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If this was a written horror story, you'd think the plot needed lots of work

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I tend to prefer 1st person shooter horror survival games, but I gave this a try based on reviews. I've really enjoyed games like Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, and Penumbra.

First the good points:
Music and sound effects are very good.
Graphics are good, for a point and click interface.

Now the disappointments:
The storyline / plot has a lot of potential arcs, but really fails to deliver because it ends so abruptly. Either the designers should have followed through on the mystery of what happened to Loath Nolder as well as the deceased Clark Field, instead of derailing the story at what feels like halfway through the game with the player character's shock at uncovering his family history. The result is not one, but two storylines that are incomplete, and leave the player expecting more. What about the underground saurian beings and temples? What about the cultists? For that matter, what about Loath Nolder (not to mention why bother with him in the first place)? To me, it seemed you were uncovering potential clues that were in fact pointless to the game.

The game's design is also disappointing, in terms of the limited areas you can visit. As a basic point and click adventure, the game has to rely on other factors to keep the player's interest. The locations turned out to be very limited, and some locations had areas that were just unneccesary to the game. Late in the game, I thought I would be able to investigate newly uncovered areas with a hidden map feature, but the game instead drops these locations entirely for the 'surprise' plotline of the player character, Howard. I would have liked to see sites such as the cemeteries, dig sites, etc.

Lastly, the timeframe in the game was confusing; It is 2011, and yet so much of the atmosphere is reminiscent of an HP Lovecraft story, with letters, diaries, notes, newspaper clippings, and tape recordings. With the exception of one unremarkable cell phone, the game is very low tech. If the designers wanted to emulate a Lovecraft story, why didn't they just set it in the past? It makes little sense to play a detective uncovering faded letters and diaries in an age of e-mail, text messaging, and internet websites... Just as an added point, the character has a computer in his office, and never uses it during the game. I rest my case.

This was probably a very simple game to program, most of the work was done by two people. The developers need to really weave a plot better than they did, and either follow through completely on clues or storylines that they reveal, or not bother to include them in the first place. I hope that the next game they develope will show improvements over this one.

Hands down the scariest game ever - If you don't mind copious amounts of reading...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you enjoy games that are intensely creepy but aren't of the hack and slash variety, then you will love this game. If you've ever played "Scratches" - this is like Scratches on crack. Its ten times scarier, but theres also ten times the amount of reading; If you've played classic adventure games before, you know the deal - there's books on the table, books on the shelf, sheaves of paper lying around everywhere, ready to be read and parsed and analyzed (no walk-throughs are necessary, just patience). If you're in a rush playing games and want quick action, don't bother with this game. If you're a thinking type who enjoys HG Wells, solving mysteries and prefers scariness to sort of build up slowly and then scare the living crap out of you, then this game is well worth the time and effort.. Don't let the puzzles scare you though, playing on Standard level I never got stuck on a clue for more than 20 minutes, most of them were pretty intuitive anyway.

A creepy adventure game with minor flaws.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

"Darkness Within" is a creepy point and click in the same category as Scratches. The game plays mind games with you, using ambient sound and dark lonely locations. The voice acting is very well done, but very scarce. At times I had to remove my headphones to keep playing. It was just too tense to play with sound! The clue finding system is kinda odd, and clues aren't too prevalent. But a lot of the puzzles seem relevant and logical.

Just a note that after reaching the mansion I ran into a bug, and had to install a patch to fix it. Regardless, I'm glad I bought this game and look forward to the new "Darkness Within 2"!

Best of the Adventure Games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Darkness Within:In Pursuit of Loath Nolder is by far the best adventure game I have ever played. The unexpected waiting to occur at any moment. My X-Fi
definitely enhanced the experience. EDGY-no boredom in this game.

The story line slowly draws you into a feeling of fright, dread, & terror.

Thanks Lighthouse-Interactive, Darkness Within is worth every penny.
Far cry from Shadow Tor's Barrow Hill, the worst adventure game I've ever played. BORING, unless you're afraid of crickets.

Very good adventure game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I especially liked that you could choose from 3 different levels of play. There is a built in hint system, if you are roaming around wondering what to do or where to go next, a ? will pop up and give a slight hint, such as, look at the photos closer. I need that in all the games I play. ha-ha I would recommend this game.

