90s ACTION-ADVENTURE

If you have played BioForge, Ecstatica, Dark Earth, Alone In The Dark 1, or Little Big Adventure, you know what 90s action-adventure games feel like. This genre had extremely deep gameplay, combining everything you can put in an action or an adventure game - puzzles, scripted events, stealth, action, simulation, anything.

Unfortunately, it's also a very inaccessible genre, because it can express a lot with its gameplay, but also demands a lot from the player - attention, comprehension, tenacity. Coupled with cumbersome interface, these games fail. Just like Flashback / Fade To Black creator Paul Cuisset couldn't communicate with modern players with his rather creative game AMY (which sadly flopped and was universally hated), 2Dark also suffers from trying to do too much with its interface (managing inventory, aiming a gun, equipping items in your hands).

HITMAN

WIth that said, for me, 2dark is a wonderful experience. It's quite similar to Hitman in some levels - you have a social simulation that you have to disrupt, but your objective is not to kill someone, but instead, to save kidnapped children (some of which don't want to be saved, or are too uncontrollable - but it's not an annoying escort mission, don't worry).

AWESOME EXPERIENCE

2Dark is an amazing experience so far. It's very weird that I don't care about the bugs, or the abysmal English translation, or even about scoring points, or game mechanics. I'm completely immersed in the situation and the moral dilemmas it presents. It feels very real and reminds me why I started to like playing videogames in the first place.

Frederick Raynal also has the ability not just to convince you that a situation is real, but also to constantly surprise you. Every situation and location in the game is unique. Almost every character model is unique - everyone is a unique person. The variety of obstacles and the variety of ways in which you can handle them (you should really exercise your imagination about how you can distract the NPCs or create conflict among them) is just amazing.

DISCLAIMER

Of course, you won't enjoy this game if you don't have the same priorities as me. If having a fun, accessible experience is more important to you than seeing certain ideas and emotions simulated in a game, then you're not going to enjoy 2Dark at all. The game is demanding, it needs you to understand very well what you are doing and to invest time and effort.

It's also a very disturbing game that trespasses a cultural taboo (suffering and death of children).

Last, and a little unrelated, I recommend playing the game with a gamepad. Even though managing your inventory is way slower with a gamepad, the more natural movement of the character justifies this tradeoff.