Back to Blog
Darq game time6/17/2023 My first experience playing DARQ was its 2019 debut, a short yet haunting three-hour experience that left me wanting more, and in 2023, I can definitely say that the game is still as fun and delightfully strange as it was then. The few shortcomings don’t overrule the positives, and if you are looking for a short and creepy game to play, then DARQ: Ultimate Edition is a great fit.// Reviews // 24th Mar 2023 - 2 months ago // By Alyssa Rochelle Payne DARQ: Ultimate Edition Review Overall, DARQ is a decent puzzle game that has an incredibly well-built atmosphere. So unless you have a crippling phobia and can’t handle any jump scares at all, I wouldn’t let those fears dissuade you from picking up a copy. In which case, I’m not even sure I could call them jump scares. There are some minor “jump scares” present throughout a playthrough, but some of them are telegraphed in a pretty obvious way. Granted, there are an additional two levels with this being the Ultimate Edition, but even then you shouldn’t expect to get more than a few hours out of this game.Īn additional note to consider, I know some people really struggle with jump scares and will want to know if they should be worried about them going into a game like DARQ. When a game is that short, all the time you spend standing and waiting feels so much longer. I managed to get through the main story found in DARQ: Ultimate Edition in about an hour and a half. It’s not the end of the world, but it stands out, especially considering my second main issue – the short play time. It’s just tedious and takes up extra time. It’s annoying when a level makes you do this multiple times in the same spot, especially when there isn’t any difficulty in it. This forces you to wait for them to slowly shamble across the screen, before hopping into the obvious hiding spot, and then waiting for them to walk by again. Their patrol path is fixed and their movement on it, slow. Most enemies you encounter will patrol a corridor that Lloyd needs to pass to solve a puzzle. While I think the enemy and character design fit great into the world of DARQ, their behavior is too simplistic. Its incredibly basic enemy behavior and overall length. That being said, there are two areas where DARQ does suffer. It’s a bit of a catch-22, where they could either make a tutorial and ruin the immersion, or leave you to your own devices. The lack of a tutorial just bolsters the immersion in the world. You’re like a newborn learning to walk in the most terrifying circumstances possible. This is a more forgivable issue though because DARQ: Ultimate Edition doesn’t really explain any of its mechanics. This issue is compounded because sneaking isn’t needed until you’ve already completed a good portion of the game. You need to remember that you can sneak, but it isn’t mentioned at all. Powerless and desperate to find a way out of the dark.Īll that being said, it is not a perfect game. It keeps the tone and story consistent with how you are supposed to feel. Throughout, Lloyd remains defenseless and must avoid the dangers. I’m also glad that there is no combat in the game. I didn’t find any of these my first time playing through the game, and I only realized they existed as I got to the end of the main story with only one achievement.Īs I mentioned earlier, the enemy and world design are great and the abominations that haunt Lloyd’s nightmares definitely sell the horror of DARQ. The game relies on atmospheric storytelling and something I wish I would’ve known going into it is that there is a hidden journal page in each level which reveals more about DARQ’s backstory. One takes place on a train, another in a theatre, and so on. There are seven levels to play through, each with their own theme. It’s a bit like a point and click adventure, just without the pointing and clicking. It doesn’t help that the normal walk animation keeps Lloyd hunched over like he is in his stealth walk, so it’s hard to even realize you’re changing anything the first time you use it.īut beyond that, the puzzles are typically built around finding items and using them in the right spot. I say this because the game doesn’t really point it out to you, and there is no need to use it until you’re a few levels into the game. There is one exception, which I won’t spoil, but it’s important to remember that you do have the ability to crouch walk and sneak.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |