DARK (2013)

 PC
User Score
4.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 272 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 272
  2. Mixed: 64 out of 272
  3. Negative: 153 out of 272

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  1. HELLruler
    Jul 4, 2013
    5
    The game looked cool, and I bought it before the release. Started playing, the characters have that bold lines like borderlands, I like that.

    After some minutes, the dialogues started, but they dont feel natural. When one person finishes what he/she was saying, the other one starts it like when you are pressing a buttom to skip dialogues. That's a bit odd. The gameplay isnt something    The game looked cool, and I bought it before the release. Started playing, the characters have that bold lines like borderlands, I like that.

    After some minutes, the dialogues started, but they dont feel natural. When one person finishes what he/she was saying, the other one starts it like when you are pressing a buttom to skip dialogues. That's a bit odd.

    The gameplay isnt something new. If you played Dishonored, you'll feel familiar with the game. One let down is that you can only either instantly kill your enemy or suck blood to get "mana" to use powers.
    The enemies arent really smart, they follow the same route, so you just have to wait until they turn and kill them.

    In the end, this game could be a success, but it isnt. I'm not saying that this game totally suck, it has some good things, but you should not pay so much for a game when you have better options (Dishonored has better graphics, better mechanics and better story for instance)    … Expand
  2. WookieChestHair
    Jul 4, 2013
    2
    So I bought this game this afternoon, very amped up as I'm a sucker for stealth games. Upon beginning the game, I realised a few things. 1. This feels a lot like Hitman: Blood Money 2. This looks a lot like Walking Dead and 3. This game has managed to combine Hitman and Walking Dead, take all the life and fun from both of them and charge you $40 for it. This game has you playing as aSo I bought this game this afternoon, very amped up as I'm a sucker for stealth games. Upon beginning the game, I realised a few things. 1. This feels a lot like Hitman: Blood Money 2. This looks a lot like Walking Dead and 3. This game has managed to combine Hitman and Walking Dead, take all the life and fun from both of them and charge you $40 for it. This game has you playing as a stealthy assassin...vampire. Which is already a poor decision, the devs for this game should've noticed the irreversible pussification of vampires at the hands of the Twilight franchise. As a blood-sucker, you wield, what was said to be an arsenal of powers, is actually about 6 or 7 different powers with 3 or so passive ones, that can aid you in your missions. They are fun to use for about 3 minutes, then they just get boring. This is a grand example of a game that has a brilliant concept and so much potential, but is so poorly executed. Game play is extremely boring and repetitive there's really no motivation for you to keep playing, story is unoriginal and uninteresting, voice acting has been painfully forced with all but one or two characters so far, enemies, rather than looking around for anything suspicious, will walk back and forth between programmed routes, which is more often than not, a bloody straight line, just waiting for you to use the same 2 or 3 animations to kill them. Other than their 'routes', enemies also can't spot you if you are more than 10 metres away from them, or even better, they cannot see you if you are right around the corner...hiding behind a clear glass wall. This game is unfinished. That's really all there is to it. What's worse is the price tag. 40 dollars?! Seriously!? That's insulting. It's frustrating that I'm forced to live in a generation that creates games of this calibre and then prices them like that. My mistake was in buying it on release day, rather than wait for some reviews to come out. Hopefully, you won't make the same mistake I did.… Expand
  3. Tosecitas
    Sep 10, 2013
    7
    Its a good stealth game, It lacks in many aspects (graphics, writing, the final boss battle but I enjoyed It overall, I would totally look after a sequel.
  4. Cingz
    Jul 17, 2013
    5
    The game has a few good concepts to make the gameplay interesting, sadly there are many flaws covering up the good things. Pros: Power ups, dialogues with jokes.

    Cons: 1.Obviously overpriced 2.Standard graphic 3. Not enough characters and places to make a good story 4.Ridiculous gameplay mechanics, e.g. sometimes it's frustrating when you want to quickly kill an enemy near a corpse    The game has a few good concepts to make the gameplay interesting, sadly there are many flaws covering up the good things. Pros: Power ups, dialogues with jokes.

    Cons: 1.Obviously overpriced
    2.Standard graphic
    3. Not enough characters and places to make a good story
    4.Ridiculous gameplay mechanics, e.g. sometimes it's frustrating when you want to quickly kill an enemy near a corpse because the kill and drag enemy dead body button is same
    5.Every characters talked like they doesn't need to breathe because of the gapless dialogue
    6.Mediocre sounds
    7.There are PDAs to collect and few side quest but you don't have a journal to keep it in mind
    8.Limited save (only 2 on normal difficulty) regardless how big is the area

    Conclusion: though i'm able to enjoy some parts of the game, it's not worth the price and not worth to be recommended unless you really want it.    … Expand
  5. titantim
    Jul 8, 2013
    2
    Terrible control! The teleporting is infuriating trying to get the right location. The actual fighting is slow and clunky. You wind up for every punch (which is an instant kill), but while you wind up, everyone is shooting at you. You need to play it to see how bad it truly is.

    The AI is brainless, more than any other stealth game I've played. You don't even need to fight most of the    Terrible control! The teleporting is infuriating trying to get the right location. The actual fighting is slow and clunky. You wind up for every punch (which is an instant kill), but while you wind up, everyone is shooting at you. You need to play it to see how bad it truly is.

    The AI is brainless, more than any other stealth game I've played. You don't even need to fight most of the time. If you're seen, but make it through the door where the next cut-scene begins, they forget about you.

    The animation and look of the game looks like an old xbox (original) game.

    The sneaking element doesn't make any sense. If you go behind the enemy and do an attack to instant kill them, it doesn't make noise for others to hear (Even though it makes a huge noise for the player). However, grabbing them to drink their blood (which makes no noise when you do it) alerts nearby enemies).    … Expand
  6. KingShree
    Jul 25, 2013
    4
    I had very low expectations and even that i was disappointed. When you see a trailer of this game you can already feel that something is not right. And its true, It has some good elements but there are so many mistakes and so many things copied from other games, trough game you will find yourself saying, i saw this in another game and this in that game etc. Not a total blow but still not good.
  7. Zri
    Jul 9, 2013
    7
    Very decent sneaker with some interesting twists to the genre in the form of different vampire powers. Teleportation, distraction, domination, confusion and even using shadows to kill someone from a distance. The stealth is pretty well done, being comparable to other good sneakers before it like Thief, Splinter Cell and so on. It's let down a little bit in that department by enemies notVery decent sneaker with some interesting twists to the genre in the form of different vampire powers. Teleportation, distraction, domination, confusion and even using shadows to kill someone from a distance. The stealth is pretty well done, being comparable to other good sneakers before it like Thief, Splinter Cell and so on. It's let down a little bit in that department by enemies not being able to follow you past area borders, so you can be cheap and run back to the last area until the alarms die down if you screw up (which is tempting with the limited saves per area).

