This game looked like it was right in my wheelhouse but unfortunately it ended up falling short due to a strange control scheme that is difficult to pick up and a difficulty level that is not going to appeal to casual gamers like myself. Combine this with the 8-bit graphics and we have a game that totally failed to capture my attention in the first hour, which is all the time that I give the games I am trying on PS-Plus Extra.
In case you missed it, I drunkenly upgraded my membership late one night and didn't even remember doing it until I logged in the next day. I only have a few months remaining on my membership and I am yet undecided as to whether or not I am going to renew it - therefore I have to go through the 100 or so games that came with this upgrade in that time. If a game doesn't immediately capture my attention and keep me interested I will toss it aside and move on to the next one. 2Dark failed to accomplish this.
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At first it appeared as though this game was really going to appeal to me because it is a throwback to simpler times when graphics were never going to be anything special in the game. We didn't know any better at the time so we just went with it back in the 80's. This game looks just like graphics would have been in the 80's or early 90's but the game also has a very adult theme to it that probably wouldn't have been allowed on consoles during that time. You may remember when there was actually Congressional committees involved that were attempting to ban certain games from ever being released. Thank goodness they failed otherwise we would all be playing Bible Story now.
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As the name suggests 2Dark is a very dark game that can be considered a stealth and survival horror game. You play the role of a father who loses his family right at the start, while camping. 7 years pass and the father's life has fallen apart and he continues on his search for his children that were taken away from him but he has no idea what happened to them. He knows that they were not killed that day but other than that, he has no idea where they are. It's an interesting story and a very macabre one as well - that much I will give the devs. However, this game is absolutely inundated with insta-kills which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the convoluted game saving method that is employed.
Rather than just hitting a button to save the game you are forced to enter your inventory and light, then smoke, a cigarette. This doesn't sound like a big deal but it is actually quite time-consuming to the point where it makes you wonder what the hell the system is doing to make a simple save take ages. Again, this wouldn't be such a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that almost everything kills you instantly in this game.
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I only made it to the second level after the quite simplistic first one that takes place at the father's home. They immediately throw you to the wolves as you enter a rundown amusement park of sorts in pursuit of a family that appears to lure kids in for kidnapping - at least that is how I understood it.
Although it isn't clear as to why you need to do this it becomes evident very quickly that there are many dangers in this place that you are going to find out about once they kill you the first time and the 20 times after that. In my 20 or so attempts at the first "real" level I was killed by a rat swarm that came out of nowhere, a bottomless pit that I couldn't even see, and something on the ground that didn't even look dangerous that impaled me, resulting in my immediate death.
The idea in this level was to stealth your way past the 3 human inhabitants and I guess figure out what they are doing with the kids. I would have been just fine with the rest of the game's shortcomings if it weren't for the fact that the difficulty on this gets ramped up to damn-near-impossible before you even really have command of the controls.
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While I applaud their use of music and simplistic graphics that still manage to create a seriously creepy ambiance, the fact that you are going to be restarting an area over and over and over again in the first 20 minutes of gameplay is enough for me to head to the hills.
Remember, my intention of running through all of these games so quickly is to find the games that immediately capture your attention RIGHT FROM THE START. This game appears as though it could be fantastic for someone that wants to devote a great deal of time into understanding how the game actually functions but since there isn't really anything in the way of a tutorial, the only way to figure this out is through simple trial and error. I'm ok with that as well but for a game this small and simple, the load times were already unbearable and after the hour was up, I deleted the game and will likely never return to it again.
I do not recommend this game for casual players and modern players will probably be scared off by the 30 year old graphics anyway.
Games played so far in my trip through all the "Extra" games on Playstation Plus
- Windbound (survival game with rogue-like elements - not recommended)
- Magicka 2 (top-down humorous multiplayer hack and slash-sort with immense spell system - maybe recommended)
- Tearaway: Unfolded (charming casual 3D platformer with inventive graphics and gameplay designed for all ages - recommended for casual players)
- Spiritfarer (casual simulation / resource-management style game with an extremely good story - recommended for all)
- Observation (point and click survival sort of... interactive game of sorts set in space - found it very boring after just one hour and do not recommend)
- Gabbuchi (simplistic puzzle game that I feel is better suited to mobile devices. Not recommended on consoles)
- The Messenger (8-bit style action/platformer that is a throwback to original Ninja Gaiden. It's simplistic fun. Recommended)
- Megadimension Neptunia VII (typical JRPG with some adjustments made to combat for uniqueness. Could be fun and I lukewarmly recommend for someone willing to dedicate 50 hours to a turn-based RPG)
- Monster Jam: Steel Titans 2 (monster truck racing game that will appeal only to people who are already fans of the sport - not recommended for any other people)
- Entwined (Visually appealing rhythm pace game that is very easy to pick up but gets repetitive after 30 minutes or so - recommended for anyone that can get it for free.)
- 2Dark (8-bit graphic survival horror/stealth hybrid. The game becomes extremely difficult really fast and therefore failed to hold my attention - not recommended)
2Dark has been on my list for a while! I love playing 2D horror games and seeing what the developers are able to do with a perspective that's typically thought of as being less immersive.
Well if you do get in there I would like to hear what you have to say. At first I really thought it was going to be great because it was something different. The quickness in which you are dispatched was pretty annoying especialy when really all I could say was that I didn't understand what the hell was going on.
I don't pretend to speak for everyone in these reviews and there are going to be people that disagree. IF that person ends up being you, I would like to see what aspects of the game you found appealing.
Interesting! Now I'm curious to see if I feel any different while playing it. And if I do I'll definitely let you know!
looks like a Jhon Constantine game, cool!!!!!
yeah it does have some elements of that to it. It is actually a very mature game with adult themes to it. It's probably too difficult for most kids to play so we don't have to worry about that.