Darkwood

A very unique take on the survival horror genre with some of the scariest atmosphere I've encountered in a game in the last few years. Strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a more open type of survival horror.

I normally do not buy survival horror games, but releasing this as DRM free, for linux, and releasing it to pirate bay for everybody legaly... That is something I simply must support! Thank you DEVs and let me know when your next thing will be out.

Darkwood is one of those games with which I entertain a love/hate relationship, hence my 3 out 5 rate, which should be closer to 3.5 really. At the same time, I love it for the absolute brilliance of how it develops its atmosphere, and I loathe it for the sheer frustration that some of its mechanics induce. As for the ambience, I think I can safely say that rarely in my gaming "career" have I experienced something as delightfully terrifying as the first few night spent sheltered in my hideout, hearing things roaming outside the house, checking the entrances for a weak spot. The sound design is top-notch, from the ambient sounds to the creaking of a wooden floor, the talking voices in your head, or the footsteps of something lurking around. I'm more lukewarm about the visuals. It is oppressive, there's very little doubt about that, your sight being constantly blocked by trees, ruins, roots and wrecks, forcing you to rely on your hearing in order to navigate the woods safely. However, the game is in grayscale for the most part, with non-isometric top-down 2D, meaning there's little volume to things, and as a consequence, the game loses in screen readability. Artistically, it's depressing, hopeless, and creepy, so it fits the atmosphere perfectly. I'm definitely colder about the mechanics, which I ended up perceiving more as a hindrance to my enjoyment of the game rather than something engaging. My biggest gripe with the game would be the combat system, which is brutal, realistic, unforgiving, and unpleasant. In itself, there's nothing wrong with that, it's a survival-horror game, it's to be expected that combat be presented as something unrewarding, a last resort option. Not here, though. You will fight a lot. You will fight during the day, you will fight during the night, you will even fight during your dreams. Few characters left, so let me be more concise for the rest: game becomes repetitive very soon, inventory management is a pain, tedium kills immersion.

Im of the belief that there are few games that can be separated from their pricing and model. But this is the absolute most rich, respectable model. Being DRM free and distributed on multiple platforms including Linux, Windows and Mac, this wrapped up with an extremely reasonable price makes this an absolute must buy for everyone from horror fans to retro gamers. An unparalleled thick and gray atmosphere the likes have not been seen since the original Silent Hill deltas into an agreeable and accessible action experience faintly reminiscent of Hotline Miami in combat. Very meticulously fleshed out story with dozens of collectible photographs, papers, symbols and insignias to expand the story of the grounds you walk upon. And as such it toils on at a very decent length that reminds me of how long adventure games were in the PS2 era. Randomly triggered scripted and radiant events keep you on your toes in a hell of fungus and Oakwood. organically planned and articulated sound design top off screams of terror, unexpected banging on your doors and boards on the windows, ominous footsteps lurk around your hideout that happen to belong to actual entities that wander around your abode in the stead of canned sound effects played just to scare you. The few distractions and setbacks of this very difficult game do not detract greatly from the overall experience especially seeing the developers have enough confidence in this game to give a free copy to those on torrent tracker sites. If you like what you hear then there is no question, grab a copy of this. There are very few ways you can better spend 15 dollars.

What an astounding week for horror this is! And value. I don't even like the genre and I'm enjoying this game! Darkwood feels a little like Sunless Sea and a lot like Neo Scavenger. If you like either of those games, you'll probably enjoy this. It's tense, even on Normal difficulty (I'd scream in frustration if stuck in the optional Iron Man difficulty). Exploration is fun, quirky and horrible, much as in the previous two titles mentioned. Crafting is a breeze, but still interesting. For the price of a movie ticket, Darkwood is every bit of 5 stars.