    The good parts are that stealth is done very well, if you like Max Payne's noir feel then the story feels quite decent too [see below for a couple of exceptions] and it looks quite pretty with its Borderlands style artwork and some nice lighting effects. When I first saw some of the trailers I was unsure about the combat mechanic of everything being an insta-kill, but they made it work.

    The game is let down by a few minor issues: it doesn't really take good advantage of some of the things you can do with the teleport ability like being able to bamf up or down levels in an area. Generally the levels are quite well designed, but given what they let you do, they could have done better in my opinion. Secondly their enemies tend to be quite tightly clustered, meaning it's quite difficult to play with stealth as your primary mechanic and end up having to kill people. I know, you're a vampire, you need blood and stuff, but when presented with a sneaker I feel like I should play it like a sneaker first and a vampire second.

    There were two pretty big annoyances in the story. One is the ending being a bit of a let-down, climactically with a super lame boss battle. At least it's short. The second comes right at the beginning when you're told that people who are killed by vampires but not given their sire's blood are destined to become mindless ghouls... then you spend the entire freaking game draining folks of their blood. Perhaps they're planning a followup game where you play the cleanup crew who has to take out the whole mess of ghouls you create.

    Anyhow, overall a good short game, probably a bit on the overpriced side. If you dig sneakers wait til it's on sale.    … Expand
  8. 223kazin
    Jul 5, 2013
    3
    Hate to echo many others, but this game fell flat on it's face. I was really looking forward to this game(About as much as one can as an inherent skeptic). With a game I have mixed feelings about I'd normally start off with what's good and what's bad, but all the good parts are kinda "Meh" and rather unlikable. So we'll just skip to the bad.

    The voice acting, as has been said, feels    Hate to echo many others, but this game fell flat on it's face. I was really looking forward to this game(About as much as one can as an inherent skeptic). With a game I have mixed feelings about I'd normally start off with what's good and what's bad, but all the good parts are kinda "Meh" and rather unlikable. So we'll just skip to the bad.

    The voice acting, as has been said, feels like it goes from one sentence to the next with no pause inbetween.It feels like the skip button is pushed half a second before the sentence /should/ end.

    The gameplay is repetitive. You do the same 3 "kill" moves over and over, and worst of all, the ragdoll physics can go completely bonkers on 2 of them. I've had it happen 4 times to me where I'll flip kick or just super-vampire-deck someone over a ledge, only for their body to be discovered and everyone within earshot is looking for me.

    My footsteps while running sound like I'm wearing clogs. and are about 20x louder than anyone else. "Preternaturally silent footsteps" my @$$.

    They also mislabeled this game. It's not "Stealth Action", It's just "Stealth". Once you're discovered you're quickly riddled with bullets. You have a couple powers at your disposal but they really don't do anything for you when you only have 4 blood points to throw around and every room has a dozen or more enemies.

    I want to like this game. I REALLY do, but nothing stands out except the bad. I love vampire lore, I love stealth games, I'm a huge fan of Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption and Bloodlines. I expected this to expand off of 2 excellent games or at the very least, take pointers from them. I guess I'll go back to waiting for a vampire game that will actually deliver. As it stands this is just a bad ripoff of Dishonored. Giving it a 3. I'm sure the desperate among us for a vampire or stealth game will enjoy the game, but those of us that see past that will be sorely disappointed.    … Expand
  9. Mic7
    Jul 8, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Graphics (not a fan of the Borderlands style) and animation aside the game is a solid stealth game. There are two endings (neither of which explain how Bane will prevent himself from becoming a ghoul). For the most part it played smooth...a few game freezes in the club areas (ctrl alt del fixed it for me easily...didn't even have to reload). The gameplay is the game's strong point..the vampire powers are the highlight...made even more interesting by the fact that you have to feed in order to use them. I was surprised that it was harder than I thought it would be...be warned patience will be required.… Expand
  10. monsterbate
    Jul 4, 2013
    0
    Terrible. Clunky controls, horrible story, cringe-worthy voice acting and dialogue. What else can I say. I bought it on a whim and was very sad to read steam's refund policy after about an hour with it.
  11. Gravemind316
    Jul 5, 2013
    2
    I originally believed this game would use the stealth mechanics from Bethesda Studio's Dishonored, mixed in with cel-shaded graphics like Telltale Games Walking Dead series and a vamp-based storyline and abilities. However, the game fails miserably on all of these fronts. The graphics are weak at best, the storyline rushed and weak and the worst of all, the stealth mechanics and overallI originally believed this game would use the stealth mechanics from Bethesda Studio's Dishonored, mixed in with cel-shaded graphics like Telltale Games Walking Dead series and a vamp-based storyline and abilities. However, the game fails miserably on all of these fronts. The graphics are weak at best, the storyline rushed and weak and the worst of all, the stealth mechanics and overall game-play are inexcusably terrible. the only thing I can say is if you like the look of this game, go buy Dishonored.… Expand
  12. Dereck
    Jul 12, 2013
    6
    DARK is not inherently bad. It is, however, quite bland. The leaders on the market (MGS, SC, Hitman...) all have their own way of approaching stealth. DARK's mechanic is simply bland: stay under cover all the time and study your enemies' route. Then when you've got everything figured out, try not to mess it up.

    Thing is, the AI is just too good. It doesn't feel human. Enemies are too    DARK is not inherently bad. It is, however, quite bland. The leaders on the market (MGS, SC, Hitman...) all have their own way of approaching stealth. DARK's mechanic is simply bland: stay under cover all the time and study your enemies' route. Then when you've got everything figured out, try not to mess it up.

