Korsakovia

Korsakovia is a single-player mod for Valve Corporation's Half-Life 2. It was developed by thechineseroom, known for the mod "Dear Esther," and released for download free of charge on September 20, 2009.

Music and sound design were by Jessica Curry, who also provided the music for "Dear Esther".

Plot
In Korsakovia, the player travels through the delusions of Christopher, a man suffering from Korsakoff's Syndrome. The player hears the voices of Christopher and a doctor as they try to work out what is wrong with Christopher.

Location
The game the player can see takes place in numerous presumably illusory locations, ranging from an asylum to a factory. Objects sometimes float or otherwise defy the ordinary laws of physics. The player has the standard Half-Life 2 flashlight, but it often runs out of electricity and must be turned off to recharge. The overall ambiance is nightmarishly grim, grimy, and depressing, an effect that is amplified considerably by atmospheric music and sound effects.

The narrator's words imply that the player is under treatment in a hospital while he is having the delusions that constitute the game. Before the beginning of the game, the player has apparently torn out his own eyes (the paramedics "think he may have eaten them") and severely burned his hands. These injuries and their rationale are referenced repeatedly in the narration and by objects the player finds in his illusory landscape.

Gameplay
Like thechineseroom's previous mod, Dear Esther, the player explores the environment while listening to narration. However, this time the player can move far more freely and is sometimes armed with a crowbar, which he uses to smash through obstacles or ward off monsters composed of black smoke. The player can also pick up health packs to repair damage, the existence and extent of which is indicated by cracks spreading inward from the edges of his screen. If the player "dies" as a result of too much damage, he is returned to the last previous save point.