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Wow, this game is scary.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 21
Date: January 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have never played an adventure game as frightening as Darkness Within. Penumbra Black Plague would be a close second to this one in scariness for me. You would think that the point and click interface would kind of lessen the scary factor but it doesn't. In fact, that might even be adding to it. I have gotten chills up my back playing this game. You have to play with the lights out and headphones work pretty well too for the sounds.

The game just lures you in to some truly freaky experiences. The graphics are very good with high resolution and the rooms are very realistic looking with some very creepy places to search through. The cutscenes are very well done. The sounds and voice acting are excellent. The nightmares are interactive and seem like ones someone would actually have. The story is strong in this game too. It really sucks you in. You will find yourself reading everything to find out more.

This game also can be for experienced adventure gamers or someone who is new to this type of game. You can disable hints if you like. I didn't find myself referring to a walkthrough either like some other adventure games. This is not a game with those mind bending,obscure,arbitrary,mechanical puzzles. There was only a couple of times when I got really stuck; the map puzzle and ring puzzle where you have to align some circles. But I got past them.

Darkness Within is one very enjoyable gaming experience.You might want to play something else or watch something on tv after playing it before bedtime.

Great Game for Horror Fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 18
Date: December 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is terrific. No blood, no violence, but yet the best horror music, graphics and story since the era of Shadow Of The Comet.

Graphics ? Splendid. Dark and horrifying, they will glue you to the screen.
Sound ? The best. Do not make the mistake of playing this game at night with sounds enabled. You risk a heart attack.
Plot ? Very good. While the game is supposed to be based in a cthulhu myth, there is actually no cthulhu involved - you will just go from a nightmare to reality and back.
Atmosphere ? 200% You will jump out of your chair a LOT. Lots of crappy houses, dirty attics, suspicious trap doors, evil cellars and more Alone in the Dark stuff - Get Ready!
Action ? So so - You will have to read a few books (and I *mean* it) before you can proceed - but the game can offer you hints. Hey, did any one understood why he lost 4 days in sleeping ?

Get it now!
Highly recommended!

Where can I get another game like this?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: December 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game just happens to be down my personal alley, but I think it would be fun for anyone who enjoys adventure gaming (with a twist). I haven't played a game this fun, this engaging, in a long time. It is scary, to be sure, but the scares aren't cheap slasher fare- in fact you rarely see anyone or anything that could harm you. It's a psychological thriller, as it has been promoted, in the style of the great HP Lovecraft.
It takes a little while to work through the beginning to establish the whole "detective" scene- questions, clues, etc-, but each time the answers break through the layers of established routine, until the character begins to question his own sanity. It's a lovely time.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has problems with motion sickness. It is sometimes hard to control your character's gaze (cursor)- at least at first- and is a little like running with a video camera. Can get rather nauseating at first.

All in all I think it would be fun for just about anyone, even without the Lovecraft/horror connection. The story is engaging (a strange murder mystery), the means by which you gather clues from documents is new to me, the puzzles are more easy than hard but fit well- no need for a walkthrough, and the graphics are just about perfect. It's not completely linear: you are free to explore any location at any time, but you do need to have certain information before you can move into new areas. This one puts to shame every game I've played in the past year that was even remotely promoted as "horror" or "thriller" (I'll mention no names...). I was sorry it had to end so soon, and played it again.

Not your average mystery game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: December 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is definitely a departure from the mystery genre of computer games and while it was certainly interesting and downright spooky at times I was disappointed.

Usually mystery games grab you right away and you want to stay up all night playing. This was not the case with this game, it's a slower paced kind of wander around and explore game that I found an interesting take on the genre.

While it was fun to wander around, this game was WAY TOO EASY!!! I like reading all the notes and the psychological bent of the game but there was no challenge just a bit of fun plodding around uncovering things.

Graphics - Great, although I had to play with the advanced options a bit because they were so dark it was difficult to spot things sometimes.

Sound - WONDERFUL! Think Poe's Telltale Heart, with the spooky noises and breathing while you play.

Navigation - It really detracted from the fun of exploring.. You need extra steps to get places (stairs) and it's a bit counter intuitive. Also, most games you right click to back out of something, here right clicking brings up the inventory panel.

The other aspect of this game is you have to make the character think. You have to combine thoughts to get him to think and generate a new clue. This was utterly stupid I mean we can think for ourselves why waste time doing this!!

The game shows great promise though, I look forward to any sequels!

