I started to play this game by Jonathan
Boakes when it first released in 2004, got partway in and never finished.
(For the GameBoomers reviews of the original Dark Fall II: Lights Out,
click
here and
here.)
Back then, I found Lights Out intriguing, but not as
attention-grabbing as its predecessor, Dark Fall: The Journal. It
wasn’t as scary, its cursor and many hotspots were too small, and I had
trouble piecing the story together.
With the release of Lights Out: Director’s Cut, I decided to try
again and doubled down – I played both the original and the newly released
versions. This time I got far enough in that I began to understand more of
what was going on. The story caught me and I was hooked.
The Plot
In Lights Out, you play as Benjamin Parker, an artist whose day
job is cartography. The game opens in 1912, when Parker has been brought
to Cornwall, England to map the area. He discovers a mysterious lighthouse
that appears on no prior map. A local doctor urges Parker to visit the
lighthouse at night -- April 29, the same date (though in a different
year) as the odd disappearances in Dark Fall: The Journal.
Any plot description of Lights Out will risk revealing spoilers.
(Note: if you don’t want to read possible plot spoilers, skip to the
next section.) In broad strokes, there is a powerful Dark
Intelligence, an isolated location, and some abrupt journeys into
different time periods. At first the meaning of the journeys is uncertain.
Are they vivid memories, hallucinations, lucid dreams? These events
provide a powerful motivation for Parker -- one of the best I’ve
encountered in a game. The knowledge that your character was blamed for a
past horror -- and the illusion (or reality?) of changing what happened in
1912, and thereby clearing your name.
Hadden Industries plays a minor part in the game. Having observed this
company’s ominous reappearance in The Lost Crown, also by Jonathan
Boakes, I paid much more attention to it in Lights Out. Hadden’s
ghost-hunting gadgets link both Dark Fall games and The Lost
Crown, with a hint as to possible Hadden involvement in later games.
What’s Different in the Director’s Cut
I expected the Director’s Cut to improve the interface from the
original Lights Out – a larger cursor, bigger hotspots, and perhaps
the insertion of subtitles. In fact, the interface hasn’t changed much,
and the game still lacks subtitles. However, what has changed are
graphical, plot, and character details that add to the game’s atmosphere
and to the scare factor.
In the Director’s Cut version, the 1912 sequence is more eerie,
with drifting mist, a haloed moon and a new character, befuddled with
drink, muttering about the lighthouse. The background music plays more
frequently and (except for the ending sequence) the ghostly voices are
easier to understand.
In its original iteration, Lights Out had a forsaken, uncanny
atmosphere, but wasn’t particularly spooky. What terrified was actually a
form of blinding light, with glowing ghostly shapes as seen through
Hadden’s special goggles. Although light can be threatening -- even lethal
-- it’s just not as creepy as darkness.
The Director’s Cut adds shadowy manifestations that flicker out
of the corner of your eye. There’s also significantly more interaction
with the “spirits” trapped in the lighthouse. This fleshes out the story
and increases the dramatic tension. In many places text is added or
changed, providing more information about characters and events, so that
it’s easier to understand the story and its context.
Several Director’s Cut puzzles have been modified. Two have been
simplified, with clues easier to understand or find.
These changes don’t make the game simpler, though, because other
puzzles have been lengthened with added steps. The additions, including a
modern, tongue-in-cheek educational feature, are clever and provide
variety for someone who has played the original. (Speaking of
“educational,” Boakes is spot-on when portraying the Lighthouse Gift Shop
– history books adorn the shelves, along with cute replicas, paperweights
and coffee mugs. It’s funny, but rather sad too.)
The Director’s Cut is a more complete gaming experience. I
encountered an entire area that I didn’t find in the original Light’s
Out. The newer version forces the gamer to find that area in order to
complete the game. This area also involves an inventory item that I found
in the original game but never figured out how to use.
A certain new corpse that appears in the Director’s Cut hints at
why specific characters disappeared – a jolting realization. The Dark
Intelligence isn’t just dark, it’s inhumanly ruthless.
The Lights Out Companion
After I finished the Director’s Cut, I read through “The Lights
Out Companion,” which I purchased as a supplement to the download version
of the game. It contains a walkthrough with sections discussing some of
the game’s deeper themes. You won’t find precise answers to everything,
but the “Companion” gives multiple explanations for some characters’
motivations, posits theories to explain what is going on, and adds brief
conversation excerpts. Complete transcripts of conversations would have
been even better, as the ghostly voices in the game are often distorted.
Conclusion
Query: if you played the original version of Lights Out, should
you buy the Director’s Cut?
I’d say that if you finished the original version and felt satisfied
that you’d figured out the game’s story (and if you managed to use all the
inventory items), the Director’s Cut may not contribute to your
previous experience. But if you didn’t finish the original game, or you
finished and felt mystified by the ending, or if you enjoyed the original
and want to play again -- the Director’s Cut is a significant
improvement.
In particular, if you’re warming up for a run at the upcoming Dark
Fall 3: Lost Souls, then Lights Out: Director’s Cut will
effectively set the stage for the darkness that is yet to come.
Lights Out: Director’s Cut may be purchased from the
developer’s website, from
The Adventure Shop, and as part of the soon to release British
Horror Pack.
October, 2009
design copyright©
2009
GameBoomers
Group
