Every choice in this game is deciding if you want to either suffer or suffer.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a fascinating piece of work. It's one of those games, much like Scratches, that works wonders with atmosphere, but not so much when it comes to the actual gameplay. Although where Scratches had a really tense, frightening atmosphere, No Mouth is more mysterious and depressing. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream works more with fridge horror, I feel. Yeah, it's creepy, but it's only truly scary if you sit back and think about it. And you will, because it's a tale that provokes thought.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream was originally a famous short story by one Mr. Harlan Ellison. If you get the chance, I recommend giving it a read, as there's a reason it's so famous. Actually, that's a lie. I don't recommend reading it. I really recommend listening to it. The I Have No Mouth audiobook, read by Harlan Ellison himself, is truly a treasure of audio. Ellison is hammy and over-the-top, but man does he sell it. The man gets completely into his story, and it benefits immensely from it.

If you've done the above, then I think you'll be more than pleased to hear that Ellison also plays AM, the maniacally hate-filled, torturous supercomputer who serves as your antagonist and tormenter for the duration of this game. He's every bit as hammy and over-the-top, and it's hard not to hang on his every word. The other voices in the game vary in quality, but you won't really notice the dips as you'll be too focused on the unfolding storylines, and also on WHAT DO I DO

So let's start with the story. You play five different characters, who comprise the entire remaining human population of Earth. AM, a colossal supercomputer which resides beneath the crust of the Earth, more or less got frustrated with his lot in life and unleashed the world's supply of nukes at... well, the world. But it kept five human beings alive to be his playthings for the remainder of eternity. For over a hundred years, these five humans have been subjected to ungodly torments, and now AM would like to play a little game.

Each character is thrown into a scenario built especially for them, expected to be horrible and miserable for AM's amusement. The true goal before you is to fail AM, and prove yourself above his petty games. It is in these scenarios that you will learn about each character, their faults, their history, and a little bit about AM himself and what's going on behind the scenes and beyond your view.

This obviously differs from the original story, as these scenarios never existed. They were created (with major input from Ellison) especially for this game in order to give more backstory on the characters. Things change. The story as a whole changes. But it's still very much I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

Let's talk about the gameplay.

It could be better.

IHNM is presented in a classic SCUMM format. You have a list of verbs and an inventory at the bottom of the screen, both of which can be used to interact with the world around you. You will talk to characters, solve puzzles, find objects. All the familiar trappings of a good point-and-click adventure. So far, so good. The first major hitch is that eternal adventure game hellspawn, the unrelated event. You know what I'm talking about. When you do a thing, which triggers an unrelated thing to happen somewhere else which you have no way of knowing about and no reason to think might have happened. So many point-and-click adventures have fallen prey to this design flaw (Myst IV and Hector 3 among them, just thinking off the top of my head, here), and I wish it would stop.

I had one point in the first scenario I picked where I didn't know what to do. I looked up a guide, and it didn't help. I thought maybe my game was glitched, as I had done everything the guide had ordered. And then I saw it. A very subtle thing. A line in the guide telling me to exhaust a certain character's dialogue. All I had skipped (for reasons that we'll get to in a moment) was an entirely unnecessary rude line that doesn't actually help anything. But lo and behold, when burning off that one useless line of dialogue caused an unrelated character to appear in a different location, freeing progression from the devs' icy cold grip.

There are some other annoying bits, here and there. Some items and interactables that aren't exactly obvious on the screen. Two scenarios allow you to progress past important items or before doing mandatory bits. It's problematic, and very confusing when it happens. Luckily, it's possible to die after this moment in one of the scenarios, bringing you back to the character select where you can choose to try again. For the other one... well, just keep multiple saves, is all.

In addition to simply making through each scenario, every character has a personal spiritual meter. The better the spirits they're in, the lighter the background behind their portrait in the lower-left becomes. Practice good morals and make progress to lighten it. Screw up, be corrupt or evil, or just cause your character to freak out to darken it. If the meter turns white as the scenario draws to a close, you've perfected that scenario. This is not always easy to do. I only managed it in two scenarios.

They say you need to get a white meter with each character in order to see the best ending, and that's going to require either a guide or multiple playthroughs. I wonder, though. I'm pretty positive I did in fact get the best ending, despite not having all whites. I think it's probably possible as long as each character has almost a white meter, or a couple characters have white meters and everyone else is close? Or something? Though don't quote me on that, I really don't know, and there's a surprising lack of entirely helpful documentation on this subject.