Lovecraft lives on!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Finding Lovecraftian games is a difficult process. Sure, many a game uses elements of the author, but few capture the essence of his work. The psychological horror of the unknown is what appeals to true Lovecraftian fans, not the use of a shotgun on a Deep One. No offense to the enjoyable "Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth". "Darkness Within, in the Pursuit of Loath Nolder" delivers when it comes to being faithful to the Lovecraftian genre. It will truly SCARE you.

The game is a point and click mystery adventure, strikingly similar to "Scratches", but far longer and more creepy. You play the role of Howard, a detective out to catch a private investigator gone bad, one Loath Nolder. During the case you have phantoms to chase, books to read, puzzles to solve, and the sinking sensation that you are either A. Going mad, or B. Something terrible really is happening and you sure wish you were going mad!

The puzzles are fairly easy and it seems the developers were more interestd in storyline than complex math equations or wordy riddles or heavy pixel hunting (thank you). There is a lot of reading to do, but that is the point. The game is more an interactive book, than a true adventure point and click. If you want something like that, check out "Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Cthulu Loves you!)" However that particular game won't scare you like this one will!

What about graphics? Scenery is well done and even by day exceedingly creepy. However the graphics, when it comes to the 'few' living beings you encounter, are terrible and incredibly dated given when the game was made. We are talking late 90's graphics when it comes to people, but great when it comes to objects. Odd mix.

So far we have a game with easy puzzles, lots of reading, and graphics that are excellent, so long as nothing alive is involved. Why the 4 stars? The game is scary! Genuinely, heart stoppingly, scary. The plot is very layered and does not rip directly from HP Lovecraft, but is clearly inspired by him. Little Lovecraftian phrases riddle the game such as Curwen, Pickman, the author of the Necronomicon Al-Azif, beyond the spheres, and the dark places below etc. etc. But the plot itself has many unique elements. Although I'm well versed in Lovecraft, the game took its own twists and bends that kept me guessing as to what was going on. I still don't think I figured it out! Is the world about to end? Are my friends my friends? Am I just paranoid? Did I take my medicine today? Bah...who needs medicine!...and why don't I have a gun? Oh right, the game is set in England where detectives walk about armed with polite manners.

I completed the game in a little over 8 hours (and there seemed to be some areas not fully developed...or I just missed the needed item/clue to go there). Not a lot of game play, but judging by my score at the end, I missed a lot of story developing hints and secret rooms. This is a shame. The game is fairly linear, and I wish they would have led me to every nook and cranny, easter egg, and secret room. Why? Because replay for a game like this is rather low.

If you want to be scared and you like the Lovecraftian genre, give "Darkness Within" a try. Games like these need gamer support and praise! A forum about the game indicated the developers were planning on more, and I wish them well! R'yleh is surely about to rise though, so they best hurry!

Very good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game was very enjoyable and it took me 28 hours to beat (the game tracks your time of game play), the puzzles were difficult enough to stump me a while but weren't so difficult that i had to use a walkthrough. Another neat factor of this game, is when the game ends it rates your gameplay and there were a lot of "secret stuff" i missed; which is good because it made me want to play the game again. The only reason i didn't give this game 5 stars is because i don't feel that there is enough voice/communication with other characters in this game. There is a very small amount of talking in this game, so there is long amounts of silence which makes the game lonely at times. But other than that, it was a very different and entertaining game with an interesting plot.

To Be Avoided

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 11
Date: February 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This a "pick up the key" game rather than a logic-puzzle game. The activities are tedious and unsatisfying. The story and aesthetics are unimaginative. Mainly a bunch of rooms with many items of no value. (But gee, you can pick up keys.) The music is almost not present at all. One is asked to read many long, poorly written texts. The positive reviewers on this site sound like company shills. Don't believe 'em.

Very good adventure game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I especially liked that you could choose from 3 different levels of play. There is a built in hint system, if you are roaming around wondering what to do or where to go next, a ? will pop up and give a slight hint, such as, look at the photos closer. I need that in all the games I play. ha-ha I would recommend this game.

Not As Good As I Had Hoped

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: January 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game did have good sound effects but left a lot to be desired in the scary department. It doesn't hold a candle to Silent Hill or Fatal Frame style games. The storyline left me in the dark for a solid explanation. Guess I'm just not smart enough to have caught it. For me, it was a bust.

Worst Adventure game I've ever played.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 9
Date: January 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

By far, the WORST adventure game I've EVER played.

I bought it because it was cheap and another review here on amazon said that walkthroughs weren't needed. I can only assume the person who said a walkthrough wasn't needed is either a super genius, the maker of the game or a liar.

To make matters worse, this game is apparently so unpopular that there aren't any walkthroughs (or in fact any information of any kind) anywhere online. So if you get stuck (and you will) then its pretty much game over.

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