Review: Autopsy Simulator: Is it just as lifeless as the bodies on the slab?

Autopsy Simulator certainly seems like an odd choice for a cozy game site, but hear me out. Murder podcasts. True Crime Documentaries. Think of all the memes that joke about people – women, specifically – that consume these topics as a way to de-stress and relax. 

While I’m not an aficionado on the podcast scene, I’ve had my fair share of falling down documentary rabbit holes. 

In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m a spooky bitch. As such, I can’t help but be intrigued by a game that promises a more realistic approach to autopsies in games. 

So, is Autopsy Simulator cozy by stereotypical standards? Not at all. But, if you thrive on the weird and macabre, you’re probably going to enjoy a lot of aspects of this game. 

Note: I made sure not to include any graphic imagery, so this article should be safe for viewing for those that may be more sensitive to visual gore.

Autopsy Simulator: Dissecting Gameplay

When I booted up Autopsy Simulator, I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of gameplay. I never played The Mortuary Assistant (but watched countless gameplay videos of it) and I figured it’d be something like that with more realism. 

It’s, actually, not. I was expecting a crap ton of jumpscares and, while there are spooky elements, I’d say that if you’re looking for a thrill, this might leave you disappointed.

Autopsy Simulator is more about telling the story of a pathologist, Jack, struggling heavily with mental health after the death of his wife, Alice. I will say that if you don’t have a strong stomach, you won’t want to pick up this title.

The visuals are graphic as you are dissecting anatomically correct bodies. The visuals are gruesome since the various bodies on your table have wide-ranging damage. 

The story is told over 5 chapters and each chapter features a different police case regarding a body on your slab. It’s your job to perform your autopsies and determine the cause of death. As you do, you’re going through accurate procedures to find your answers.

As the story progresses, you learn more about the pathologist by little details about victims on his table that bear some sort of likeness to his past wife. Sometimes it’s that a body looks like her or a scenario resembles how she died.

It’s usually during these moments that you get your jumpscares. Sometimes the bodies will do something; like disappearing off the table or fully sitting up, but there’s another story underneath it all that is vastly more creepy than moving bodies in my opinion. 

During one of the chapters, you’re told about a news report regarding “Red Pete” getting out of prison, someone that you helped to put away. After that happens, your place gets ransacked and every so often you see a man walking down the hall of the medical building while you’re doing something outside. 

♪ Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious… ♫

The threat of a “real” person stalking you is just so much more concerning than a corpse sitting up on the medical table. 

Autopsy Simulator doesn’t rely on jumpscares. You never get loud banging noises and things don’t just pop up from nowhere. It’s casual things like seeing things through a window or a body bag twitching. 

Maybe I’m just braver than I thought, but I had set myself up for something so much more than it was. 

Obviously, I don’t want to give too much of the story away because it’s the mystery that’s the core of this game. All you need to really know is that Jack is tired and weary. His anxieties have resulted in needing meds to keep his head clear and some weird things are happening all around him. 

There are two endings, from what I can tell, but I wasn’t able to see both of them because my game bugged. I’m not an anomaly on this since looking it up showed several people were unable to see the other ending. 

Unfortunately, it’s not just this variant ending that is bugged. Autopsy Simulator is full of issues; some are as minor as spelling errors, but some are as bad as control issues. There were times when I was clicking around somewhere and just couldn’t figure it out. Either the controls had glitched or the hitbox is just insanely tiny. 

I wish the story had been more engaging. The only thing that kept me going into the next chapter was thinking that the creep factor would suddenly increase, but it never did. So, cozy gamers don’t really have to worry about something being too scary if they want to give this a try. 

Not even the lure of solving murder could keep me engaged since you’re not required to actually make any decisions. Jack will handhold you to the answer every time.

I won’t give spoilers on the ending, but it should be mentioned that I was so very disappointed. The whole time that I played, my husband sat next to me and we both just felt there was something missing. 

Spoiler Free Zone

Visually speaking, the game didn’t have much to complain about. I had to turn the graphics all the way down for my potato computer, but I didn’t have much trouble there. 

In terms of music, I really don’t remember what it sounded like. Perhaps unremarkable doesn’t sound like a positive, but when I don’t turn off the music on a game, it’s a serious win. 

Lastly, I wanted to bring up the narrative and voice acting. Thankfully, this wasn’t AI voiced. I’m so tired, especially in the horror gamesphere, of all of the AI voices. However, the voice of the main character had a way of over-acting the scenario. 

There were times that my character would explosively react and I’d just be looking around the room trying to figure out what I was missing. As such, the narrative could have been a little tighter, but I understand they were trying to convey a man at the end of his rope. 

Plus, there’s something going on behind the scenes that’s a mysterious little spoiler that you’re unaware of until the end of the game. So, there’s some forgiveness here when taking that into account, but not much. 

All in all, I had very high hopes for Autopsy Simulator and it just didn’t deliver. I still had fun and if you’re into narrative-driven stories with an interest in autopsies, you should definitely consider it. But, you’re going into an experience that is more tame than you’d likely expect. 

If you want to get Autopsy Simulator, you can get it on Steam for $24.99. Otherwise, you can look at our review for a different horror-lite game we reviewed, Exit 8. It’s the perfect “baby’s first horror” game if you’re curious about the genre.