In the distant future, humanity is isolated in a far-flung corner of the universe. The Earth is a distant memory, and resources are slim. Fuel is running out. Fortunately, scientists have discovered a miracle substance known as Kenyons - subatomic particles created at the burning heart of a star.
In an effort to replenish their depleting fuel sources, the ICARUS Sun Station is created - a huge, self-sufficient mining rig designed to orbit inside of the corona of the Xexor star itself and "mine" it of the promising new power source.
But all is not well aboard the ICARUS. Radiation sickness is spreading across the crew, the orbit is steadily decaying, a political assassin known as Shatterjack is suspected to be aboard the Station.
You are Garrit Sherova, a Medic sent to the ICARUS to help treat and diagnose the illness ravaging the crew when a level 7 solar flare suddenly erupts and strikes your shuttle just as you are about to arrive at the docking bay.
Index
What is Sentient?
Reception
Soundtrack
Station Plans, Room Descriptions & Object Locations
Intro Transcript
European PS1 Cover
American PS1 Cover
European PC Cover
American PC Cover
Sentient is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Psygnosis for the Sony PlayStation on the 31st of March, 1997. PC and Dos versions were also released later that same year.
Sentient takes place aboard a fully simulated space station, with instruments breaking down and radiaton sickness spreading in real time as the player tries to complete objectives and uncover the mysteries behind what's happening behind the scenes. Gameplay is almost completely dialogue-based, with Sentient making use of a system in which the player can construct questions, statements and commands from a list of objects and sentence segments, very reminiscent of a text adventure.
While the player's ability to tamper with the station's systems is limited, the few consoles they can interact with do have a significant impact on the operation of the ICARUS, and can even stave off - or speed up - its demise.
The AI was boasted to be revolutionarily intelligent, mind-bogglingly believable and almost humanly real. Though this is naturally a gross exaggeration, Sentient does go through very ambitious lengths to create a sense of "alive-ness" that few other games do, with the crew of the ICARUS having real routines, performing duties aboard the vessel and spreading gossip amongst themselves - even about things taught to them by the player, leading to your highly secret information spilling out across the whole station if you tell it to the wrong person.
Sometimes they will even ask the player about the whereabouts of another character, and the accuracy of the response can potentially have serious consequences if they have something important to tell them.
Characters can be directed to do certain tasks, lead you to specific people or objects of interest, and more. The player even has the option to change their expression, from a big smile to a deep frown, and all of this can determine the characters' opinion towards them, and their willingness to listen to requests and orders.
Reception
As a PS1 game, Sentient received praise for its ambitious and intricate gameplay and replay value, though it received criticism for the quality of the characters' faces. It was particularly admired for its complex dialogue system and intriguing atmosphere. It was also rare to see a slow-paced adventure on the PS1, which boosted peoples' opinions of the game.The PC release was not received as well, with far, far more well-implemented experiences being available for computers at the time that Sentient simply could not compare to. Its interface, pace, graphics, etc. left the PC audience feeling disappointed.
"All in all, the execution makes the whole thing a complete waste of time. It's big, it's ugly, and it's as frustrating as hell to work with. ... Unless you have enough patience to wear down granite, don't bother with this one."
Despite its faults, Sentient can be a surprisingly deep experience that clearly had a lot of heart and ambition behind it.
Though not the revolutionary experience in lifelike immersion that it could have been, it is still fun in its own right, and absolutely a piece of gaming history worth preserving.
Soundtrack
A Limited Edition of the game (supposedly only released in Germany) came bundled with a Soundtrack CD, featuring the musical work of Rik Ede. With how little music actually plays in-game, the soundtrack is a must-have for those long, quiet walks down the halls of the ICARUS Sun Station.As it is no longer possible to purchase this soundtrack through legitimate means, it is available in full below.
Enjoy!
Credit to YouTube user "account1856" for uploading the Sentient Soundtrack.