An intensely bizarre trailer marks the start of Pathologic 2 preorders

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Preorders for the upcoming psychological horror-adventure Pathologic 2 are now live on Steam, with a ten percent discount on the regular price and another ten percent on top of that for owners of Pathologic Classic HD. Which is good news, but not really why we're here. No, we're here because publisher Tinybuild has also released a "Theater of Gorkhon" story trailer and I really think you should see it.

We like to have a little fun with Pathologic when we talk about it, because it's such a ridiculous mess and by all rights, nobody should go near it—and yet, we do. Phil said it "wasn't good in any of the ways you would traditionally associate the word" but unforgettable nonetheless, while Joe described it as "deeply flawed," slow, lacking direction, entirely incomprehensible in spots, but then added that "somehow none of this mattered because when it worked, boy did it work well."

This new trailer really serves to highlight the truth of all that. Pathologic is weird as hell and nobody knows what's going on, but it's also intriguing and kind of cool looking, and you have to be at least a little curious, right? And I do wish I could help you with that, but all I've really got are the broad-strikes breakdown of the plot: A mysterious plague strikes a small, remote town in the Steppe, and you'll play as one of three people sent to discover the source and come up with a cure. You've got 12 days to get the job done, while dealing with other not-necessarily-friendly characters including an Inquisitor sent to assess the true nature of the catastrophe, and the Commander, tasked with containing the situation one way or the other.

Some of that may have changed for Pathologic 2, however—it began as a remake of the original but then the original got an actual remake so developer Ice-Pick Lodge decided to "reconstruct" it instead, which led to the new name. Because nothing about Pathologic can be simple and easy to parse, I guess.

A demo for Pathologic 2 remains available from Tinybuild.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.