    Thing is, the AI is just too good. It doesn't feel human. Enemies are too quick to respond when sighting you, and seem to have quite a wide field of vision (I figured pretty much 180°, which is strange because supposedly you're less visible due to being a vampire).
    Therefore, when even a single guard finds you out, you're pretty much dead. Most stealth games simply have your pursuers forget you and go back to their routine, not DARK. The countdown during which they'll look for you is incredibly long, and I don't think I ever had guards drop their search for me in DARK (usually they kill me or there's only one guy looking for me and I manage to kill him). It would have made sense for once to have them forget about you, what with your vampire powers....

    You have some powers you can unlock but it doesn't feel like they're really helpful either they don't last long enough, or they only target one enemy and most of the time you'll have to take care of a dozen. Maybe there's a certain skill development one can take to make the game easier, but it certainly doesn't feel like there is one.

    But as I said, DARK is not inherently bad. Everything else about the game can be quite enjoyable, we're going back to the roots of vampires blood drinkers and outcasts of society. The only thing that needs to be fixed is the AI.    … Expand
  13. beansnob
    Aug 11, 2013
    10
    This game gets bashed mainly because the company doesn't have fanboys. Game has outstanding visuals, great core concept focused around stealth and more.

    Don't believe the negatives, most are upset that its not another cod or god of war.

    My version has outstanding A.I. maybe the critics just don't have the rigs to handle this beast.
  14. gbreal
    Aug 18, 2013
    10
    Dark is not that bad as people are reviewing it. It's very entertaining and definitely for you if you liked Vampire the Masquerade Redemption. In the very beginning you'll be told that Eric needs to drink proper elder blood in order to transform to a fully vampire and if not he'll change to a ghoul. That's a motivator to start hunting stonger and stronger vampires. The good thing is youDark is not that bad as people are reviewing it. It's very entertaining and definitely for you if you liked Vampire the Masquerade Redemption. In the very beginning you'll be told that Eric needs to drink proper elder blood in order to transform to a fully vampire and if not he'll change to a ghoul. That's a motivator to start hunting stonger and stronger vampires. The good thing is you can advance your skills at anytime if you've got enough xp. The key is to choose correct skills first to make the game easier, be stealthy trough the level and collect PDAs on the way. These actions will give you extra xp and make the game actually very fun to play. I finished Dark in 2,5 days and would have liked to play it alot more. I hope they make sequal for this Great game.… Expand
  15. Kinghy
    Jul 21, 2013
    4
    Looked Good. Plays Bad.
    Worst animations I've seen in a long time and I could forgive bad animations but these animations are just the product of lazy developers. You don't even have an animation to walk in each direction so when you do a 360 turn it looks insanely stupid. Like I said I could get past the animations if the game wasn't so boring and easy.
  16. Cay
    Jul 15, 2013
    5
    I went and got this game with a healthy amount of skepticism, and as thus wasn't the least bit surprised when it turned out to be pretty average, maybe even a bit below.

    First of all, the game is terribly overpriced. Having to pay 45 euros for this is just awful, but it *might* be worth getting at 50% off. Now then; the story is pretty boring, there's no reason to care about the    I went and got this game with a healthy amount of skepticism, and as thus wasn't the least bit surprised when it turned out to be pretty average, maybe even a bit below.

    First of all, the game is terribly overpriced. Having to pay 45 euros for this is just awful, but it *might* be worth getting at 50% off. Now then; the story is pretty boring, there's no reason to care about the characters at all since they only serve to advance the story(and the dialogue is terrible, it feels forced and unnatural), many things are left unexplained, the animation quality isn't anything to write home about, the AI is pretty ridiculous and doesn't pose any real challenge since they ALWAYS follow the same pattern and if you get discovered you're pretty much dead, and sometimes you have only a split second to find cover before you're spotted and instakilled by some guy half a mile away. Targeting the teleportation skill is also tremendously frustrating, and you will often be ripping your hair out trying to place it properly.

    But it doesn't completely suck. The abilities are fun to play around with, even though you might not have any reason to use more than two or three of them. I like the art style and the levels look good, so you'll at least have something pretty to look at until that guard circles back into position. The gameplay isn't *really* bad, and while the AI is pretty predictable, you can have a bit of fun finding different routes to your objectives, or issuing various challenges to yourself to spice the game up a bit. The universe itself has some rather interesting sides, but they just aren't fleshed out enough and there might be a million reasons that they weren't, but the result is the same. You're left with a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of potential dropped right on the floor..    … Expand
  17. Mexxxi
    Aug 2, 2013
    8
    I've been an avid Thief and Hitman gamer since those games hit the market and I love stealth games. When I saw the cover art of Dark it immediately reminded me of Thief, the reviews however made me hesitant. After really wanting to like Remember Me and realizing that the game sucked, I didn't wanted to be disappointed again, yet I don't judge a book by its cover (or other reviews) and gaveI've been an avid Thief and Hitman gamer since those games hit the market and I love stealth games. When I saw the cover art of Dark it immediately reminded me of Thief, the reviews however made me hesitant. After really wanting to like Remember Me and realizing that the game sucked, I didn't wanted to be disappointed again, yet I don't judge a book by its cover (or other reviews) and gave it a shot.

    I was pleasantly surprised. The game uses a cell shaded look, probably to hide the fact that the developers didn't have high-quality textures available. In the end the game gave a very even look without mushy and pixelated textures, so I guess they achieved their goal.

    This is a low budget title and for what it is, I found it to be impressive. The voice actors are generally okay, only some of them delivered a cringe worthy performance, but nothing too bad to make you turn off the game. The audio engine itself lacks the ability to dampen sound in relation of the player's distance to the sound emitting object, so if you talk to someone and move away the speech will not be muffled. Also, there's no positional audio. The latter isn't really needed, but the former is just a necessity for modern games.

    As people have already pointed out, the animations are not always up to par, mainly those for blood sucking, but most of them do look realistic enough to enjoy the game. I played the game on hard and tried to avoid alarms and found the game to be easy, yet enjoyable. Apparently people are split on the difficulty as is apparent from some reviews here. Some find it too hard, but then there's a reason for having a difficulty setting. Also, some people seemed to have struggled, because they couldn't adapt to the gameplay necessary to get the most out of the game.

