America, China and Russia each created a super computer for war. Then the American computer developed a consciousness, merged the other two computers into itself and came to hate the people who created him for the sole purpose of war. The device called himself AM (Allied Master-computer) and used its power to wipe humanity from the world. He left only four men and a woman alive. He brought them to his belly at the center of the Earth, and gave these people immortality; only to torture them for more than a hundred years, not letting them consider escape or even die.

That is the premise of the point & click adventure game: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. The game was released for personal computers in 1995, and both adapts and expands on one of the bleakest short stories in the world of science-fiction. Both the book and the game’s script were written by the same author, Harlan Ellison.

I bought the 2013 re-release of game on Steam. because I had heard it referenced more than once on the YouTube channel Extra Credits. I wasn’t disappointed with the decision as I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream had good characters and story. Despite the game featuring topics I tend to avoid, I couldn’t stop playing and wondering what’s next.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream follows the last five survivors on Earth. After one hundred and nine years of being tortured by AM, when they have long lost their hope, AM offered each one of them a challenge by putting them into separate worlds representing each of their fatal flaws.

The game is played through character-specific chapters. These can be played in any order, and the final chapter can be played using any of the surviving characters. The first character is Gorrister, a suicidal man crippled with the guilt of being responsible for his wife’s mental illness. AM gives him a chance to finally kill himself if he manages to find the means to do so. Gorrister finds himself placed in what appears like an airship, where he must overcome his guilt.

Next is Benny, who was once a harsh military officer that killed his comrades in his unit for not meeting his expectations. AM altered his appearance into an ape-like creature and damaged his brain. His chapter puts him in a world where people take a daily lottery to decide on whom to sacrifice to AM.

Ellen is the sole female of the group, and was once attacked by a man in a closed elevator. Because of this, she has had PSTD ever since. She is triggered when she sees the color yellow because of the man’s outfit at the time. AM exploits this by putting her in a yellow pyramid made with electronic junk, where she has to learn to overcome her past. Nimdok is an ex-Nazi scientist who made questionable experiments in his life but forgot his past since. Nimdok was placed in a Nazi military base in the distant past and has to come to terms of what he have done.

Ted is a former con-artist who used his good looks to get what he wants. He was placed by AM in a medieval-looking palace where he finds his love, Ellen, slowly dying because of a magic spell cast by her step-mother. Ted has to get over his paranoia to save himself and Ellen from AM.

In their chapters, each character has to overcome his or her fatal flaw and prove to AM that humans could change. I liked every story, from Nimdok’s realization of what he had done to Gorrister’s quest to forgive himself. However, I loved the world Benny was placed in the most. Something about the tribal culture of it piqued my interest.

The art of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream stands the test of time. The character’s personalities are reflected in their design. The backgrounds look amazing (if bizarre,) and each place the character are put in feels like its own world. The strange elements in the backgrounds, as well as the mix of old and made-up technology makes me wonder if the characters were physically placed into these locations or if these were metaphorical challenges for them.

For the gameplay, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream plays like most point-and-click titles of the 90’s. The player takes control of each character to explore the world while talking to the characters and using items to solve puzzles. The game’s nature is pretty linear, as you have to choose dialogue actions and use items in a certain order to progress. I found some solutions for puzzles that require moon logic, basically making very little logical sense. One of the inventory items is a book that shows you a hint for your next objective, but it can be hard to understand. I needed a guide more than once to complete certain chapters.

Despite the dated gameplay and the few bugs I encountered, the game offers a solid experience. There are instances in which some chapters become unwinnable due to making a mistake or doing things out of order. In this case, I advise you to save early, save often and never overwrite saves.

I loved the soundtrack of the game. The music tracks enhance the dystopian feeling and some convey the feeling of urgency. The voice acting is spot on. You could feel the characters’ suffering in their voice. AM is voiced by Harlan Ellison himself, and he seems to enjoy playing the role of the evil mastermind.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a pretty short experience that could take less than 6 hours to finish. There are also multiple endings; most of them are downer ones that leave a bad taste in your mouth though. The original ending of the story could be reached by losing the game in the final chapter with any character, while the best ending is the hardest to achieve. Harlan Ellison wanted the game to have only bad endings but the development team convinced him that it wouldn’t sell that way.

Overall, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, is a bleak dystopian game that offers tiny bits of hope in spots for the characters and the world. It teaches that no matter how flawed you are, you can become a better person. It suffers from some of the flaws that come with point-and-click adventure gameplay, but ultimately that doesn’t make the experience frustrating.

The strongest point of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream other than the characterization is the ideas it explores, some of which are disturbing like murder and rape. I tend to avoid these topics in general but they’re conveyed in a way I came to admire. I completely recommend I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream for fans of point-and-click adventure games, who don’t mind dated gameplay and heavy topics. I also would recommend it to those who love dark dystopian sci-fi stories, who want relatable characters that can’t save the world or even themselves. The game is not for everyone, but for the people it was made for, it is one of the most thought-provoking classic adventure games of all time.

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I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

$5.99 USD

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Characters and story are well written.
• Awesome soundtrack.
• Multiple endings.

Cons

• Some chapters can be unwinnable by mistake.
• Aged gameplay.