DARK – Game Analysis and Review
By Dan Maurer
Developer: Realmforge Studios
Publisher: Kalypso Media
Director: Benjamin Rauscher
Designer: Christian Wolfertstetter
Programmer: Korbinian Abenthum
Artist: Victor Linke
Engine: Vision Engine 8
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Release Dates: PC – July 4, 2013, Xbox 360 – July 9, 2013
Genre: Stealth, action role-playing
Mode: Single-player
To say the game Dark is bad is an understatement. To put it bluntly, this “game” if you want to call it, is by far one of the most technically and graphically unimpressive games I’ve played on the current console. I’ve seen knockoff games on the iOS/Google Play stores for a $1 that are 100X more fun than this broken and uninspired mess of a game. Want to know how bad this game really is? I’ve already seen multiple copies in my GameStop discounted deeply and it’s not even been out a month yet. Let’s get to the reason why this game is really as bad as I say it is.
GRAPHICS:
Definitely one of the least impressive graphic showcases on all of the current consoles. I seen launch titles on X360 that looked better than this pile of a game. Horrendous pop-up issues everywhere, color bleeding, and lifeless animations/designs. Seriously, the characters mouths barely open nor match up to whatever dribble the characters are trying to tell you. Models and in game environments also don’t always load right away leading to some awkward moments of dis-figuration. Don’t even get me started on Vampire vision mode, or splitting headache mode as I called it.
STORY:
You play as Eric Bane, a man who we first meet stumbling around a nightclub plagued by visions of angels. Your first order of business is to find someone who can explain what has happened to you. You are a vampire, or least halfway to being one. To complete the process and avoid becoming a mindless ghoul, you need to drink the blood of the vampire who sired you. Since they’re AWOL, you turn to the trendy bloodsucking clique at the Sanctuary Club to find an alternate donor. This will lead you mindlessly into six story chapters in which you creep and chomp your way through a variety of locations on the trail of super-vampires who might provide the sanguine solution to your problem.
PRESENTATION:
I will say this right now upfront, the game is so bad I had to stop playing after the first 30 minutes and talk myself into putting into my 360 again so I could finish this review. After seeing my shrink and being put on various medications to control the seizures and vomiting I was experiencing, I put the game back in and played some more. Clearly this game was never play tested by anyone before the green light was given to ship this game to retail because if it was, the massive list of problems this game suffers through and should of been addressed. It is an abomination to stealth games everywhere.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That about sums up my experience with this game. If you have a copy, either burn it or use it as a nice fancy drink coaster. Your PC/360 doesn’t deserve the torture of having to run this game inside of them.
FINAL SCORE: 2 out of 10
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