In 2025, a new Pathologic game will be released. If the first two games weren't strange enough, this one also has time travel.

Ice-Pick Lodge, six years after deciding to divide Pathologic 2 into separate chapters to actually finish and release the game, has decided to go full speed ahead with Pathologic 3 and tossed that plan in the creepy medical pyre instead.

In Pathlogic 3, the player will take on the role of the Bachelor, a city doctor who travels to a remote, small town to solve the mystery surrounding a deadly plague and, according to publisher HypeTrain Digital "conquer the death itself." As in previous games, you have a limited time to complete the task - only 12 days - but this time, you can go back in time to "revisit key events and alter" them so that things don't turn out as bad as they did before.

As a physician, you will examine patients, conduct research on pathogens in order to develop treatments, establish quarantines and set up patrols to ensure that they are followed. In your free time, you can explore "a decaying city on the edge of collapse, where trust is a luxury that you cannot afford"

Pathologic is not as simple as it seems, even in videogame terms. It's not just about saving the people and being the hero. It's a strange, janky game that is challenging. PC Gamer's Phil Savage stated in 2014 that the game was "not good in the traditional sense of the word," but it was "interesting and weird" and "completely memorable." Tom Senior, a former PC Gamer writer, said in his review of Pathologic 2 that "it's a grind, and that's what it's all about." This is probably the best summary of the Pathologic experience I've heard. It is what is is, and either you like it or not.

Despite its niche appeal, Pathologic has been remarkably durable. The original was released in 2005, and then remade in 2015. Pathologic 2 followed in 2019. Ice-Pick Lodge began talking about Pathologic 3 as early as 2020, but at the time, it was thought to be a "chapter of Pathologic 2". Over the last four years, it has evolved into a standalone game.

It's important to note, especially in light of our "really enthusiastic and equally reluctant" take on Pathologic, both games have "very positive user ratings" on Steam. It's evident that despite their niche and difficulty, a lot people enjoy what they do. I wouldn't care if Pathologic 3 loosened up a bit on its most insurmountable jank, but not too much. Otherwise it wouldn't feel like Pathologic.

Pathologic 3 can be added to your Steam wishlist now.