Detective Jack Walters is called to a standoff between the Police and a strange cult. After exploring the house of the encounter and being subject to a strange phenomenon, Jack reawakens 6 years later, not remembering a thing that happened. He is then called to investigate the disappearance of a person in the town of Innsmouth. It's easier to appreciate this game if you know its backstory: Dark Corners of the Earth went through such a development hell - more than five years, with many interesting ideas scrapped throughout, like nonlinear story lines and a cooperative mode - it's a wonder installing it doesn't cause your PC to be eaten by some eldritch abomination.<br/><br/>This first person action/adventure is a shrine to Lovecraft's works, in particular The Shadow Over Innsmouth - some sequences actually come straight from the famous novella, like a chilling nocturnal escape from a seedy hotel.<br/><br/>Dark Corners is one of those rare games which don't just borrow Lovecraftian imagery and elements (fish-like monsters, tomes of forbidden lore…), but also get the tone right. The last Lovecraft- inspired game which mixed creepy lore and sinister atmosphere so well was the flat-out terrifying Infogrames adventure Shadow of the Comet, many years ago.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, and here the game's troubled development rears its ugly head, gameplay isn't quite on par: combat is clunky, stealth clunkier. After the umpteenth time I got insta-killed by a shotgun-wielding fish-man telling his comrades to "Shhhh-pread out!" as I inched my way through a tiresome stealth section, my admiration for the game "getting Lovecraft" was quite diminished.<br/><br/>So ask yourself: how much do I value atmosphere in a game? Enough to overlook questionable design decisions? Fans of Myst and Oblivion will most likely enjoy this game. It's immersive, dark, and dreary. The gameplay is heavy on puzzles, character dialogue is well developed, but running is neither necessary nor an option. As far as I got, it would work just as well as a point-and-click.<br/><br/>If you like to look around as opposed to tearing through the game at hyper speed, this title is NOT for you. Every disturbing image–and there are plenty–costs you insanity points. What this does is make the screen pulse, especially when you are looking at enemies. By Chapter 3 this made the game unplayable for me personally. I've never got sick to my stomach from a game before, and sadly it was not for a good reason.<br/><br/>Another thing that the insanity score will do is slow down your character's movement speed. Yes, it's a great thing to experience the first few times it happens, but after that it makes the game extremely tedious.<br/><br/>I'm currently rating this title a 7/10 for the initial story, ambiance, level of immersion and the novel approach to interacting with the game world. There is no HUD, so very little is left to remind you of the separation between you and the crazy world which you just entered.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, some of the puzzles feel too contrived to be enjoyable…and this breaks the flow of the game. When it comes down to stepping on exactly the right pixel at the right time, the game ceases to be fun.<br/><br/>If you like shoot-'em-up atmospheric horror, check out The Suffering. <br/><br/>I will be watching a playthrough of this game, and when I'm done I will update my review.
Vernejam replied
293 weeks ago