The Cat Lady - Blood, Gore, Violence Galore!

I'll be honest, I tried this game because of the title. How many games out there do you get to play as the crazy cat lady? I was on another adventure game binge and found this game with positive reviews. It was a horror adventure game that featured a cat lady as the main character. It sounded interesting and I gave it a try. Basically the game begins with you, Susan Ashworth, a woman in her late 30's. You are staring at your cats as you eat sleeping pills to commit suicide. About 2 minutes into the game you die. You however, instead of dying wake up in the world between life and death. There you meet the mysterious old lady called Queen of Maggots. She gives you a gift (or in your case a curse) where you will never die. Every time you die you will wake up alive again no matter how horrific the death is. You never asked for this but you have no choice. However, you can get rid of this "gift" if you do what she says. You must kill the parasites. Once you do you are free.

The parasites are rapists, murderers, arsonists, the true monsters of society. You're not actively going out in search of them, no they come for you. They're here to hurt you and all you want to do is to be left alone to wallow in your own misery. In order to leave the halfway world you must give a gift of blood, and a gift of soul. By blowing out a candle you sacrifice a piece of your own soul in exchange for the life of a parasite. A soul for a soul. Once you blown out all the candles, you die. A gift of blood is by drawing out some blood. So after blowing out the candle you must stick your arm into a hole to push the button when you do that your arm gets chopped off and you start running around holding your wound as blood gushes everywhere as the credits start rolling in. Thats your gift of blood. This game has excessive amounts of blood, gore and violence.

The game then wakes you up at a hospital for suicide victims. You cannot leave until they are convinced you won't kill yourself again. The psychiatrist will ask you questions. How you answer and what you ask will affect the game. The game isn't like the usual point and click adventure game. Its a 2d side scrolling one where you only need the left and right keyboard buttons and walk until something pops up. The up button to interact and the down button for inventory. Its a little confusing at first but after playing it for awhile its not too hard to get used to. Some puzzles are a little obscure but its not hard enough that you should feel any frustration while playing.

The horror amount for the game is not very high though. If you're looking for scares its not really there. Its more disturbing and focuses more on the horrors of humanity. For example the first parasite you meet is none other than your very own psychiatrist. He preys on weak women, charms them, brings them to his home where he tortures them to hear them scream. Then he kills them and use their bodies as art to mimic masterpieces such as, the Mona Lisa, Venus, the girl with pearl earrings. You knew too much when a nurse shared information to you before she committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the hospital. You told the psychiatrist about her and he stabbed you to death. Waking up from the body bag you find your way out of the "prison" basement and create a weapon from random items and breaking open his skull. This whole time screams in the background as he slowly prods and pokes a woman tied to a chair with a sharp object.

While you are out getting killed by parasites, you are also on a emotional journey of self discovery. Coming to terms with your past, the reasons for your suicide, and the people you meet along the way is the real story of the game. Its about loss, tragedy, and the bittersweet moments of being alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx6j2I8v2Z0