OK, I finally finished
Darkness Within today. I didn't hate it as much as Fantsie did, though... it's a good thing she didn't pay anything for it!
For some insane reason I played it on Senior Detective level without hints
(needed only two to finish the game). The game atmosphere was creepy enough with its gothic, Lovecraftian locations and dramatic music, although it didn't have the jump-out-of-your-seat moments like Scratches did (not necessarily a bad thing). The mystery surrounding the murder started off intriguing at first and got deeper with each new location, but then there were too many references to mysterious, unseen characters just to confuse things.
Also, in Senior Detective level, it got tedious having to underline everything over and over just to pick up a new clue. The "Howard's Mind" interface was an interesting concept; however, it got frustrating when I kept putting certain seemingly relevant clues together but got no results!
Howard's nightmare sequences were very surreal, a change of pace from the ongoing investigation. My favourite puzzle in the game was the map puzzle, which required pulling together clues and information from several sources.
By the end of the game, you had to piece together what happened to the other characters, as nothing was explained. Considering the Lovecraftian inspiration from the opening cutscene, I knew it wouldn't end well for Howard... the game showed how he got "that way".
Not sure if some of the nagging questions will be answered in the sequel (apparently, it's the first game in a planned trilogy!) Darkness Within: The Dark Lineage is supposed be released early next year.
(Hmm, according to my game results, there were quite a few hidden clues and documents that I missed, and I didn't find
any of the easter eggs!
)