    FMVs were crisp and not the pixelated mess I usually get to see from big titles. The story had me roll my eyes at the beginning, but after a while I kind of warmed up to it. The story isn't actually bad, just the way the lay it out feels kind of clumsy at times, but that's what to be expected from a budget title. I've got the feeling that if the game would have had the kind of money in the back the big companies can spend, then this would have been the start of a new IP. May be it still is. After all, other games with similarly limited gameplay and storytelling (the first Call of Juarez comes to mind) managed to step it up tremendously in the sequel.

    I found the gameplay to be quite addictive. The first level didn't really click with me. Mostly, because I didn't really have a clue which situations to expect and which powers to upgrade, but by the second level I was really enjoying the game. I was powered up enough to do cool stunts and take out enemies effectively. Also, later on the game manages to keep things fresh by challenging the player with ever new situations forcing you to explore new tactics (if you want to keep it alarm-free that is).

    Also, the level design was pretty good. The levels are huge without loading zones. There are plenty of details, so the game doesn't feel empty. All in all, the game creates a believable world. There are shortcomings though. Apart from the superficial ones I mentioned, there some gripes with gameplay. In level 2 there's a section where while you're trying to take out a guard a cutscene will interfere. The game tries to incorporate sound by using littered floor as sound source which you should try to avoid. Thief implemented this a whole lot better. They could have left that feature out for all I care since it's barely game defining and only rarely encountered. Your attacks and actions create sounds too and those are traceable by the enemy. Too bad there's no indicator how much you're audible. At least they found a clever way to indicate visibility. Whenever an enemy starts to spot you, a circle appears that goes from green to red. If you manage to break line of sight before it's red you're safe. Simple but efficient. The game made several hints that shadows have an impact on visibility, but neither does it explain this feature, nor will you encounter many shadows. While the game uses light and shadows throughout, they don't seem to play a role and if they do, I didn't need to stick to the shadows to beat it.

    All in all I have to say I liked the game. It offers replay value: I can't wait for a second run through to beat it even more perfectly, now that I know what to expect. Ghosting through the levels will also be fun especially with the teleport power and so will be a violent playthrough where I can ignore stealth completely and take enemies head on.

    Is it a genre defining game? No.
    Was it fun to play? You bet!
    Did I feel I wasted my time? No!

    Even with more advanced stealth games around, there are still far too few to cater to the genre and this game sure does give fans of the genre some fun before Thief 4 comes around. As simple as it is, as enjoyable is it. You need a knack for patience and stealth though.    … Expand
  18. robotdickens
    Aug 5, 2013
    2
    DARK does one thing right: makes all other vampire games look amazing in comparison. With a broken combat system, stupid morals (throwing away the easiest and most exploitable, yet intrinsic to the 'to eat or not to eat' question of morality for vampires), horribly linear levels and just overall boring. This to date is the only game I have ever emailed Steam to send me a refund of my $40,DARK does one thing right: makes all other vampire games look amazing in comparison. With a broken combat system, stupid morals (throwing away the easiest and most exploitable, yet intrinsic to the 'to eat or not to eat' question of morality for vampires), horribly linear levels and just overall boring. This to date is the only game I have ever emailed Steam to send me a refund of my $40, which I unfortunately did not receive back. It is now a blight on my Steam library. Every time I scroll up to 'D', I have to be reminded of what a horrible choice I made and the waste of money that occurred on my bank account. In short: worthless trite I wish never existed.… Expand
  19. Kirro
    Aug 14, 2013
    2
    I wish I could say the idea was solid but the developer couldn't pull it off. But no. Despite vampires being featured prominently, the main character has supernatural powers more befitting a jedi, with a distinct weakness for... pretty much everything, really. The stealth aspect is woefully mishandled, such that if you are spotted, you might as well commit suicide. It's hard, but not theI wish I could say the idea was solid but the developer couldn't pull it off. But no. Despite vampires being featured prominently, the main character has supernatural powers more befitting a jedi, with a distinct weakness for... pretty much everything, really. The stealth aspect is woefully mishandled, such that if you are spotted, you might as well commit suicide. It's hard, but not the sort of hard where you feel a sense of accomplishment.

    The worst thing about the entire game is that you don't feel like a vampire. Vampire Bloodlines remains the gold standard. Even the Elder Scrolls series did a better job handling vampirism, and it wasn't even a core part of the gameplay.

    I recommend this game only to masochists who love vampires. And maybe Twilight fans. They deserve some suffering.    … Expand
  20. LordBelialz
    Aug 31, 2013
    1
    The premise sounded very interesting. But an abortion is still an abortion. However, at least this vampire doesn't sparkle. That's the only upside. Period.
  21. Mavsynchroid
    Jul 5, 2013
    2
    I'm usually very fair when it comes to games, but this game is terrible. The ONLY thing decent about it are the graphics. Now mind you, I say the graphics. NOT the animation. The graphics would get a 6/10, where as the animation for this game would get a 1/10 without a doubt. You see half a foot of empty air between your mouth (which is closed like it always is when not in dialogue) andI'm usually very fair when it comes to games, but this game is terrible. The ONLY thing decent about it are the graphics. Now mind you, I say the graphics. NOT the animation. The graphics would get a 6/10, where as the animation for this game would get a 1/10 without a doubt. You see half a foot of empty air between your mouth (which is closed like it always is when not in dialogue) and the enemy's neck you're feeding off of. When walking forward, if you try to go left/forward or /right forward, there's no animation between going straight and the other two options, you just instantly switch from walking one direction to the other. This isn't 1995.

    Another horrible part of this game is the AI and pathfinding. Out of the first 10 enemies I encountered, 2 of them disappeared all together, yet were somehow still attacking me, then all of a sudden appeared infront/behind me again. They can't see you through glass walls, they get stuck A LOT on pretty much nothing as well.

    The gameplay itself is a VERY bad knock off version of dishonored. You don't feel powerful in this game. You feel broken. Turns out it matches the game very well, as this game can def be decribed as both broken and UNFINISHED. It's obvious they either gave up and shipped this crap product or wanted to meet some deadline and decided they'd try and snag your 40 bucks without letting any review sites get their hands on it first.

