter from Gibson and Sons. The book "Nature and the Psychoacoustic Phenomenon of Infrasound" can be found on the couch.
After reading, go to the office, located to the right of the door. On the table you will find the brother's diary, as well as the book Megaliths. An old key is hidden in the box, opening the entrance to the greenhouse. We go there and on the locker we take notes and an empty inhaler. We go to the table by the window and put the item under the faucet on a round stand. Now you need to fix the broken hose. To do this, take a valve in the plant located at the end of the greenhouse. There you can find the professor’s journal and the book “Botanical Encyclopedia”. Please note that you must read all the entries you receive, because this is the main condition for the Sublustrum game, the passage of which we are analyzing. Next, you need to tear a piece of Alberta from one of the bushes. Then head down the stairs. Opposite the descent, you will find another entry from the professor’s experience with Albertia Inodorum. Come in the door. On the floor on the right side you will find a note. Open the drawer hidden under the luminous aquarium and pick up the pages and scissors.
Puzzle with gates
To solve the riddle with the valves located in the basement will help the diary and notes of the deceased brother. We put on the right the crane found before this. Then we look closely at all the gates, on each of which we find a special mark. Close each tap clockwise until the mark is on the right - this will be the zero position. Each of them can be turned no more than seven times in both directions. The first one is turned counterclockwise six times. The second is skipped. Scroll the third two times, and the fourth - three. Next, click on the toggle switch, which is located to the left. If everything is done correctly, then the sound of water will be heard. We return to the greenhouse and cut off the hose on the table with scissors, so we get a new item in inventory. This piece of pipe will be needed in the game Sublustrum, the passage of which you are studying. To the right of the table we find the pipe and turn the valve. We pass to the laboratory bench, where it is necessary to repair the hose. Open the lower compartment of the coffee grinder and put a leaf of the plant there, twist the handle. The resulting mass is transferred to an empty inhaler.
Create a potion
From the notes of the late brother of October 18, we learned that three parts of ether and five parts of alcohol are needed to obtain the extract. Two barrels are located above the table: left - red - with ether, right - transparent - with alcohol. Fill the flasks and drain the resulting bluish liquid into the inhaler. Then we go to the professor’s office, because it is there that the adventures of the Sublustrum game will continue. The main character must take a fuse under the organophone, and for this he needs to solve the puzzle.
The mystery of the organophone
Turn on the left toggle switch, while two lights come on. Now you need to carefully move the sliders until a booming sound replaces the rustling noise. You can do this if you set the switches this way:
- The first (left) - mark two (circle).
- The second is mark five.
- The third is the seventh mark.
- The fourth is the fifth.
- Fifth - fourth.
We go to the living room and insert the fuse in the capsule, which is located to the left of the diving bell. We find the shield with the switches, and lower them to the lower position. We go into the capsule and go to the mechanism with the red valve, into which you need to insert the finished inhaler. We take a respirator lying on the right, and put it on. Open the valve and turn to the next mechanism. Now you need to enter the following sequence of numbers: 2-5-7-5-4. Then we again turn around and turn on the switch.
Journey through the ghostly world
We take the second part from the bell under the switch and exit the room into the living room. And here we are waiting for an unprecedented adventure that can only give the game Sublustrum. The plot takes us to the Shimmering World, as the professor wrote. On the sofa we find the "Book of Psychoanalysis." We take the screwdriver lying on the table near the gramophone, and go into the office. We read the continuation of the professor's diary, which can be found on the table. In the left corner of the room on the floor we are waiting for another book. After reading, you need to go to the greenhouse. We go over the boards to the workshop and pick up the hammer lying on the shelf by the canister. We take the chisel from the tools on the wall, as well as the part hidden in the box. We open the cache and study the "Guide to the assembly of the time key." Next, look for the wind rose sign in front of the living room door. Now you need to use a hammer and a chisel on it. We pick up the part and go through the boards to the right, after which we find ourselves at the next puzzle.
Mysterious mechanism with a ladder
The further path is blocked by a cliff, which must be overcome in order to continue the adventures in the game Sublustrum. The passage of this puzzle is quite simple - return to the professor’s office and adjust the mechanism of remotes on the table. It is necessary to move the toggle switches in this order: the first right - once left, the second - once left, the third we skip, the fourth - two times left. We cross the cliff and go down the stairs. We take the iron rod and the letter lying at the wreckage. We take the part from the cabinet, and then go to the workshop. We put the rod in a vise and bend it with a hammer, as a result of which we get a bent rod. We leave for the office and pick up the last detail hidden to the right of the table.
Create a time key
We go to the workshop and put all the details on the table. You need to do this in this order: cylinder, rod, screw, tongs, screwdriver. After that we put the key blank and get the artifact. Now you need to go to the former greenhouse and find a keyhole between the mechanism and the door. We insert the time key that we made while passing Sublustrum. The game will give us the opportunity to visit the deceased brother's past. We leave for the living room and pick up the sound cylinder from the pile of garbage. In the left corner of the professor’s office on the floor we take the battery. From the table in the workshop we take the gear. If you do not have time, and the time is up, then re-insert the key into the well and return to the past.
Go to the room located in front of the workshop. Here you need to bring wires lying on the floor as close as possible to each other. Return to the present and insert the sound cylinder into the gramophone, and then listen to the recording. Go down the stairs, and apply the battery to the empty cell of the transformer. Return to the castle and click on the handle located on the right - this will help to move in space. Go to the nearest passage. Take the letter lying on the floor, then go ahead and pick up the phone. The characters of the game will talk, and your hero will get advice on where to go next.