Very good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game was very enjoyable and it took me 28 hours to beat (the game tracks your time of game play), the puzzles were difficult enough to stump me a while but weren't so difficult that i had to use a walkthrough. Another neat factor of this game, is when the game ends it rates your gameplay and there were a lot of "secret stuff" i missed; which is good because it made me want to play the game again. The only reason i didn't give this game 5 stars is because i don't feel that there is enough voice/communication with other characters in this game. There is a very small amount of talking in this game, so there is long amounts of silence which makes the game lonely at times. But other than that, it was a very different and entertaining game with an interesting plot.

Lovecraft lives on!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Finding Lovecraftian games is a difficult process. Sure, many a game uses elements of the author, but few capture the essence of his work. The psychological horror of the unknown is what appeals to true Lovecraftian fans, not the use of a shotgun on a Deep One. No offense to the enjoyable "Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth". "Darkness Within, in the Pursuit of Loath Nolder" delivers when it comes to being faithful to the Lovecraftian genre. It will truly SCARE you.

The game is a point and click mystery adventure, strikingly similar to "Scratches", but far longer and more creepy. You play the role of Howard, a detective out to catch a private investigator gone bad, one Loath Nolder. During the case you have phantoms to chase, books to read, puzzles to solve, and the sinking sensation that you are either A. Going mad, or B. Something terrible really is happening and you sure wish you were going mad!

The puzzles are fairly easy and it seems the developers were more interestd in storyline than complex math equations or wordy riddles or heavy pixel hunting (thank you). There is a lot of reading to do, but that is the point. The game is more an interactive book, than a true adventure point and click. If you want something like that, check out "Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Cthulu Loves you!)" However that particular game won't scare you like this one will!

What about graphics? Scenery is well done and even by day exceedingly creepy. However the graphics, when it comes to the 'few' living beings you encounter, are terrible and incredibly dated given when the game was made. We are talking late 90's graphics when it comes to people, but great when it comes to objects. Odd mix.

So far we have a game with easy puzzles, lots of reading, and graphics that are excellent, so long as nothing alive is involved. Why the 4 stars? The game is scary! Genuinely, heart stoppingly, scary. The plot is very layered and does not rip directly from HP Lovecraft, but is clearly inspired by him. Little Lovecraftian phrases riddle the game such as Curwen, Pickman, the author of the Necronomicon Al-Azif, beyond the spheres, and the dark places below etc. etc. But the plot itself has many unique elements. Although I'm well versed in Lovecraft, the game took its own twists and bends that kept me guessing as to what was going on. I still don't think I figured it out! Is the world about to end? Are my friends my friends? Am I just paranoid? Did I take my medicine today? Bah...who needs medicine!...and why don't I have a gun? Oh right, the game is set in England where detectives walk about armed with polite manners.

I completed the game in a little over 8 hours (and there seemed to be some areas not fully developed...or I just missed the needed item/clue to go there). Not a lot of game play, but judging by my score at the end, I missed a lot of story developing hints and secret rooms. This is a shame. The game is fairly linear, and I wish they would have led me to every nook and cranny, easter egg, and secret room. Why? Because replay for a game like this is rather low.

If you want to be scared and you like the Lovecraftian genre, give "Darkness Within" a try. Games like these need gamer support and praise! A forum about the game indicated the developers were planning on more, and I wish them well! R'yleh is surely about to rise though, so they best hurry!

To Be Avoided

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: February 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This a "pick up the key" game rather than a logic-puzzle game. The activities are tedious and unsatisfying. The story and aesthetics are unimaginative. Mainly a bunch of rooms with many items of no value. (But gee, you can pick up keys.) The music is almost not present at all. One is asked to read many long, poorly written texts. The positive reviewers on this site sound like company shills. Don't believe 'em.

Worst Adventure game I've ever played.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 9
Date: January 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

By far, the WORST adventure game I've EVER played.

I bought it because it was cheap and another review here on amazon said that walkthroughs weren't needed. I can only assume the person who said a walkthrough wasn't needed is either a super genius, the maker of the game or a liar.

To make matters worse, this game is apparently so unpopular that there aren't any walkthroughs (or in fact any information of any kind) anywhere online. So if you get stuck (and you will) then its pretty much game over.

Not As Good As I Had Hoped

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: January 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game did have good sound effects but left a lot to be desired in the scary department. It doesn't hold a candle to Silent Hill or Fatal Frame style games. The storyline left me in the dark for a solid explanation. Guess I'm just not smart enough to have caught it. For me, it was a bust.

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