When we got the news that the creator of the classic survival horror Alone in the Dark, Frederic Raynal, was behind 2Dark, automatically expectations about this game grew in geometric scale. In the end, the guy is simply the great creator of an entire sub-genre that was later incorporated into classics like resident Evil and silent Hill, just to be known.
After all, if the franchise he created today doesn’t match everything he’s brought back to the world, 2Dark, with more freedom for being a game less committed to the conventional AAA franchise market, could not only take shape through narrative strategies rooted in the genre, but also bring something new to the market. And, in a way, the game lives up to expectations, offering a tone of gravity and narrative maturity not seen in the gaming world.
A more thought-provoking story than the original
A cool analysis of the narrative plot of 2Dark shows that, in fact, it is not the most original story in the universe. Here, we assume the role of Mr. Smith, a former detective who, in a moment of tranquility with his family, finds himself in the middle of an act of extreme violence, with his wife murdered and his children kidnapped. Absolutely helpless in the face of the situation, his life turns into **** and, years later, he finds a glimmer of hope to resume his quest.
On this path, already discredited by the world and by himself, and with nothing to lose, like the heaviest trillers noir, he follows a trail that leads him to several psychopaths, serial killers, kidnappers and child torturers, hoping to reach the one who destroyed his life. On this journey of redemption, he has the chance to at least do for other families what he cannot do for himself.
So, as the premise shows, the theme is not silly, much less recommended for children. It’s a game that brings symbolic violence much more impactful than graphic. After all, the look is not realistic, and we don’t see dismemberments or things with a more gore tone, like many of the current horror games, but the most disturbing thing we can find in 2Dark is in the most conceptual part..
Presented more directly in textual mode on inter-title screens and more subtle in visual terms, with dark rooms with bones, coffins with small skeletons scattered around the scene or even with scattered documents, the game manages to establish a very heavy atmosphere, such as the story calls for. There are no mitigations here to lighten the game. Everything is heavy and has the raw gravity required of a story of murderers and child abductors.
Back to survival horror roots
When talking about this sub-genre, certainly few escape automatically thinking about resident Evil, the franchise that popularized survival horror. But many can also remember that it all started before, with the first Alone in the Dark setting parameters far more important than camera placement or even the types of enemies encountered.
Fortunately, all these elements are present here, albeit revamped. 2Dark is a game with isometric view, where you can see a much wider space than a conventional horror game. His trump card is to bring to the center of the action an ordinary character, albeit with investigative skills, but without any superhuman abilities. He is a common person in an extreme situation, something that gives him the necessary vulnerability to make the player feel insecure.
Added to this is the scarcity of resources, including very limited combat elements and sometimes improvised, and a consequent need for responsible administration of what is collected within each phase. Firearms do exist, but bullets are extremely high, and melee weapons such as knives and scalpels are of little use in open combat. Planning and stealth become, therefore, a fundamental point of the game’s action.
In other words, coming out with an open chest by killing all enemies, or even characters who are where they shouldn’t, but who can get in the way, is not a sustainable strategy. The first phase even allows this type of approach, even as a way to teach some of the basic game mechanics, but it doesn’t take long for the game to teach you, in the worst possible way, that it doesn’t work for a long time.
Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that resource management happens in real time, with a side inventory accessible at all times. This means that you can’t pause the game to choose the weapons to use, or calmly decide whether to keep the lighter lit or not. Everything has to be done with strategic planning and any failure is fatal, resulting in deaths or, at best, in the use of scarce resources that never come back.
The problem is that all collected items are together on the same inventory page. That is, weapons, ammunition, flashlight and documents are together, in the order in which they were collected. Quick access to the most dynamic resources is hampered in a menu that, at certain times, ends up being full, with the vast majority of items little or not practical for combat, or even for escape. Even though it’s well organized, it’s pretty impractical to use.