Anyways, my advice is to not worry about it. Do your best and get an ending, whatever that ending may be. Give the finale a few tries, though, because you'll probably screw it up a couple times.

Anyways, point is, the game looks great and sounds great, and the story will draw you all sorts of in. Just be aware that you may need to consult the Internet at times, and be sure to rotate your saves. Or do what I did and just make each save a new one, because this game seems to have infinite slots. Which is a nice feature.

For all its faults, I still enjoyed the majority of my time with I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. And if you're a fan of the original story, or games which not only don't shy away from adult themes, but walk straight through a minefield of adult themes and take it all in stride with a sly grin upon their lips, then I think you'll enjoy it too.

Based on the classic dystopian sci-fi short story by Harlan Ellison, this has some of the best writing you'll find in an old-school point-and-click adventure game. Ellison also provides some truly fantastic (especially for its time) voice acting as an insane AI.

The gameplay suffers from a number of glitches (though none that I saw made it un-beatable) and a very rigid, archaic game design. For example, a number of progression events will only occur after you say or do things that are completely unrelated to the event.

Unlike most adventure games of its time, there are multiple solutions to many puzzles...but usually only one "good" way. You'll have great difficulty getting the best ending (and yes, there are multiple endings) without a walkthrough. Of course, given the underlying subject matter, it's rather fitting that the (relatively) happy ending is elusive.

All that said, it's worth playing for fans of adventure games and especially for fans of the short story - as the game's plot is very different.

I Have No Fingers, and I Must Review

Depressive, sick and madness. I love this game.

If you are looking for challenging puzzles, this game is not suit. But if you are looking for something you may never seen, something new, so this is might a game you are looking for.

One of the few artsy games that isn't ashamed to be a game.

Great classic game. What it lacks in grphics, it more than makes up for in story. The scenarios have some pretty heavy and twisted content. I enjoyed the music throughout the game, but found in difficult places it could a bit repeatative. Also the game comes with the short story I have no Mouth, and I must scream. Look in the game installation folder, well worth the read.

I like the old-fashioned, point-and-click adventure games. I also enjoy the vast cruelty of a cold and bleak universe where nothing I do or say has any great consequence in the grand scheme of things. That's why I play I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream.

From the amazing writing to the soul-crushing bleakness staring you in the face from the cloudy indifference of a gaping void, this game truly has a bit of everything for us adventure fans!

11/10 -- Would look upon my life's work and despair again.

Alright, this has been a wild ride and I haven't even managed to get to the ending yet but here we go.

A brilliantly twisted story of survival through and through, you will play as one of five people unfortunate enough to have been handpicked as a devilish child of an AI's playthings. Seriously, you'll love to hate (HATE!) this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. After 109 years of endless torture, these five humans are about to bring the Big Bad Baby to its knees. Succeed, and they may have a chance to return to the world outside AM's eternal straitjacket. Fail, and suffer a fate worse than any they've endured.

Basically, IHNMAIMS will mess you up. It will give your brain a swirly and laugh about it.

Pros:
- Classic point and click adventure format for nostalgia boners
- 10/10 storytelling and characters.
- Grotesquely beautiful landscape.

Cons:
- This is not a game for the faint of heart and covers a lot of sensitive topics. If you are potentially triggered by ♥♥♥♥, abuse, torture, holocaust/Nazi themes, cannibalism, animal cruelty, and general nastiness, either reconsider your purchase or brace for impact.
- Almost impossible to beat without a walkthrough. Luckily, they are available just a shift-tab away.
- Bugs. Bugs everywhere.

Overall, I give it a 9/10. Give it a go if you feel you're up to it. It's definitely considered a classic for a reason.

"He withdrew, muttering to hell with you. And added, brightly, but then you're there, aren't you."

Humanity extinct at the hands of its own creations and the erradicator of our species is as insane as us! 4 lucky dudes and a dudette find out just how much for a millenia... and now they got a chance to escape (yeah not the good kind of escape but relative to their existence its a great deal).

Who needs 'depression quest' when you got 'SUICIDE QUEST'!

Pretty good adventure game. It isn't a perfect piece of software, but overall it satisfies. It is also short, you won't need too much time to appreciate it fully. Get it on whatever sale, and play it any day you got nothing to do, it will be time well spent.