    I can't say this enough. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! The other guy who put a 10/10 for this game is high out of his mind. It's garbage. I play most known games out there, and I wouldn't want to see anyone waste money on this. HEED ME!    … Expand
  22. gravy1958
    Jul 6, 2013
    4
    I can only suggest anyone wanting to buy this game to save their money and find a copy of Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. Although Vtmb is older the music and storylines are better even if the graphics and animations are on the same level.... There are mods which improve gfx for VTMB and maybe future patches will better DARK but I'm not sure it will. To echo others here... the hype isI can only suggest anyone wanting to buy this game to save their money and find a copy of Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. Although Vtmb is older the music and storylines are better even if the graphics and animations are on the same level.... There are mods which improve gfx for VTMB and maybe future patches will better DARK but I'm not sure it will. To echo others here... the hype is more than the game, the animations are poor, lip synching... poor. Good idea but it lacks the content, creativity and control to be worth more than £10.99 or $15… Expand
  23. andreinick05
    Jul 6, 2013
    3
    Don't waste your money on this trash. It's boring as hell, full of bugs, animations suck, lip sync is terrible, controls are terrible and it feels like it's unfinished, like there is a lot of stuff missing.
  24. shadowabyss
    Jul 23, 2013
    8
    Bought the game with a low expectations ive played others similar games and didnt believe it would live up to them. the game is a simple graphic like borderlands with low needs which makes it good for all users to have a chance of playing. now there are alot of bad reviews, ive played this game multi-times the story is good and has many twists. you never know what to except, the plotBought the game with a low expectations ive played others similar games and didnt believe it would live up to them. the game is a simple graphic like borderlands with low needs which makes it good for all users to have a chance of playing. now there are alot of bad reviews, ive played this game multi-times the story is good and has many twists. you never know what to except, the plot developers did a great job building each chapter and characters. i wish the characters had more a story behind them to show why there personality and quirks where the way they are however, the way the story develops through 2-3 days as the main character tries to save his life its understandable. bottom line its a game (even with some glitches like most games) to play as long as you have a open mind and dont get angry quickly. it seems most of these reviews were because they had difficulty sneaking and killing hordes of enemies.… Expand
  25. DeliMontana
    Jul 5, 2013
    7
    If you like Vampire The Masquerade Redemption or Bloodlines you'll probably like this since the ambient feeling is there! Even though it's not a AAA-title it's definitely decent enough even though it lacks some polishing. But since all games are more or less the same now days this feels fresh.
  26. Bloodbutterfly
    Jul 6, 2013
    7
    I really liked the concept of vampire and stealth because I think it is really a perfect combination if you think of the basic vampire such as Nosferatu^^ I liked the different kind of graphics that looked simulair to walking dead. It did not destroy the game play and still made you get the feeling of a dark environment. I also liked the story line because it gives you a differentI really liked the concept of vampire and stealth because I think it is really a perfect combination if you think of the basic vampire such as Nosferatu^^ I liked the different kind of graphics that looked simulair to walking dead. It did not destroy the game play and still made you get the feeling of a dark environment. I also liked the story line because it gives you a different perspective of the vampire franchise and it was also the reason I kept playing all the time. I simply wanted to know what would happen to the main character. I also disagree a bit towards the other reviews considering the npc:s. Yes they are dumb, they do not for example look into a bush if you have killed tons of guys walking past it. Although if you set of the alarm they will come after you and walk around the place where they saw you or where they found a dead body of another guard so I would say yes they are dumb but they actually do change routes if you make the enemies hostile. It is not really like in Skyrim or Oblivion where you can shoot one of the npc:s friends that is right next to him and he goes all like. Did you hear something? xD. BUT! What I did not like was the saving system and that they obviously did not really have a system with hard, easy and normal. The only differences of these degrees of difficulty is the saves. Easy is that you can save whenever you want, while normal only gives you two saves per stage off the mission. It does not differ in game play at all which I think takes away the point of having a difficulty system from the start. Also that you are not able to save at all at the club is kind of a bummer for me when saving is so important in these kind of games (a least that is what I think). I also did not like that fact that it seemed like it was very lined up. It was like walking on lava. Step one step our of the line of what the path the developers have planned for you in order to make the mission and you need to do it all over...unless you played it on easy so you could save whenever you wanted. Also the mission seemed kind of repetitive and it got kind of boring doing the same thing over and over. I still recommend the game for everyone that likes stealth games and are good at them^^ Because that is probably what it will take to play it on normal and not get pissed every 2 minutes because you stepped out of line again. And if you play it on easy I more or less recommend it for everyone that likes vampires^^ Not the twilight vampires then :/...if you even can call them vampires...no offense^^ well I liked the game and a recommend it for stealth gamers and vampire lovers^^ Good game but could do so much better if more thought was put into it. And please next time you make a game give us more freedom and more saves!… Expand
  27. Frager659
    Jul 13, 2013
    0
    This game is a rushed horrible excuse for a stealth game I am serious there is nothing good about this game. If you want a good stealth game just go buy Splinter Cell or Thief or even Hitman just don't let them steal 40$ from your pocket by buying this garbage. Its sad to I was looking forward to this game it was a good idea but executed terribly
  28. PatVersion
    Jul 5, 2013
    3
    A very poorly made game. It's unpolished, badly thought out and very difficult to squeeze any enjoyment out of. The gameplay is dull, the animations are borderline unfinished and the voicework is mediocre at best. The main character is especially unlikable, all he offers in the way of personality is edginess and his deep, gruff voice gets bland and annoying really fast.

    It's not a    A very poorly made game. It's unpolished, badly thought out and very difficult to squeeze any enjoyment out of. The gameplay is dull, the animations are borderline unfinished and the voicework is mediocre at best. The main character is especially unlikable, all he offers in the way of personality is edginess and his deep, gruff voice gets bland and annoying really fast.

