Overview

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a traditional point-and-click adventure game based off of a short story written by Harlan Ellison. In the game, the player takes control over 5 different characters through their own individual storylines. The main antagonist is an AI named AM. AM is filled with so much hatred for humanity that he has tortured each of the 5 remaining humans for 109 years. The game actually is AM torturing each character 1 more time by creating individual worlds for them to suffer through.

One difference between this game and most games based on books or movies is that the author of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream had a more direct role in shaping the game. Harlan Ellison was involved in the process of making the game and played a large part in creating the themes and story of the game.

Each character has a fatal flaw which they must overcome or give in to during the course of their story. There is a spiritual meter next to the action window which measures the characters actions during the game. Good deeds or acts will positively affect the meter while evil deeds or acts will negatively affect the meter. AM thrives on evil deeds. The more evil deeds the player does, the more powerful AM gets. The game centers around the idea that humanity, while destructive and immoral, can also redeem itself through self reflection. Based on the player's actions, there are 2 different endings for the game; one good, and one bad.

Story

At some point during the Cold War the USA, USSR and China each constructed huge underground complexes, each occupied by a giant computer designed to oversee a war too complex for any human. At some point, the computers merged and gained sentience, and called itself AM. AM hated humans and waged a global war against the humans on the surface, committing mass genocide. However because of AM's huge intellect, it would be trapped within its own mind, forever bored with nothing to do. Therefore, AM brought the five remaining humans into the underground, torturing and humiliating them for over a century.

After 109 years of torture, AM suddenly tells the humans that it has devised a quest for each of them. This is where the game picks up, as the humans must overcome their fatal flaw in order to escape AM's demented quest.

Characters

System Requirements

PC

Minimum

• OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7
• Processor: IBM PC Compatible computer with a 233Mhz 486 processor
• Memory: 8 MB RAM
• Graphics: A VESA compatible Super VGA card
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space

Recommended

• OS: Windows 7
• Processor: IBM PC Compatible computer with a 486 DX2/ 66Mhz (or faster) processor
• Memory: 8 MB RAM
• Graphics: A VESA compatible Super VGA card
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
• Sound Card: Sound Blaster AWE32 sound card

Mac

Minimum

• OS: Mac OS X 10.6.8
• Processor: 233Mhz 486 processor
• Memory: 8 MB RAM
• Graphics: A VESA compatible Super VGA card
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space

Recommended

• OS: Mac OS X 10.7 or newer
• Processor: 486 DX2/ 66Mhz (or faster) processor
• Memory: 8 MB RAM
• Sound Card: Sound Blaster AWE32 sound card

Linux

Minimum

• OS: Ubuntu/Kubuntu 12.04
• Processor: IBM PC Compatible computer with a 233Mhz 486 processor
• Memory: 8 MB RAM
• Graphics: A VESA compatible Super VGA card
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space

Recommended

• OS: Ubuntu/Kubuntu 13.04
• Processor: IBM PC Compatible computer with a 486 DX2/ 66Mhz (or faster) processor
• Memory: 8 MB RAM
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
• Sound Card: Sound Blaster AWE32 sound card