Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth the wait"

You may have heard about this game a lot. The hype around this game is for very great reasons. Catherine is a puzzle game. Does that sound a bit exciting? Maybe this game would sound exciting to the average puzzle gamer, but not to a hardcore gamer.

The main character of this game is Vincent Brooks. He is a thirty-something year old male who has been with his girlfriend Katherine for many years. Katherine mentions to Vincent that she believes it is time to tie the knot. However, Vincent is fine with the way things are going currently. Later, he meets a young girl with the name of Catherine and now Vincent has hit a crisis and he is relying on the player to guide him to the right solution.

Vincent loves to drink. Therefore, a player will spend tons of his or her time in the Stray Sheep (the name of the bar Vincent hangs out) with his three friends: Jonny, Orlando, and Toby. During a player's bar time, you get a chance to talk to your friends and the others at the bar about their issues. While at the bar, Vincent has a choice to drink from four types of beverages and how drunk he is will help him move faster in the puzzle stages. Vincent's cell phone will be at a player's disposal where he can get texts from his girlfriend Katherine and others and there are chances to reply to texts to change the story, this can also occur when a person asks Vincent a question. There is also an arcade game called Rapunzel (which has similar rules to the puzzles in the main game) where Vincent can compete for a high score.

The gameplay begins when Vincent falls asleep and goes into Nightmare mode. The main object of the puzzles is to move blocks into a path to climb up to the top. This is not an easy task; expect to die a lot while trying to figure out how to get to the top. There are power-ups floating around the area. Vincent is not the only one climbing these walls. Many other men have dropped into this nightmare as well so there might be a lot of pushing and shoving to get to the top. When a floor is complete, Vincent reaches the rest area where all the other men who have reached the top are pondering. However, they are not men; they are sheep in the Nightmare world. With these sheep around, conversation will arise as well as ways to find out new techniques to get to the top. Before going to the next puzzle, there is a confessional booth where a mystery person appears and asks Vincent a question. After the player's answer, the player can see how the other players answered the question.

The graphics in the game are not amazing by any means, but they are overall nice on the eyes. The camera in the game does have a bit of issues, and it really shows in a boss battle when a boss attacks Vincent or the arena. In the special edition, the extras placed in a small box designed as a tiny pizza box. The fabrics on the shirt and boxers are decent; the sizes are both in a Large. The pillowcase is in a standard pillow size and it is in a decent cloth as well.

The game overall is hard to play. In the starter stages, the game is easy on you and later comes at you full force. However, that should not be a reason to ignore the game. Pick this one up if you have a chance, there are also multiple endings and other game modes.