    It's not a horrible game, it's just bland and boring in every single way. I could barely finish the first mission before I quit in disgust.    … Expand
  29. bellerophon
    Jul 21, 2013
    8
    In my opinion, this game does deserve a warmer welcome from players and reviewers. Of course, it has some flaws and doesn't look much polished in a way you could expect from an AAA game (which is not).
    But, in many ways, it tries to make things well :
    - The gameplay is pretty interesting and intuitive, while - The level design is overall well-suited to the powers and abilities you just    In my opinion, this game does deserve a warmer welcome from players and reviewers. Of course, it has some flaws and doesn't look much polished in a way you could expect from an AAA game (which is not).
    But, in many ways, it tries to make things well :
    - The gameplay is pretty interesting and intuitive, while
    - The level design is overall well-suited to the powers and abilities you just unlocked in the previous area. It offers a good verticality as well ("shadow leap" ability)
    - Moreover, the Rpg-style Xp points system gives you several possibilities of achievement with pretty cool powers showing well balanced cooldowns and potentials.
    - The graphics are really not bad for a cel-shaded game, but the characters' animations look rigid.
    - The storyline is pretty basic and uninteresting, but at least it lets you visit different places and stalk different preys.
    Overall, this game reminds me of "Batman Arkham Asylum" challenge maps, where you try to blend into the background while spotting and then swooping on your preys in different arenas.

    it doesn't take long to reach the credits page, but overall the game was fun for me despite its flaws. I think it should be sold 15-20     … Expand
  30. xkdksk
    Jul 4, 2013
    4
    Good sneak game. But there are so many trouble in control n motion. I got a lot of problem to play although I don't have any responsibilities. also, the way to make tactics is too short. If you already play 'Hitman' or 'Dishonored', maybe you can punch your monitor. So my advice is two kinds.

    1. Find other sweet infiltration games.

    2. wear boxing gloves when you play this.
  31. Diablo92
    Jul 5, 2013
    1
    *YAWN* only thing i see in this game is stealth... you go sneaking around corners and junk. Stealth is pretty cool but throughout the entire game though? That IMO is terribly lame.. Game is pretty much a failure since there is pretty much no mixture of anything. Don't think about comparing this with dishonored either, dishonored is an FPS this game is a 3rd person shooter so two completely*YAWN* only thing i see in this game is stealth... you go sneaking around corners and junk. Stealth is pretty cool but throughout the entire game though? That IMO is terribly lame.. Game is pretty much a failure since there is pretty much no mixture of anything. Don't think about comparing this with dishonored either, dishonored is an FPS this game is a 3rd person shooter so two completely different games and dishonored was so much better than this crap. Gonna give it just a 1 since the GFX are'nt half bad.… Expand
  32. Gfunk839
    Jul 9, 2013
    6
    In Reach of Greatness

    The game has a great premise but the execution lets it down a little. Maybe because of the budget constraints. All I see when I play the game is an awesome stealth RPG but sadly it never comes into fruition. Main issue is the lack of enough transversal options leaves you flatfooted or cornered very often. The general stealth gameplay is fun and the powers are    In Reach of Greatness

    The game has a great premise but the execution lets it down a little. Maybe because of the budget constraints.

    All I see when I play the game is an awesome stealth RPG but sadly it never comes into fruition. Main issue is the lack of enough transversal options leaves you flatfooted or cornered very often. The general stealth gameplay is fun and the powers are useful. Use of powers is too clunky. Simple jump mantling is sorely missed. Would be great if you could move around the environment with the ease of say dishonored. Graphics are fine if unspectacular. Sound design is generally good. Voice acting is poor to avergage. Other than that the game is enjoyable, but it commits the cardinal sin of leaving you wanting much more, showing you it's potential but never realising it. The approach to stealth is great though.    … Expand
  33. hiddenreason
    Jul 4, 2013
    2
    The game has fantastic concept and potential, pretty much like vampire version of Dishonored where you get to use many special powers and tricks. However the engine of this game is horrible, I tested this game on can you run it and the result is fast but when I actually run the game the performance is terrifying, I can sense my graphic card trying so hard to maintain the FPS even after IThe game has fantastic concept and potential, pretty much like vampire version of Dishonored where you get to use many special powers and tricks. However the engine of this game is horrible, I tested this game on can you run it and the result is fast but when I actually run the game the performance is terrifying, I can sense my graphic card trying so hard to maintain the FPS even after I preset graphic option to low. And the gameplay isn't so good either. You get bored pretty soon, partly because of the graphic performance.… Expand
  34. rabidclock
    Jul 10, 2013
    7
    Well, it's not a triple A title, and the end product does show that. It's not as well polished nor is the art/voice acting spectacular. But from a small developer, I thought they did quite well. I don't normally play stealth games, and was looking for a casual RPG when I ran across this. I though the story was decent compared to some of the crap that gets toted around in games. TheWell, it's not a triple A title, and the end product does show that. It's not as well polished nor is the art/voice acting spectacular. But from a small developer, I thought they did quite well. I don't normally play stealth games, and was looking for a casual RPG when I ran across this. I though the story was decent compared to some of the crap that gets toted around in games. The character development could have been done a lot better, I really didn't feel much attachment to any of them. As far as RPG elements are concerned, some basic character building is there, but you wind up unlocking most of the powers by the end anyways, so it's just a timing thing. I would recommend it to others, I felt it had a lot of potential but was either limited by time or too small a budget to really hash it out. A bigger focus on character development and AI would really have made this a great game, but I'm happy with my purchase.… Expand
  35. GeneralJGaming
    Aug 10, 2013
    3
    My review says it all. Horrible game. The plot contradicts itself. You don't care for any of the characters, it's unbalanced. However they do have some interesting gameplay elements.

    http://youtu.be/iKfR2_qdQPc
  36. tomstgt
    Jul 5, 2013
    8
    Its an honest game with great ideas and some flaws. At first i was stuck in the club because i didn't know what to do. But it is fun, when it starts at the outside area of a museum, you get yourself remembered of the great game Dishonored by having access to the magic teleportation power to wipe out enemies in a split second. I liked it.
  37. Geekcrux
    Jul 16, 2013
    7
    Good: Design Style is awesome
    Good: The game is fun to play.
    Good: I love all the abilities and normal difficulty feels pretty balanced. Good: I like how you are limited on your quick saves so it adds another challenge to the stealth style game. Nothing breaks the risk than having a quick save before every kill. Hard difficulty is even better as you only get auto saves and every mistake    Good: Design Style is awesome
    Good: The game is fun to play.
    Good: I love all the abilities and normal difficulty feels pretty balanced.
    Good: I like how you are limited on your quick saves so it adds another challenge to the stealth style game. Nothing breaks the risk than having a quick save before every kill. Hard difficulty is even better as you only get auto saves and every mistake might mean killing 13 guys all over again.
    Good: The story mixed in with gameplay to remind you constantly what you were doing in these locations.

