More comic book attitude is conveyed by Cain himself, who's voiced by rap and comedy (ever hear those Body Count albums?) megastar Ice T. Every line he delivers could have been taken from early issues of Amazing Spider-Man, where every sentence ended with between one and nine exclamation points. This is perfectly in tune with the over-the-top style that the designers were going for, so don't be afraid to crack a smile when Cain answers even the most routine query by harshly empha-SIZING the last syll-ABLE of every word he speaks! Go into this one expecting a hero who sounds like a cross between Marlon Wayans and Gary Coleman doing that pouty "What-choo talkin' 'bout?!" thing from Diff'rent Strokes and you'll be just fine. Oh, and a high tolerance for hearing "Alright" pronounced "Awwight" is also required.

A vibrant color palette powered by Monolith's venerable LithTech 1.5 engine provides the other half of the comic atmosphere. Even though LithTech 1.5 is roughly akin to stone knives and bearskins in the presence of more modern technological showcases like the Quake III: Arena engine, I've always liked it for such bright and dramatic hues. It also runs very quickly at high resolutions even on mediocre hardware. Part of this is no doubt due to the 16-bit color depth limitation, but since the visuals are still comparable to those seen in games running at 32-bit, there isn't much room for complaint. Particularly when the characters and settings look so good. There isn't much in the way of depth, though enough is depicted to furnish an acceptable ambience. And the psionic effects are often breathtaking. Some, such as the explosive Fireball and spooky Eyes of Ra, are right up there with the most attractive spells found in the likes of Baldur's Gate II and Diablo II.

While I don't want to shirk my critical responsibilities here, Sanity: Aiken's Artifact is one of those rare games that really should be tried out before you make any judgements. My opinions represent a valid look at the game, but through the eyes of a comic book fanatic who enjoyed every overblown moment and could suspend his disbelief enough to accept the harebrained puzzles and gimmicky death-traps. I suspect that many of you reading don't fall into that category, though, so do yourself a favor and download a demo before buying the game on my say-so. Excelsior!

Brett Todd
Contributing Editor