Puzzle with iron bridges
In the next room you will find five mobile bridges, which are controlled by a device located near the phone. The right switches correspond to the transitions, and the left ones move them. We move the first bridge to the right. The second switch does not work, so we put the gear in the mechanism, hidden at the bottom of the transition. We return to the switches and turn the bridge to the left.
We pass along the corridor into the pantry, and we find the keyhole hidden behind the fire extinguisher, and insert the time key into it. We take away the flat key from the shelf. Now you need to look into the peephole of the right door. Here we will see how the boys kill the dog in the boiler room. We climb the stairs and open the door with a flat key. Turn on the light in the room using the right switch. We approach the table and set the time on the device - 3:10. The upper switch is moved to the RM position. We return to the pantry and insert the key into the well. We look again through the peephole, and we see that someone frightened the boys, so that the dog remained alive. We go to the boiler room and climb into the right oven.
Ghost town
Now we are waiting for a new location of the quest Sublustrum. The developer did a great job on his brainchild, so the game does not cease to amaze. Once in the desert, we go to the ruins of the town. In the destroyed building on the right we find a safe, and next to it a torn card. Here we take a rag on the window. Then we go up the stairs and pick up the scrap under the valves and sensors. We enter the tram and, clicking on the hatch, communicate with Animus - another character of the game "Sublumum", the passage of which we are analyzing. From the conversation we learn that a storm is approaching and we need to hurry in search. Near the tram we find a fountain hidden in a public garden. Open the hatch on the ground and turn the valve. We take from the typewriter the pages of the brother's diary, between which we find the plan of the cathedral. We pass to the car. We take the handle and use a crowbar to crack the trunk, in which an empty canister is hidden.
The following puzzles
Now we need to find out the code for the locked safe, because this is the only way to continue the passage of the game Sublustrum. Codes, as always, are hidden nearby, so let's start the search. Go to the car number and wipe it with a rag. The opened numbers (5-7-3) will be the code for our safe. We return to the building and enter the secret number. Take the switch and Maria’s letter from the safe. We go to the temple and in the place indicated on the torn map, we get the mechanical embryo.
We pass to the shield located behind the tram. Now you need to insert the handle into the left groove, then lower the buttons down. We expose the lower switch to the middle position and turn the handle. We move the lower button to the right extreme position, after which we pull the lower handle twice. If everything is done correctly, a panel with wires will open.
We leave for the shield near the fountain. We insert the control panel into it, after which we set the switches in the same way as in the photo below:
Now we go to the stairs, near which we found a crowbar. Now the valve should become active. We twist it and go to the fountain. We draw water into the canister and put the control panel, after which we put the switches in this position:
We go inside the tram and insert the embryo found in the temple into the turbine panel. We open the hatch in the floor and pour water from the canister into the radiator. After that, the tram will start and you will continue.
Mechanical flowers
We leave at the final stop and go through the door of the building. We climb the stairs, not forgetting to collect new sheets from the deceased brother's diary. In an empty barrel, standing in the attic, we take a metal wand. We climb into the hatch through the next staircase and in this location we take boards, a bucket. We turn to face the neighboring tower and put boards to it. We pass to the elevator, through which you can get to the lower floors. This will open a new puzzle game "Sublum."
The passage of the puzzle with the elevator:
- We go down to the second floor and lower all the levers down.
- On the fourth floor you need to turn the toggle switch, located next to the stairs.
- On the third floor, you need to turn the arrow of the harp so that the loudest sound is obtained. The reference point will be a solar flare located on the harp on the left side.
- It is necessary to turn the valves to the correct position. To do this, first turn all the taps to the left side, after which we move the left one position, and the middle and right three.
- We return to the second floor and collect pollen in a bucket from the opened flower.
- Again we go to the valves and put them all in the left position. Next, you need to turn the middle one time, the right - two times, and the left - do not touch.
- We rise to the fourth floor and pollinate the opened flower with pollen from a bucket, after which we pick up the metal fruit.
Now you need to climb the stairs to the very top and insert the fruit into the core. We pass through the opened door and go up.
Final part
Our hero will be in a snowy place. Immediately under our feet we find a piece of the diary, after which a shadow will appear in front of us. We interact with her. A view of the bench opens, so we go there. Under the bench we find another sheet of notes. A shadow will again appear on our left, which you also need to click on. Next, a view of the alley opens. We go to this place. To the left of the bench on which the gramophone stands, we will find the next page of the deceased brother's diary. Now we need to follow the shadow to the pier. Between the piles we find the last piece of the diary, after which we go to the hole in the pond. We are watching the final video and this is where we finish our passage of this adventure.
Conclusion
The ending of the game is rather ambiguous, and it is this point that most often causes disagreement among the players. So, according to some, a flickering world is only a figment of the imagination of a split personality professor, and the writer acts as his second "I". According to other versions, the protagonist is only a transformation of the guilt of an inventor who lost his younger brother in childhood. Moreover, there are several other assumptions about what lies behind the plot of this quest, and each of them has the right to life. In any case, you should draw your own conclusions, as there are no clear indications of the interpretation of events occurring in the game. Only one thing can be absolutely sure - Sublustrum will not leave indifferent any admirer of this genre. And if you have a desire to unravel one of the stories, then feel free to go through this quest - you will not be disappointed.