Routine

ROUTINE is a perfect example of how experimenting with the horror genre can pay off fantastically. While the lack of a map and a proper pause screen can be frustrating, the difficulty makes each gameplay set piece feel far more uneasy. Additionally, the subtle approach to storytelling helps to enhance the atmosphere and aesthetic, creating a truly memorable experience despite the short run time. If you're a fan of unique horror games, then ROUTINE is a must-play.

Tasking you with exploring an abandoned lunar base and investigating what happened to it, Routine is a first-person horror game that will have you captivated from beginning to end thanks to its tense atmosphere and engaging puzzles.

What Routine lacks in quantity, it makes up for in staggering quality. It’s cassette futurism at its most tactile, with an aesthetic direction that’s only matched by the novelty of its CAT tool. Lunar Software raises the bar in sound design to deliver a singular experience for sci-fi horror fans.

ROUTINE combines a retro-futuristic aesthetic with an unnerving sense of dread to create an incredibly engaging and highly atmospheric horror experience.

After a 13-year wait, it’s finally time to enter the abandoned lunar base and unravel the mysteries of what happened there in the first-person survival horror game Routine.

ROUTINE may have been a long time coming, but it’s definitely well worth the experience now that it’s finally here, especially for fans of the horror genre. It keeps you immersed at all times thanks to its lack of UI and full-body awareness.

For long stretches since Routine was announced way back in 2012, it’s been easy to assume this was vapourware, that it would never be released. It is therefore with great delight that I can confirm that, not only is it fully complete, but it has actually turned out to fulfil all my expectations and more. The retro-futuristic stylings, the moments of sheer terror, and the fascinating storyline all combine to produce a game that is well worth the wait.

Routine is just a well-made sci-fi horror game. I wish I had a more elaborate closing note, but I've used up all my adjectives yammering about turbine noises and VHS-C. 2012 was a million years ago, but this elegantly cumbersome chillfest seems none the worse for the interruptions and extended spells in suspended animation. Congratulations, Lunar Software. You pulled off the moonshot. Now, let's get the hell out of here before that thing down the hall notices me typing.

There was a 20-minute period early in my playthrough of Routine where I walked back and forth between rooms and through hallways in this game’s abandoned, defunct, and seemingly malfunctioning lunar station in search of one simple thing: my own ID number. Papers plaster the surrounding walls, explaining that every person on the station must carry their ID badge with them at all times, including me. I look everywhere for that badge, needing to input my ID into a computer terminal to advance ...

Scary monsters, beautiful locations, and a story that's sadly lost in space.

Stylish, subtle, and unsettling in equal measure, Routine surprised me in all the right ways, even though some mechanical aspects may frustrate and pull you out of the moment.