The Polish team Acid Wizard Studio has created an experience of horror and survival set in a dark forest. After its period in early access, the game has gone on sale exclusively for PC. Will you find the exit or will you die in the attempt? It depends on you.
Forgotten Forest
«Trees, trees, millions of trees, massive, immense, that climbed upwards (...). It made one feel very small, very lost . " -Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness.
Green, golden, crispy leaves; branches skeletal, crooked, brittle; ancestral trunks, august, pierced; dense, dark, wild forests; Narrow, crystalline, stony rivers ... All these elements make up the infinite and majestic forest. What is hidden crouched in the arboreal mantle? What creatures await in the smoky mist? What dangers lurk in the darkness of the night? Mysteries and more mysteries to solve.
The forest has aroused the interest of humanity since ancient times. Reflections of this are the legends, stories and other stories that have used the forest as a framework for the narrative. In Little Red Riding Hood, a children's story of medieval origin, the mother asks the girl to bring her grandmother a basket full of groceries. To do so, it must cross the forest, in whose depths is hidden a wily wolf with very bad intentions. On the symbology of the forests in the stories he has written long and long the historian Lucia Triviño, who runs the blog "The Leaves of the Forest":
"The image of the forest that is projected in these stories is the living reflection of the real conception of this space. It is normal that in the classic stories, many with medieval roots, this place is shown as a prototype locus horridus. This image is far from the current conception, much clearer and more positive, where the forest is the protagonist of many stories that convey a message of respect for nature and the beings that inhabit it ".
Darkwood drinks from classical roots and uses traditional archetypes to draw a dark and gloomy image of forest environments. The forest is a strange and dangerous place where supernatural creatures and evil monsters await their chance to execute their victims. When Damon Lindelof and JJ Abrams were commissioned to materialize the Lost pilot, they had the idea that the island was another character in the production. Darkwood breathes the same aura of mystery, and the forest has an omnipresent role. It is a living organism that has spread its roots and branches all over space, has closed roads and has locked up the unfortunates who were within its domains.
The new videogame of Acid Wizard Studio, a Polish development team consisting of "three people (and a dog)" , as stated on their websiteofficer, has been in early access for three years. The final version-maybe it's not the right term, as content updates are still running-has just been released on several digital PC platforms. After hours in front of the screen, the surprise has been pleasant.
Several articles have appeared that compare Darkwood with Silent Hill. However, it is important to be clear that both titles do not follow the same approach or the same game mechanics. They do have in common the atmosphere of muted colors and chiaroscuro, the intelligent play of lights, as well as the use of music and sounds to generate tension in the player. The work of the Poles is essentially a survival title with touches of horror play. In addition, the product is inserted within the roguelike genre, which assumes two basic approaches: on the one hand, the procedural element, since the scenarios are generated randomly in each game; on the other, the difficulty. It dies a lot, even when the basic game schemes are already mastered.
Escape? First survive the night
Wandering through the ominous forest of Darkwood is a reckless idea. Between trees and crossroads it is easy to get disoriented , especially when the same nature seems to contract to catch the unwary globetrotters. Vigilante is the doctor, enigmatic character that covers his eyes with bottleneck glasses and has a lanky physical appearance, thin hair and shirt stained with blood and remains of viscera. In his sickly solitude he dedicates himself to look for lost individuals in order to experiment with their battered but still inflated bodies of life. In one of his comings and goings through the forest he runs into the protagonist of the title, who cloistered in his home. The narrative continues with the captive fleeing from the doctor's house. However, escaping the forest is not going to be a trivial task.
The production of Acid Wizard Studio tells a story that the user must discover as he / she explores each vericuet of the map. Do not expect clear guidelines or markers that point the way , but clues that the characters are giving us as small pieces of a half-drawn picture. The world, the characters and the argument possess the necessary packaging to inoculate the interest in the player, so that walking, overcoming fears and discovering the secrets of the forest produces enormous satisfaction.
The 2D graphics and the top-down view blend perfectly with the lighting. It could be thought that the camera, located above the character, is an advantage when exploring environments, but perpetual darkness dominates everything except a small portion in the form of a cone that allows the character to glimpse his next steps. Light and darkness play with our emotions, twist them in agony , stir hearts through forms that materialize, sometimes vaguely, before our eyes. The design of characters and scenarios is very well taken care of and enhances that oppressive atmosphere of supernatural creatures and unleashed nature. In addition, the pixel art style it fits like a finger. As a negative point it is necessary to emphasize that Spanish has not been located.
