With stories of vampires being portrayed in various media now a days, we gamers occasionally get a title release containing these mythic and sometimes brutal creatures of the night. DARK is one of these said titles, pieced together by Realmforge Studios and sent out into the darkness by Kalypso Media.
Starting the game we are met by main protagonist Eric, neon lights, amnesia, and a headache of our own just from the graphics alone. Suffering from the amnesia, you must help Eric stumble along to regain his memories and learn what caused him to be this way. It doesn’t take too long to find out you have been turned… into… a VAMPIRE… dun dun duuuuunn! To stop you completely changing into a mindless ghoul hell bent on sucking the blood from every living creature, you must follow the triad of missions to drink the blood of your sire (the one who turned you) or that of an ancient vamp. You meet a parade of main characters along the way, none of which offer any decent amount of conversation, put forward in a Mass Effect dialogue selection, generating mundane vocab throughout.
The main aim of the game is to use stealth, cunning and vampire skills which you gain by an in game level up system. This would be ideal and a break from the norm of all guns (or fangs) blazing, if the combat controls and camera angles assisted you, instead of constricting you into not using moves or combos that could be really effective if you found yourself in a compromised position and needed to bash heads.
I was forced to not complete the game down to the frustration and boredom I was dragged into upon playing DARK. The basis of the game and idea is great in theory and the problem with some smaller studios/ indie devs is that ideas sometimes need more money which I think is the case here. Don’t get me wrong some can generate unforgettable gaming experiences but not DARK. As the game is titled, is how it will remain in my eyes, away in the dark and live as a myth just like the vampires you control and come across in game.
Developer: Realmforge Studios
Publisher: Kalypso Media
Platform: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 Release date: PC is WW July 4, 2013
Xbox 360: NA July 9, 2013/ EU July 5, 2013 Distribution: Disc & download
For more info visit www.kalypsomedia.com/en/games/dark