Character design is excellent too, with the main character of Lloyd coming across as amazingly dark and disturbed. It does a brilliant job of placing normal structures – like a hospital or train – and then twisting the picture into some dystopian nightmare. Visually the game looks great with its muted sepia tones and surrealist nightmare visuals. After a while, I dreaded these and just wanted to get back to solving the puzzles. When you get to grips with the actual changes in dimensions and perspectives then you start to become more comfortable with how the puzzles are designed, and even though the stealth elements stand out, they are possibly the most annoying bits of the game. They bring chills even as I write this.ĭARQ: Complete Edition is a very good puzzler, however it can feel pretty tricky from the very beginning. There are two specific sections here which will stay in my nightmares – lampshaded humanoid creatures stalking you with light, and a wheelchair-bound monster slowly approaching from the darkness while you desperately try to solve a maze puzzle. If they spot you, you’re pretty much dead. Here stealth is key, whereby you have to slowly creep behind them, hiding in nooks and crannies, waiting for them to pass. There are monsters in DARQ as well horribly deformed creatures that slowly wander the levels. I’ve just described one of the most action-packed pieces of the game, however most sections are quite cerebral and you have time to explore and work out the puzzles without the pressure of something killing you or the need to watch the clock. For example, there is one section where you have to light a long fuse for some dynamite to explode, but you have to chase the fuse across all manner of different dimensions to physically hold the gaps in the fuse together. This adds a whole new element to solving puzzles whereby you have to think in multiple dimensions. ![]() ![]() Later on, you might find levers on the ground that will change the perspective and gravity at the mere touch of a button. ![]() So, for example, you can walk up to a wall, and then Lloyd will be able to walk up that wall as the whole room turns in that direction by 45 degrees. You see, the game plays with gravity and perspective in its gameplay mechanics. I love the tone and the creativity of the game design, pretty much with every aspect from the monster design to the interiors you move through. It’s an incredibly dark world full of horrific monsters, surrealist items that have no respect for size or physics, and a complete homage to the macabre. The story has no text or cutscenes to speak of, with the world expressed through visuals alone. When you lie down on the dirty bed, you literally have an out of body experience and you find yourself in the world of the nightmare. You start the game in a dingy apartment where everything looks like it should be in a reality TV program about condemned buildings. You play the character of Lloyd, a man who is afraid to go to sleep in case he drifts off into a nightmare world that could kill him. The main game delivers an elusive story and only by delving into it will you be able to pick up hints and thoughts about its meaning. Puzzles that involve bending the laws of physics ( walking on walls and ceilings), manipulating the dream world (moving things, rotating rooms), collecting and using found objects, and avoiding enemies.DARQ: Complete Edition not only includes the base game but also comes complete with two bits of DLC – The Tower and The Crypt.Sound design by Bjørn Jacobsen, known for his work on such games as Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman.Unique artstyle and detailed environment to explore.Psychological horror set in a lucid dream, relying on slow build and creepy atmosphere rather than gore and violence.Instead, he has to rely on careful planning to avoid getting detected. He has no chance of winning in an open confrontation, since the creatures he will encounter are much more powerful and faster than him. ![]() WALL WALK, STEALTH, PUZZLESĪpart from gravity-defying puzzles, Lloyd will have to use stealth when nearby enemies. While exploring the darkest corners of his subconscious, Lloyd learns how to survive the nightmare by bending the laws of physics and manipulating the fluid fabric of the dream world. To Lloyd's misfortune, the dream quickly turns into a nightmare and all attempts to wake up end in failure. DARQ tells the story of Lloyd, a boy who becomes aware of the fact that he is dreaming.
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