The music and the sounds contribute to coloring the setting as it should. They are instruments that are used with the aim of enhancing the feelings of restlessness and insecurity in the player. Under the light of the moon, in the shelter, the engine of the generator resonates regularly. The music is heard intermittently, mixing with the toc-toc of the door, a sign that a hostile creature is trying to access the dilapidated house. The night is prolonged, the clicks are close, and if we endure enough, a melody in crescendo will be the signal that daylight is near.
The game is divided into days. During the daylight hours , the protagonist is dedicated to inspecting the scenarios, discovering new locations, preying on objects and improving those he already possesses. We have at our disposal a work table that we can craftear and that will give us the possibility of manufacturing new objects.
We can say that Darkwood is a title whose playable concept revolves around the discovery. However, finding keys, passable paths and characters that help us will not be a path of roses. The forest is hostile terrain: armed villains, rabid dogs, humanoid monsters and other creatures will not hesitate to attack our protagonist. As if all this were not enough, the player will have to deal with poisonous traps and fungi.Because light is scarce and the field of vision is limited, the steps must be measured with the surgeon's precision. On the other hand, it is worth noting that a series of special skills that are obtained after injecting the dose of a compound compound based on wild mushrooms have been included. For example, some of the effects are the following: the advantage of knowing our position on the map once a day or the possibility of eating wood to restore health.
As roguelike that is, when dying there is a risk of losing part of the equipment, although the most important ones can always be stored in trunks and cabinets in order to avoid greater evils. It is possible to assign objects to quick selection slots. Here come into play all kinds of weapons, flashlights and other accoutrements of common use. Darkwood does not incorporate a deep combat system, and in fact, it has made us somewhat awkward and orthopedic. Two mouse buttons (or command) are enough to execute attacks that differ only by the type of weapon used. There is therefore no progression.
At nightfall , the protagonist must take refuge in the refuge (there is one in each main area of the map). Surviving their horrors depends on several factors. The first is to feed the light generator with gasoline and turn it on. Then, we will do well to reinforce windows, while we move furniture and cover the cracks through which monsters have the option to sneak. Once the preparations are ready, we will not have another to be vigilant and waiting for an enemy to break the defenses and access. In those cases we will have to lay hands on arms. Surviving the darkness gives the character essential reputation points that will serve to trade with the other characters that populate the nemorous forest.
The first hours in Darkwood can overwhelm. It is a progressive learning game in which the mechanics are mastered with practice. Needless to say, the difficulty of the "normal" mode is complicated enough to make things difficult for us. Now, lives are infinite unless we select the "difficult" or "nightmare" modes, with four lives and one respectively.
The team of Acid Wizard Studio and Darkwood have been in the news in recent days due to the decision of the studio to upload a torrent of the game to The Pirate Bay. According to the study, this decision has been taken because they consider key stores to be harmful: "We only have one request: if you like Darkwood and you want us to continue making games, consider buying it later, even on sale, on Steam, GOG, or Humble Store " , have stated in statements that we also collected in MeriStation. The title is at a very competitive price (below fifteen euros), so it's a good time to support this indie studio .
conclusion
Darkwood is a survival video game covered with a touch of terror that permeates the entire production. The oppressive atmosphere , the light-dark contrast, the graphics, the music and the sounds contribute to generate moments of tension in the player. While the day is reserved for exploration and the discovery of new places and characters, night is the domain of the creatures of darkness. Inside the shelter touches reinforce windows, move furniture, cover gaps, turn on the generator of light and wait patiently until the sun shines again.
The story is enjoyable and is built from exploration. It is the user who searches for characters and finds the necessary objects so that the argument continues to advance. Unfortunately, Darkwood has not been translated into Spanish , and the lexicon is not entirely accessible for users who have a discrete level of English.
Being a survival game, the management of objects and the looting of new artefacts consume a good part of our time. We can improve them, create others from items and craftear the work table with the idea of making more powerful tools. Also, the trade with the characters will provide us with the supplies we need.
The work of the Polish study has a fairly high level of difficulty, although the sense of reward accompanies it. We will die again and again, even when we have mastered the game mechanics. It is a pity that the combat system is so crude, because if the product is improved, it would be even more rounded. The most daring users can try their luck with the "difficult" and "nightmare" modes: four lives the first and one only the second. The rest, you have the option to enjoy the "normal" mode, also complicated but with infinite lives.
The best
- Graphics, lighting, sound and music come together to create a stifling atmosphere.
- History and the world, a continuous invitation to explore.
- Difficult and very rewarding.
Worst
- The combat system is clumsy and has no depth.
- It does not arrive translated.
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THANKS FOR READING, ALSO CHECK OUT MY PREVIOUS REVIEW ON HOB (PC)
