Darkness
Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder
I never did play this when it
was released, but I did play the sequel, and in a different reviewing
galaxy I concluded that while it had its moments, it was overwhelmed by
some convoluted game mechanics and a messy plot. I probably shouldn’t
have been surprised that part one left me with kind of the same
impression.
Darkness Within was first
released in 2007, four years before the year in which the game is set.
That we are now looking backwards makes no difference, given the nature
of the piece and the settings. What we have for the hiatus is described
by the makers as enhanced graphics and Steam achievements. As I said, I
never saw the original so can’t comment on the enhancements; the Steam
achievements I can take or leave. The revamped sequel will apparently
have new puzzles and environments, but as far as I can tell that isn’t
the case here.
What we have here is a Lovecraft
inspired piece of psychological horror, albeit not terribly
psychological or horrific. You play detective Howard Loreid, a troubled
man investigating the disappearance of Loath Nolder, a private
investigator who is the main suspect in a recent murder. Given the tale
is told retrospectively as the personal account of a resident of a
lunatic asylum, clearly things did not go well.
I can recall a few games of this
type from around the time it first came out (Necronomicon, one of the
early Sherlock Holmes games), and certainly the style suits the nature
of adventure gaming. Solitary, explorative, slow burns based on a
twisting and often elaborate and fansical plot. The horror is more an
unease, a dread, growing as we go, and the weirdness messes with your
head and you start to question your sanity. While we have the trappings
here – a beating heart, tap tap tappings at the door, and heavy
breathing, mostly in dark spaces and gothic mansions – it never really
creates the environment it is striving for, and as a result never
generates a scary or disturbing moment.
Puzzling is, as it often is, a
mixed bag. Most are logical, but some are convoluted complications
beyond comprehension. The date puzzle is one of those, and a little
googling indicates I am not alone in my impression. Some are also overly
fiddly in their mechanics, requiring more work than actually appears
needed.
An ambitious aspect of the
puzzling is the ability to access Howard's thinking process. From within
the inventory screen, you can, for instance, underline possible clues in
a document, then get his view on the matter, searching for that “aha”
moment, and combine items for his input. Were it an adjunct I might have
enjoyed it, but it is way too integral to some puzzle solves, and I
found it way too fussy for my liking. You may have a different
impression however (as a case in point, check out
Becky’s review written at the time).
The game is played in the first
person, with a point to point node system of locomotion. You have
virtually 360 degree panning at each node, and exploration therefore
seems quite free. Active icons will indicate something can be done on
objects in the game world, and while there are occasionally too many
clicks in order to examine an item and then back out of it, most
adventure game players will find the interface familiar and easy to use.
Darkness Within has a complex,
almost labyrinthine plot, and I did go back over things to try and keep
on top of it. That is not a bad thing, and while all of the complexities
are not resolved, it was always the first in a series of games, so to
some extent that is to be expected.
It looks good, albeit dark in
most places, but character modelling shows its age. It sounds good too,
both ambiently and (for the most part) in the score. It is generally
well acted, although you will likely spend as much time combing journals
and the like for information and clues as you will be listening to the
spoken word.
You can choose to play on a
number of difficulty settings, and can tweak a number of playing options
at the menu screen. You can save at will (yay) and slots are generous
and more than you will need.
I didn’t not enjoy Darkness
Within but to me, it fundamentally fell down on delivering that
Lovecraft/Poe experience. As this was a key part of what it was trying
to be, everything else suffered accordingly.
Grade: C+
I played on:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel i7-3820 4GHz
RAM: 12GB Ripjaw DDR3 2133 Mhz
Video card: AMD Radeon HD 7800 2048MB
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December 2014
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