Had a woman chew food for me the day before she was strapped to a lightning rod and vaporised.
10/10

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” gives an interesting take on the mythos surrounding mortality and consequence. The game plays as an adaptation of the short story written by uber-famous sci-fi extraordinaire Harlan Ellison, onto which humanity is put at an ultimate test. Those who are familiar with titles such as “Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem” will feel well at home with this title; as each game not only amasses a variety of time pieces, but contains different stories that in some ultimate fashion fasten together for a grand conclusion.

The game kicks off in a pseudo “System Shock 2” manner in which a supercomputer named AM—reminiscent of “2001: A Space Odyssey” HAL—selects five members on which to do his bidding… namely torturing these poor souls to relive their greatest guilt in an unending cycle in such the style of Hell. Each character only remembers bits and pieces of their past, but do not remember what terrible offense they had committed to deserve such cruelties. Later exploration consists of a psychological exodus where they slowly come to a moment of realization; it is normally at that moment where AM—in one final and desperate tactic—lays out an ultimate torture for each subject.

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” is accompanied by a sharp script that is borderline twisted and amusing; it defines dark humor amidst a tale of tragedy and desperation. The script is elevated also by the unique performances of the cast, including none other than Harlan Ellison who voices AM. There is an array of emotions by each character that not only draws a gamer deeper into unraveling the mysteries, but at some moments also feel for the character, as if accompanied. The subject matter in all its seriousness provides a great contrast to an otherwise campy story that, had it been crafted in any other manner, might not have been taken as seriously in other games. “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” not only knows the balance between comedy and tragedy but does a flaming knife juggling on unicycle act. There are very few science fiction writers that have accomplished such things—the closest to come to mind is Philip K. ♥♥♥♥, who wrote countless short stories including “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” which inspired Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 sleeper hit “Total Recall,” basically another story that balances itself between tragedy, comedy, and campiness.

The gameplay as a whole is decent for the most part; not the lengthiest or most challenging of adventure games in the market. Seasoned adventure veterans could go through this title in a solid 2-3 hours; casuals, add at least 2 hours to that notch. The game is more story-driven than anything, and the locations aren’t incredibly large. The game does call for a great deal of backtracking, but on a plus note there is very minimal handholding. There is a consequence system. Consequences are measured by the actions gamers take: whether they completely miss a step, mess up on a puzzle, choose the not-so-nice conversational responses, reflects on a character portrait. The more you do a faulty job, or the wrong choices you make, affects the colorization of the border in a character portrait, leading to a different outcome endgame. It is basically your average in-game report card before stats started lingering the gaming market. Some would argure that the system mandates are unjust, that the game wants you to basically follow a set pattern and offer very little room for freedom of choice. In the contextual realm of “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” it fits very well with the philosophical nature of the game.

If there were any complaints to be made, it was that I wanted more. Each chapter offers small episodes for each character, and they are each original in their very nature. Some romps are more amusing than others. But when the grand—and I mean grand—finale of the game comes to a close, I was left as much satisfied by the delivery as I did emptied. On a positive note, the game does have multiple ways in which the game can end, depending on which character you would choose to perform the final actions. The puzzles remain the same, but any prior knowledge one particular character has effects certain situations in the final stage. While such a variety was interesting, there still remained little to no difference in other departments outside of the story. Does that sour the overall experience I have had with the game? Not in the least. “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” does contain a very interesting story—filled to the brim with references to other literary works and historical moments—outside of its rather primitive and linear level designs, but it is a game that has switched enough mental gears to make it an overall unforgettable experience, especially for those who have an appreciation for older titles. The game is ultimately affected by its concise duration, even for a game made right after the transition from DOS/floppy disk titles, which can stint game completion (by those who have memorized the game full and through) to under an hour. While it may thematically reflect the length of a short story, "I Have No Mouth, and Must Scream" painfully makes me wish it were rather the length of a novel.

Presentation: 8.5/10
Gameplay: 7.5/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8.5/10
Replay Value: 6.5/10
Overall: 7.8/100

Final Analysis: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” provides an entertaining adventure through the ages. While the adventure is cut short by content value, it more than makes up for both story, originality, and personality. Adventure fans may find some interest to be had from this title, anyone else regard it with caution—albeit it has aged fairly, “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” requires patience, persistence, and a sense of appreciation for games of yesteryear. Definitely worth discount price; anything more than 5 dollars is a swindle.

72/100
Pros: acting is so bad it's good. Story is cool. Click on everything to advance.

Cons: hate how 'use' and 'walk to' swap meanings. take was sometimes used oddly and items could be picked up after examining twice. The ending happens without doing all characters arcs, so do not do everything with one person if you want to see the full end.

