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.