    Bad: Normal difficulty and Hard difficulty have the same enemies and they have the same patrol patterns. If you play pure stealth, then hard isn't much different than normal other than how fast they kill you.
    Bad: Really short. I beat the game on Normal and then Hard. One day of playing for each.
    Bad: Challenges might have been fun, but forcing us to redo our abilities before each round is stupid. Just give us some abilities and make us deal with what you give us.
    Bad: Becoming a Vampire that can do it all removes the replay of this game. If picking different skills actually means I would not get to have others would limit our characters and cause us to play differently each time through. As it is no matter what by the last level you have capped out all abilities.    … Expand
  38. hollowfication
    Jul 15, 2013
    1
    this was most worst piece of rubbish i am sugar coating term of rubbish it polite terms for it. none the less game sucks could they not use better a.i and making the game more cartoonish like the darkness 2 no matter the game they used is like dragon age talking function.

    which is repetitive action with term of vampire powers is the worst and trying to lv up ur powers with rpg style.    this was most worst piece of rubbish i am sugar coating term of rubbish it polite terms for it. none the less game sucks could they not use better a.i and making the game more cartoonish like the darkness 2 no matter the game they used is like dragon age talking function.

    which is repetitive action with term of vampire powers is the worst and trying to lv up ur powers with rpg style.

    why was this made i thought the trailer they gave us look alright then game play sucked ass

    trust me dont buy it    … Expand
  39. Shanevarius
    Jul 10, 2013
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This was a fun game. The controls were a little difficult at first but I got the hang of them pretty quick. The voice acting was also a bit abrasive at first as well but as the story progressed, I got more into it.

    The game actually does get considerably more interesting as you go on and things get a lot cooler as you unlock more powers. I also enjoyed the challenge of sneaking around, though I would have enjoyed the option of some combat. I suppose the creators wanted to keep us focused on sneaking instead of fighting. Other things I would have changed would be the boss fight at the end (this would require a combat mechanic), and the length of the game. It gets really cool near the end and then it ends... I can't help but feel that it could have used some Metal Gear feel in it.

    In any case, I'm up for a replay. I enjoyed sneaking around and causing havoc from the shadows.    … Expand
  40. JLBatman
    Jul 9, 2013
    9
    If you enjoy challenging stealth and figuring out patrol routes in the most efficient killing manner possible, you will love this game. I happen to like a challenge (most of the complaints below are from people who don't, btw) so restarting a checkpoint 15 times before I got it just right was OK. As it happens, if you choose your abilities wisely, you can make it MUCH easier, so thoseIf you enjoy challenging stealth and figuring out patrol routes in the most efficient killing manner possible, you will love this game. I happen to like a challenge (most of the complaints below are from people who don't, btw) so restarting a checkpoint 15 times before I got it just right was OK. As it happens, if you choose your abilities wisely, you can make it MUCH easier, so those poor peeps who hated on this really missed out on it getting easier with skillful progression. It never crashed, never had poor framerates, and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. If you liked the hard levels of thief and still found that to be a great game, you will probably like this. Also, one more note about checkpoints in general, i HATE them. However, they give you 2 freebie anytime saves that you can use between those checkpoints. Don't be silly about when you use them, and you will get the hang of it. It isn't Dishonored, but that's actually a good thing, IMO. That game was incredibly easy, even on hard. This game, however, when you choose hard it IS hard.… Expand
  41. urieaal
    Jul 25, 2013
    3
    this game starts off with a decent story base, but with out spoiling anything for anyone.... the first 3 missions are incredibly repetitive there literally the same thing just with a different skin..

    The powers/ability's are neat some of them once leveled up make getting thru the levels alot easier other wise i recommend you play on easy, normal difficulty seems way to hard and    this game starts off with a decent story base, but with out spoiling anything for anyone.... the first 3 missions are incredibly repetitive there literally the same thing just with a different skin..

    The powers/ability's are neat some of them once leveled up make getting thru the levels alot easier other wise i recommend you play on easy, normal difficulty seems way to hard and incredibly frustrating.

    the controls are for lack of a better word lose... they really need tightening up it was incredibly frustrating trying to kill something from a corner crouching position.. oh and god forbid you run up on humans and try to hit them with your vampire awesomeness..... each levels really only about 10-15 minutes long.

    you'll likely spend many frustrated hours. this game could have been such a great game if they just put some polish and thought into it.    … Expand
  42. Raverlily
    Jul 22, 2013
    1
    The game concept is not bad and it had the potential of being a really good stealth game with a vampire envioroment. However, this game, take my word for it, is really not worth its money. In my opinion, the photoes and trailers of the game shows its few and only good sides, almost tricking you to be intrested in the game.

    After playing it for a couple of minutes, you realize how little    The game concept is not bad and it had the potential of being a really good stealth game with a vampire envioroment. However, this game, take my word for it, is really not worth its money. In my opinion, the photoes and trailers of the game shows its few and only good sides, almost tricking you to be intrested in the game.

    After playing it for a couple of minutes, you realize how little time the developers put into the game. It have the graphics of a fair 2008 game, and the programming of a 2003. Way after in my opinion.

    To make it short, because I dont want you to waste your time reading all about this game, because its probably not something you want, unless you like glitchy, buggy, bad animated games.    … Expand
  43. GameFan365
    Aug 12, 2013
    3
    Dark is a stealth based game by Kalypso Media where you play as Eric Bane a vampire with several powers who must use his abilities defeat his enemies human and vampire alike. This is a game that seeks to mimic the styling of Assassins Creed and the darkness of Dishonored, but unfortunately due to several major flaws fails to live up to the fun or polish of either game.

    Dark is a stealth    Dark is a stealth based game by Kalypso Media where you play as Eric Bane a vampire with several powers who must use his abilities defeat his enemies human and vampire alike. This is a game that seeks to mimic the styling of Assassins Creed and the darkness of Dishonored, but unfortunately due to several major flaws fails to live up to the fun or polish of either game.