Another big limitation that is very tied to the genre itself, but that still ends up bothering you is the simplified hand-to-hand combat system. Fatally, the protagonist will find everything from dry branches to scalpels and kitchen knives scattered around the scene, which can later be used to attack aggressors. If these objects make more diegetic sense than guns and ammunition, they end up getting in the way when you have a face-to-face moment.
That’s because with an ordinary character, it’s easy to get hit and die after two or three damage, whether with firearms or direct attacks. Direct confrontation tends to disadvantage the player, who is usually weaker than enemies. In other words, the direct exchange of blows hardly works. It’s best to sneak up and attack from behind, like a good cold-blooded killer. 2Dark, as stated earlier, favors coldly calculated action.
All of this, added up, offers the player a feeling of constant insecurity. One more dog than the available bullets can mean the impossibility of winning, depending on how the player faces the difficulties. The problem is that the extremely limited gameplay can also seem a little anachronistic for a game these days and may alienate those who expect a little more freedom of action.
Audio-visual
2Dark not afraid to play a nostalgic game. Not only in terms of gameplay or high difficulty, but also visually, the game knows exactly who it’s talking to and where its origins are. The classic isometric look of exploration games is just one such clue. The biggest one, however, is due to the artistic construction, deeply rooted in elements today called pixel art.
Thus, the look of the characters refers to the time of 16 bits, but unlike other current productions, a stylization of the line is not allowed, which would give more value to colors and contrasts. On the contrary, there is an aesthetic element that actually treats the look with a dated filter, where even skin tones and movement are treated with that retro air. The colors and nuances are, above all, a great tribute to the more sober works of 20 years ago, even for the more adult and heavier themes.
There is also a very elegant work in the conception of the scenic space and in the nuances between light and shadow. Darkness, as can be predicted by the game title itself, is a very important factor in the plot, and is even part of the character’s action strategies. The player can either use it as an ally or suffer to move through poorly lit environments or not.
Thus, even though it uses and remains faithful to an aesthetic of technical limitations, there is a very evident sophistication in the articulation between the different spaces of the same phase, and even a very coherent connection throughout the journey. In an abandoned amusement park or in a sanatorium, small cracks, lamps or chandeliers are almost like reliefs for an almost endless night.
This duality between light and dark, the small flame of a lighter or the stronger but much more limited energy of a flashlight, and the sharp and deep dark not only function as an aesthetic element but also bring out a state of mind. lived by the protagonist himself, where small sparks still maintain a feeling of hope in the midst of a huge and empty world of darkness.
While it’s not a particularly attractive look, and in some ways a bit crude, it’s consistent with the proposal and works well as a more symbolic part of the game. Time has stopped for the character since his moment of misfortune, and the antagonism between light and shadows only reinforces how much his soul is lost amidst the anguish. It’s a good artwork, but on the other hand, it wastes the current technical potential to work on details, nuances and better explore the theme.
Conclusion
2Dark, developed by Gloomywood and published by Bigben Interactive, is quite competent in combining a serious and heavy story with a gameplay worthy of the genre, appealing to a nostalgic aesthetic and, at the same time, sophisticated and linked to the protagonist’s journey. If these choices are very coherent in themselves, at the same time they are loaded with limitations that may be lost in time and, therefore, the game should not suit every type of player.
The difficulty is relatively high and the fact that it is possible to save at any time – as long as it is not in the middle of a conflict – can be great for not losing advances and, at the same time, terrible when saving a wrong action. The inventory takes more work than it should and is quite limited, while the combat system is simplified and sometimes frustrating because it doesn’t help when the player chooses to play the game. rambo.
The work as a whole is, therefore, challenging and, for those who allow themselves a deeper immersion in the narrative, disturbing. It’s not one of those games that sticks to the classic 15 minutes of relaxation, nor those that use jump scare to keep the player tense. In this sense, it works very well as a survival horror, and not as a real horror game, as the genre’s primer refers, much of it written by the creator of 2Dark.
2Dark was released on March 10th for PRAÇA, Xbox one and Playstation 4 (version used for this evaluation), and is with the texts and subtitles fully localized to Portuguese.