English version
(polska wersja poniżej)

I have a difficult time writing about I Have No Mouth and I Must because of my personal attitude towards this game. While I consider “The Longest Journey” the paramount of an adventure experience and believe that everyone should at least try this game, in case of IHNMaIMS is more complicated since, clearly, it is not a game everyone can enjoy.

First off all, IHNMaIMS is kind of The Elder Scrolls of adventure gaming, and for more than one reason. Firstly, hardy any point and click adventure gives player such freedom of choices. Secondly, much less on a positive note, this is possibly the greatest bugfest in the history of adventure gaming. When deciding to play this game one has to be prepared to face game breaking bugs that will inspire either restarting one’s adventure or a ragequit. Still, while IHNMaIMS forums are choke-full of bug reports , I was lucky enough to finish at least three different versions of this game without any problems.

Secondly, people who prefer solid mechanics and comfortable gameplay may (and probably will) completely disdain this game. In IHNMaIMS everything seems to be secondary to narration. If you prefer story over anything else, then that is not an issue, but if you want to play comfortably know this: this game has a nasty habit of playing with the gamer. Not to spoil too much, it often may look like you have to do something bad to another character (kill is such a nasty word…) or a group of characters to gain a particular item or simply progress a story. And when you finish that chapter you discover that said item was completely useless. On the other hand, the character’s alignment / sanity is of great importance in this game, and it is affected all the time, exactly by this kind of choices.

Thirdly, it needs to be said that to fully appreciate this game, some basic knowledge of Freudian psychology is needed. Especially the ego, superego and id and the dream symbolism may come in handy.

So, what does this game give in return ? Probably the most emotionally engaging experience in the history of adventure gaming. The world (or worlds) within this game is rich and congruent, storylines are brilliant and characters are captivating ( The game goes to great lengths to make one feel compassionate even for a sadistic scientist of a totalitarian regime). Also the way the puzzles fit into the storyline is truly brilliant. For example (not much of a spoiler, since that’s the very beginning of this particular chapter), the first day of the Benny’s storyline. Benny’s body has been completely mutilated during the years of merciless torture, his bones have been shattered and forced to grow together in a bad way, his vocal cords have been torn out and he is generally a mess. Consequently, first he has to learn how to eat, walk up the stairs and how to communicate with others.

Finally, for the game that’s nearly 20 years old, the graphics are still pretty impressive. The backgrounds are dark, moody and full of detail. Still, It should be appreciated how authors made almost every important item clearly visible.To conclude, let me just suggest running this game on ScummVM, a free tool that enables many graphic and sound options as well as some bugfixes – which in this particular game helps a lot.

Wersja Polska

Pisanie o I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (dalej IHNMaIMS) przychodzi mi z trudem ze względu na fakt że jest to jedna z tych gier które zdefiniowały moje podejście do przygodówek. Inaczej jednak, niż w przypadku „Najdłuższej Podróży”, która niezmiennie jest moim „numerem jeden” w świecie point and clicków, nie mogę IHNMaIMS polecić każdemu.

Po pierwsze, można powiedzieć że ta gra jest swoistym „Elder Scrollem” przygodówek, i to z więcej niż jednego powodu. Podobnie jak seria Bethesdy daje wolność wyboru niespotykaną u innych przedstawicieli danego gatunku. I podobnie jak „Scrollsy” jest aż po same brzegi napakowana bugami wszelkiej maści i kalibru. Odpalając IHNMaIMS trzeba być przygotowanym na błędy które mogą uniemożliwić jej ukończenie, zmusić do restartu całej historii, albo spowodować ragequit. Inna sprawa, że ukończyłem co najmniej trzy różne wersje tej gry, nie natrafiając na żadne poważniejsze bugi, więc da się też „zaliczyć” ją bezproblemowo.

Po drugie, ludzie ceniący sobie solidną mechanikę ułatwiającą rozgrywkę na każdym kroku prawdopodobnie znienawidzą tą grę. Jakie problemy można mieć z mechaniką w point and clicku? W IHNMaIMS wszystko jest drugoplanowe względem opowiadanej historii. Osoboy ceniącym sobie w grach przede wszystkim angażującą narrację nie będą miały z tym problemów, niemniej ta gra potrafi momentami być bardzo złośliwa. Zamierzenie. Żeby uniknąć spoilerów wspomnę tylko że nieraz może wydawać się że jedynym sposobem zdobycia jakiegoś przedmiotu czy popchnięcia historii na przód jest wyrządzenie mniejszego bądź większego zła któremuś z bohaterów pobocznych. Kiedy już gracz zdobędzie dany przedmiot, okazuje się że nie jest on do niczego przydatny, podczas gdy poczytalność bohatera –którą tracimy bądź zyskujemy, zależnie od dokonywanych decyzji – odgrywa kluczową rolę w opowiadanej historii.