    Dark is a stealth based RPG that promises a deep and engaging story with unique settings and abilities all of which is set in the dark and forboding world of vampires. Your abilities are fueled by the energy you consume from your victims and your objective is to use your powers to make your way through the areas and reach your goal. Unfortunately there are more than a few problem this game has when attempting to make good on these promise of a deep and immersive world with challenging gameplay.

    Visit www.GameFan365.com for the full review    … Expand
  44. geca7a1
    Jul 18, 2013
    2
    1.Funny running animation.
    2.Horrible voice acting.
    3.Many bugs
    4.First person view when draggin a body is horrible.
    5.Combat system is a total letdown.

    Total waste of 40$

    I like Stealth games because of that I will give 2.
  45. CosualPlayer
    Jul 22, 2013
    2
    Pluses: guys, i realy tried to find some pluses, but i didn't...
    Minuses: game is very hard, bad animation, bad graphics, bad stealth, bad plot, bad controll, very low budget...
  46. Teckor
    Jul 28, 2013
    1
    There are a lot of similarities, though. Poor graphics and CGI in both (the animation quality is particularly bad in this game), both have a terrible story, neither feels like something actually based on vampires, they're just generic media with vampiric reskins. Neither is good at what it tries to do as generic media (really bad stealth in this game, btw guys). As something vampire themedThere are a lot of similarities, though. Poor graphics and CGI in both (the animation quality is particularly bad in this game), both have a terrible story, neither feels like something actually based on vampires, they're just generic media with vampiric reskins. Neither is good at what it tries to do as generic media (really bad stealth in this game, btw guys). As something vampire themed it's better than twilight.. barely.… Expand
  47. Evilcalyptic
    Aug 31, 2013
    3
    This game tries extraordinarily hard to be vampire: the masquerade. Don't get me wrong VTM had its own flaws and bugs but Dark was no where in the ballpark. The number one concern in my opinion that should have been an easy fix is the dialog acting like its being skipped, this gets very agitating at times. The gameplay is also a bit shoddy. Honestly this is a game no one will even rememberThis game tries extraordinarily hard to be vampire: the masquerade. Don't get me wrong VTM had its own flaws and bugs but Dark was no where in the ballpark. The number one concern in my opinion that should have been an easy fix is the dialog acting like its being skipped, this gets very agitating at times. The gameplay is also a bit shoddy. Honestly this is a game no one will even remember a year from now. It will not go down in the books. Avoid paying for this game and skip onto the next, If you want an immersive and fun RPG/FPS vampire game than play bloodlines. Its almost 10 years old and can whoop dark's arse.… Expand
  48. TheWhiteRose000
    May 15, 2014
    7
    The game although good with story lacked a true realness with its combat mechanics.
    Mainly the fact that you can kill any enemy with one hit and maximize your health at the start.
    So you can simply just tank them all to continue with the story. All in all I give it a 7/10 because the story is good, character development is good, combat system needs work. If you want a video review    The game although good with story lacked a true realness with its combat mechanics.
    Mainly the fact that you can kill any enemy with one hit and maximize your health at the start.
    So you can simply just tank them all to continue with the story.

    All in all I give it a 7/10 because the story is good, character development is good, combat system needs work.

    If you want a video review to my thoughts on this game.    … Expand
  49. jseph1234
    Nov 8, 2013
    5
    I think this game is worthy of an "8" because while it is not a AAA game and has the LEGENDARY
    Vampire the Masquerade:Bloodlines game to compete with, it is overall a good game. Not perfect but worth the price.
  50. Tziwen
    Oct 30, 2013
    5
    This is based on a great idea, in a great world and background but... Oh boy, poor execution.
    The game is a mess and bugged and dirty. The story is.... Pffff... Clumsy and a bit "stupid" but the world and the background of this world is neat. Matter of fact, this game could have been so nice... It's a shame.

    Good ideas, good background, bad realisation, bad story...
  51. BladeOfDarkmoon
    Dec 11, 2013
    6
    maybe a little like Hitman blood money and Dues Ex: Human Revolution. Graphics like Borderlands or Darkness 2. decent enough if you want a different game to play.
  52. Demon2017
    Jun 10, 2022
    1
    Самый настоящий ужас, а не игра. Не понимаю, как её вообще умудрились выпустить, ведь это абсолютно неиграбельный кусок говна
  53. PortalToH3LL
    Dec 16, 2018
    4
    It would be better if the game were more action packed with elements of secrecy, and not vice versa. Still. A good idea, and the implementation of the failure, and in addition sad. Only for those who buy stealth, but even in this respect it is doubtful, because the quality leaves much to be desired. On the "special" fans in short.
  54. hydroquaqua
    Mar 19, 2022
    10
    _Эрик! эта не та кровь которую ты ищешь! Cмирившись со своей судьбой, без памяти наивный начинающий упырь, ищет среди тени маскарада истину, которую сам он породил - примерно такого характера выстроились мысли в голове, для последующего прохождения игры DARK

    _Eric! this is not the blood that you are looking for, resigned to your fate, without memory, a naive novice ghoul, looking for    _Эрик! эта не та кровь которую ты ищешь! Cмирившись со своей судьбой, без памяти наивный начинающий упырь, ищет среди тени маскарада истину, которую сам он породил - примерно такого характера выстроились мысли в голове, для последующего прохождения игры DARK

    _Eric! this is not the blood that you are looking for, resigned to your fate, without memory, a naive novice ghoul, looking for the truth in the shadow of a masquerade, which he himself gave rise to - approximately of this nature, thoughts lined up in my head, for the subsequent passage of the game DARK    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
41

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 21
  3. Negative: 13 out of 21
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Sep 19, 2013
    40
    Initially a terrible thing that becomes a relatively entertaining stealth action game, if you manage to (literally) bite your way through. Unfortunately, excellent ideas are screwed up by their problematic elaboration. [Issue#232]
  2. PC Gamer
    Sep 13, 2013
    43
    A work of sulky blandness that does itself no favors by latching onto better games and cooler vampires. [ Nov 2013, p.68]
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Aug 28, 2013
    35
    There are some mildly satisfying moments in Dark, but most of the time you’re stuck between boredom and frustration. [CD-Action 10/2013, p.67]
See all critic reviews »