Originally published in Live Wire Newspaper by Christopher DiBella / May 3, 2017 

Updated for the web on December 11th, 2017

By Christopher DiBella

EARLY ACCESS

Price: $15

Platform: PC, Steam, MacOS, Linux, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch. 

Developer: Acid Wizard Studio
Link to Store Page: http://tinyurl.com/q34s355

Release Date: Initial release:July 24, 2014. Edit: Released August 17th 2017.

I love horror games. I love ones where you can fight back, even if it’s futile. I love games where the setting feels tangible and your own presence in it feels unwelcome. I have been largely disappointed with the recent crop of horror games, so do not take the following statement lightly: Darkwood has the potential to be one of the greats of the horror genre.

Darkwood is an open world survival horror game set in a strange oppressive forest which has taken over an expanse of rural area within the Soviet bloc. Large, thick trees cover almost every foot of the forest, and seem to grow back even faster every day, blocking most sunlight, and cutting off everyone trapped inside from the outside world.  Strange, violent, surreal creatures began to emerge from deep in the woods, and people began changing, either out of some horrible mutation caused by the forest, or from slowly cracking from the mental weight of their isolation. What remains of the houses, mines, farms and buildings inside the Darkwood is a darkened, barren wasteland covered with trees and stalked by dangerous creatures and questionably human “people” during the day, and the night. Surreal, unexplainable events happen regularly, and some may make you question the sanity of your character.

The setting is frightfully strange, alien and dangerous. With continued good writing and scary situations, the woods could become one of the classic horror game locations like System Shock 2’s The Von Braun, Silent Hill or Resident Evil’s Raccoon City.

You play as someone who woke up one night, trapped in the forest. You do not need to eat, drink, or sleep, but instead the game focuses on surviving threats, unraveling the mystery behind the forest and trying desperately to escape. Darkwood’s combat is intentionally difficult, as even against weaker enemies you always feel on the back foot, something which I applaud. Night time in the forest radically flips the gameplay loop on its head, as instead of careful exploration and resource management, you must defend your home every night from intruders, which grow more curious and powerful with each passing day.

While the disorienting randomly generated forest echoes of recent horror games, the inventory management and unforgiving nature echoes of classic games like Silent Hill. The graphics have a top down, somewhat pixelated style. However, instead of using this as a crutch, Darkwood packs creepy detail into every foot of its environments and uses this visual ambiguity to let your imagination fill the gaps in a way no first person view could. The soundtrack helps this by providing an uncanny way of getting under your skin and underscoring whatever is going on.

In its current state, the story is not finished, however the game is rather playable and offers a lot of content for the $15. The developers had initially planned to have the game released this year, however was delayed in an attempt to listen to fan feedback and integrate those suggestions into the game. The only issues I had with the game were occasionally frustrating balance.

Editor’s Note: The game has since received several updates and is now finished. The game is excellent, and is easily one of the most interesting horror games in a few years. The game is also now available on Linux, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. 

Recommended for: Anyone who is sick of modern horror games and wants a game that they can really dig their teeth into, or let it get under their skin. Highly recommended.