Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: September 6, 2000

In their youth, many people experience a desire to become like their favorite superhero from comic books or cartoon shows, wanting to have fantastic powers beyond reach of the average man. This is a common dream in our society, as is evidenced by the recent popularity of such franchises as X-Men and Superman. Though many games attempt to make players feel as though their characters are immortal, or one-man-armies, few try to manifest this childhood yearning of wanting to play the role of a Marvel-comics style superhero. Monolith Productions is presenting one such opportunity, giving gamers a chance to escape into this dream with their newest title, Sanity: Aiken’s Artifact.

Although the storyline takes place in the future, the world of Sanity is much the same as it is today, with the notable exception of the existence of Psionics. The latter element came about due to the tinkering of Dr. Joan Aiken, who discovered an artifact of unknown origin in the cradle of humanity known as the Middle-East. In her study of the artifact, Dr. Aiken developed a serum enabling average humans to use nearly 100 percent of their mental capacity, as opposed to the usual 30 percent. However, people who used the serum developed powerful Psionic abilities at the expense of their mental stability. Dr. Aiken theorized that if the serum were administered in-utero while the mind was still developing, the mental stability of the resulting children would be much higher. Her theory proved accurate, and psionics has since become a somewhat regular sight in the world’s view. However, not all people with the gift intend to use their powers for the bettering of humanity, and as such the United States government has formed a special policing agency called the Department of National Psionic Control, using the most stable and powerful of telekinetics as agents. Even with this reassurance, radical protest groups have begun forming in response to Aiken’s tampering with the human genome, as much of the “normal” global populace fear the raw power possessed by some of the Psionics.

In this near-future drama, you assume the part of DNPC Agent Cain, one of the first two children to be born with Aiken’s in-utero process. As the game starts, it is revealed that Cain was suspended for an incident where he went temporarily insane and used his pyrokinetic powers to incinerate a number of bystanders. After the massacre, Cain became so determined to continue his work for the DNPC that he volunteered to have a special microchip installed in his brain capable of shutting down his synaptic functions should he show aggression towards innocent civilians or use any type of excessive force. Following this procedure and his subsequent reinstatement to the DNPC, Cain receives a call for a mission whose beginning could reshape the destiny of mankind — which, naturally, is where the game begins.

Traversing the world of Sanity is no easy task, with street-gangs, angry citizenry and rogue Psionics all out to destroy the DNPC. Cain will be forced to use both his wits and weapons to accomplish the goals set before him during each mission briefing. Once in the field, players will have access to mundane equipment such as a badge, gun and cell phone to back up Cain’s highly aggressive, problematic attitude. Players will also have access to Cain’s Psionic nature to help complete his missions. Apparently, no Psionics have any innate skills, but instead learn by finding or purchasing new skills in the form of tarot cards. As one of the more powerful agents, Cain is able to make use of the many different abilities that he will come across while adventuring, something that he must do if he hopes to survive. Properly using these “X-men” type of gifts — which are dubbed Talents — makes up the bulk of the gameplay behind Sanity: Aiken’s Artifact.