Platform: Xbox Indie Games (Xbox 360)
Price: 80 MSP / $1 USD


As the game's title implies, this game is "dark" but not in a morbid matter. Instead, it's an artistic exhibition that's well worth the admission if you're into that sort of thing.

Gameplay:
There is no story nor clearly defined objective (although it becomes obvious that you need to reach the end of the level to proceed). The gameplay relies mainly on trial and error but it's all within reason. If you've played a puzzle platformer before, you should be able to figure out all the puzzles in Dark as they are straightforward. With that said, it's definitely not a hard game but it's not that easy either. You'll have to think a bit to figure it all out the first time however, as the game's description on the marketplace stated, it is a short experience. Unless you're really unfamiliar with games of the genre, you shouldn't spend more than 30 minutes on the game assuming you're actually trying to complete it rather than exploring the environment.

The atmosphere is very dark and it's often a bit hard to see what's going on but after a while you get used to it. The lighting effects will also contribute to this sensation. As for your character unlike in traditional games, it's simply a diamond-like shape with two cartoonish eyes. There are no special abilities nor power-ups, you can only move or jump. To solve the puzzles you often have to push certain objects, and I'll leave it at that as I don't want to spoil the game....

Also, to elaborate a bit more about the atmosphere, while it is dark there are glowing lights of different colors which lighten up the mood a bit yet maintain the dark surreal environment. You often encounter other living shapes as well but can't really interact with them. There are also several star-like objects that are white which I believe represent light and you are able to collect them but there seemed to be no way of keeping track of how many you collected nor any requirement of doing so. I was able to complete the game several times without collecting every object. There is no score system either so you can collect them at your sole discretion as there didn't seem to be any benefit in doing so aside from extending the completion time a bit more.

As for save progress, there is none. To make up for it there is an option to select where you want to start though and you don't need to complete the game to unlock this. So technically you can fast forward to the very end if you'd like to, but I would strongly discourage you from doing so as it will probably ruin the experience. If you can't get past a certain part, keep trying until you do.

Graphics & Audio:
The graphics are simple yet artistic. The environment was well crafted and certainly did not look like a 3 year old kid created it. As for the music and sound effects, they added a nice touch to the atmosphere and were quite effective.

Replay value:
I've completed this game at least 5 times already as I know exactly what to do by heart and while it wasn't as fun the [n]th time, I still enjoyed it as it was a relaxing experience. However, I am a fan of platformers so perhaps I'm more easily amused by this genre. I can definitely see some losing interest after their first time, but I doubt many would feel ripped off if they enjoyed it at least once.

Overall:
As a game, it felt more like a demo but as an interactive work of art, it shined despite it's dark appearance. To put in simpler terms, imagine one of those screensaver apps but instead of being lame, it's actually kickass and worth the asking price.

Pros:
+Awesome atmosphere
+Reasonable difficulty
+Puzzle platforming was well executed
+Great price
+Memorable experience

Cons:
-Short
-A timer would have been nice, it could have helped enhance the replay value by giving you a faster time to strive for
-Some puzzles could have a been a bit tougher
-Ending was a bit disappointing

While it's not perfect nor lengthy, Dark certainly deserves recognition and at a 80 MSP price point, the cons I mentioned can be overlooked as the game is certainly still enjoyable. Therefore, I felt that a 8.25/10 rating would be appropriate and while a higher rating might have been expected, I judged it based on the gameplay rather than the artistic presentation. As I said before, it felt more like an app but a kickass one nonetheless, so do give the trial a shot and see if it's your kind of game. If you're struggling with the puzzles, it might be due to time constraints in the trial so don't be discouraged by this. On the other hand, if you're not digging the puzzle platforming or the environment present, then this game is probably not for you.

This game was obtained from the developer rather than purchased, for review purposes.

Nice review. I did not mind the game being short. My only complaint was that it was very picky about letting you jump only when the bottom tip touches the ground completely. Not a big deal but a few times it got me. Overall a really great game.

I noticed that as well but since the game was on the easy side, that "constraint" added to the difficulty a bit as I know I encountered several instances where I could have just kept leaping across if such a thing had not been implemented which would have made it far too easy IMO.

But I can see how it might annoy some players.