Kinda don't know what to say or how to begin this review. It's without a doubt one of the best horror games your shekels can buy on the market to date.
Don't let the top down perspective fool you, you're gonna be clenching hard when night time rolls around, in truth after first 2-3 in game nights I knew this is something special. Darkwood absolutely knocks it out of the park when it comes bleak and depressing atmosphere, building tension and crispy sound design.
Game is split into day and night cycles, explore the map and gather the resources during the day and hunker down, barricade in and pray for that morning sun to rise before all your insides are on the outside during the night. Morbid curiosity is what keeps you going despite the obvious threats lurking in the woods, you don't have a choice you must scrounge up supplies wood, nails for barricades, gas to keep the generator running and light up your hideout, materials for weapons and traps to help you defend yourself, to survive the next night and this is genius design it all ties into each other you have to have a mental list of things to do or check out during each day because those precious daylight minutes are burning up fast and every night things get more and more intense.
Artwork during the conversations with NPCs is gorgeous to look at. When it comes to the story of the game I ain't gonna pretend that I got most of it multiple playthroughs are needed if you want to absorb it all. Moment to moment gameplay is what kept me going. The game is also a bit longer than I expected with multiple difficulty options even permadeath mode, multiple endings and a game map which rotates every playthrough preventing you from getting too comfortable with your surroundings.
Sound design is yet another aspect of the game that is absolutely superb here, you can hear every crunch of a branch under your foot as you run through the forest, every bolt of lightning roaring above, every raindrop hitting the roof of your hideout, every thud of someone walking in the next room as you are cowering in the corner, every shriek of some deformed monstrosity slumbering toward you it's not something I'm capable of getting across in text you have to experience it, indeed it is not the question of "Should I try this?" it's me asking "Why haven't you?"
Don't let the top down perspective fool you, you're gonna be clenching hard when night time rolls around, in truth after first 2-3 in game nights I knew this is something special. Darkwood absolutely knocks it out of the park when it comes bleak and depressing atmosphere, building tension and crispy sound design.
Game is split into day and night cycles, explore the map and gather the resources during the day and hunker down, barricade in and pray for that morning sun to rise before all your insides are on the outside during the night. Morbid curiosity is what keeps you going despite the obvious threats lurking in the woods, you don't have a choice you must scrounge up supplies wood, nails for barricades, gas to keep the generator running and light up your hideout, materials for weapons and traps to help you defend yourself, to survive the next night and this is genius design it all ties into each other you have to have a mental list of things to do or check out during each day because those precious daylight minutes are burning up fast and every night things get more and more intense.
Artwork during the conversations with NPCs is gorgeous to look at. When it comes to the story of the game I ain't gonna pretend that I got most of it multiple playthroughs are needed if you want to absorb it all. Moment to moment gameplay is what kept me going. The game is also a bit longer than I expected with multiple difficulty options even permadeath mode, multiple endings and a game map which rotates every playthrough preventing you from getting too comfortable with your surroundings.
Sound design is yet another aspect of the game that is absolutely superb here, you can hear every crunch of a branch under your foot as you run through the forest, every bolt of lightning roaring above, every raindrop hitting the roof of your hideout, every thud of someone walking in the next room as you are cowering in the corner, every shriek of some deformed monstrosity slumbering toward you it's not something I'm capable of getting across in text you have to experience it, indeed it is not the question of "Should I try this?" it's me asking "Why haven't you?"