Po trzecie, żeby w pełni docenić IHNMaIMS, przydaje się podstawowa znajomość psychologii Freudowskiej – ego, super ego, id, symbolika snów. Bez tego niektóre fragmenty gry mogą wydać się niezrozumiałe.

A co ta gra może dać w zamian? Prawdopodobnie najbardziej wciągający horror science-fiction w historii gier przygodowych. Świat (czy raczej światy) przedstawiony tutaj jest bogaty, mroczny i fascynujący, historia ciekawa, a postacie wielopoziomowe i wzbudzające sympatię (nawet sadystyczny doktor z obozu zagłady – bo i kimś takim przyjdzie nam grać) . Jeżeli zaś chodzi o zagadki które stawiane są przez graczem, uważam je za szczytowe osiągnięcie jeżeli chodzi o łączenie narracji z mechaniką rozgrywki. Przykładem niech będzie początek historii Bennego (nie jest to wielki spoiler – pierwsze 5 minut rozdziału). Benny jest uroczą postacią – jego kości zostały połamane i zrosły się w paskudny sposób, struny głosowe zostały wyrwane z jego gardła, twarz ma pociętą w drobną kratkę – ogólnie Benny nie jest okazem zdrowia. Oczywiście ma to wpływ na zadania przed jakimi staje – na początku musimy nauczyć go jak komunikować się bez używania głosu, jeść (!) i wchodzić po schodach (!!).

Mógłbym o tej grze napisać wiele więcej, ale kończy mi się miejsce więc słowo o oprawie: po prawie 20 latach grafika ciągle robi wrażenie. Tła są klimatyczne, pełne szczegółów i wspaniale kształtują mroczny obraz gry, budowany również przez klimatyczną muzykę. Warto wspomnieć że autorzy dokonali niemal cudu sprawiając że na tych pełnych detali tłach prawie każdy istotny dla fabuły przedmiot jest widoczny. Na koniec wspomnę jeszcze tylko że najlepiej uruchomić tą grę przez ScummVM, darmowe narzędzie udostępniające w starych przygodówkach wiele opcji graficznych, dźwiękowych i naprawiających wiele błędów – co w przypadku IHNMaIMS ma niebagatelne znaczenie.

You can try to eat broken glass.

15/7.94

One of the best point and clicks I've played, it's must buy for anyone who is a fan of the short story 'I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream'. It has great music and atmosphere and is very well written, it doesn't matter whether you have read the short story or not because the game will still make sense. Plus it comes with a copy of the short story, the soundtrack and a short insight into the games development with the author Harlon Ellsion so it's really very good value for 5.99.

Alright, seriously, this game is AMAZING. Stuck in a sort of digital pergatory, each character has to figure out how to "repent" for their life in order to break free of the "Allied Master Computer's" hell program. Its a crazy, absurd, old-school horror game and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. If you like horror, with strange, fresh, suprising and shocking content, I highly recommend you try this AND Harvester. Great old games, cheap price tag, hilarious and out there. Gives your id something to chew on.

As I write this, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is $1.49. BUY THIS GAME.

After writing this review, I realized that the game comes with a free copy of the story it is based on. At full price, you're paying less than forty cents for the game if you buy it just for the story, and at any discount you're paying less for the game and the story combined than if you bought the story on Amazon! I'm copying the PDF to my Kindle right now!

This is a really good game,it has a very deep story and it says alot about humanity and morals,reminds you of what we are capable of doing(for better or for worse),as for the gameplay its your basic point and click however it is not very forgiving *spoiler you require to do all the adventures perfectly for the best ending*
anyway im sure your all here because the short story was awsome,This game is somewhat based off the story however it is edited and explains a bit more about AM,also the charaters storys are changed a bit like benny is now a former commander not the scientist he was in the story,but other then that its mostly true to the book,and for those who have not read the story it comes in the games files in a .pdf format
In conclusion id give it a 9.5/10 its a great adventure game,it can be difficult at times but it feels so great to figure out a puzzel,and going deeper into the story