Daylight

 PC
User Score
4.3

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 198 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 198
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 198
  3. Negative: 109 out of 198

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  1. Assassin8813
    Apr 30, 2014
    2
    In short, this game is one of the most over-hyped horror games I have ever seen. Simply cashing in on the recent influx of horror type games, Daylight offers little to no creativity and is simply a remake of every jumpscare game with slightly better graphics.

    For a full description, Daylight approaches the horror genre with a boring and simple gameplay mechanic of find the pages, get    In short, this game is one of the most over-hyped horror games I have ever seen. Simply cashing in on the recent influx of horror type games, Daylight offers little to no creativity and is simply a remake of every jumpscare game with slightly better graphics.

    For a full description, Daylight approaches the horror genre with a boring and simple gameplay mechanic of find the pages, get the doll, go to the exit. That is literally the full extent of its gameplay, nothing more, that's IT. No creative puzzles, no clever tricks, extremely repetitive gameplay, and almost zero interaction besides opening doors and picking up notes. And every level, asides from being 'procedurally generated', is a bland barrage of greys and blacks.

    Next, the horror aspect of this game is almost nothing to people who have either played horror games in the past or are older than the age of 17, which is how old you have to be to play the game IN THE FIRST PLACE, but we'll get to that later. Aside from occasionally causing you to stir by one or two jumpscares, the game is nothing but an endless assault of unoriginal and unimaginative jumpscares, one after the other, again and again. After a while, I was literally calling out when stuff would happen well before the actual event. The ghosts that chase you aren't at all scary or creepy, they're just girls with lights in their eyes and mouth. Also, what was possibly the scariest part of this game is the thought that other people are actually scared by pathetic attempts such as this.

    Before you complain that "Slender has the exact same gameplay and horror aspect and it's sooooo popular!", Slender has a reason for being exactly that. It was a mod developed by a handful of people and was released to the public for free. This game was developed by a full team in a big company with plenty of funding to make something worthwhile. This is not.

    Furthermore, the story in this game is almost nonexistent, being nothing but a bunch of notes that you probably don't even read that vaguely detail what happened over a century ago. I've seen better story-lines from games such as Killing Floor and Sniper Elite: NZA. Also, why they have Andrew Ryan from Bioshock as the only other human in this game is beyond me.

    As for the M rating on the game, the only thing that could POSSIBLY warrant that rating is the occasional references to suicide and the unneeded language. If not for those, this game would easily have an E rating where it actually might scare the potential audience. Although, my 14 year old brother would laugh if he played this game.

    The only thing that keeps this game afloat is the good PR given to it by big YouTubers such as Markiplier and Pewdiepie, and the only reason for this is because of the unique feature in the game (yes, there actually is SOMETHING special in this game) where you can livestream via Twitch and have the viewers affect the gameplay by their comments. That being said, this game is only good for a very limited crowd, and would honestly be a better game if it was sold by Twitch to only be played on Twitch.

    In summary, this game is a pathetic attempt to scare a mature audience and only succeeds in scaring those who either are scared by their own shadow or those who are too young to play the game in the first place.    … Expand
  2. Midnights
    May 4, 2014
    3
    This game is completely disappointment. It had great potential with all these scary stuff like hospitals witches, religious beliefs etc. but when you look at the game all you can find is ; get the memorial pages, unlock the sigil and open the next door. There is no surprises no tricks no shocking scenes. And those pages are so un-clever and unexcited. One thing that i found so absurd isThis game is completely disappointment. It had great potential with all these scary stuff like hospitals witches, religious beliefs etc. but when you look at the game all you can find is ; get the memorial pages, unlock the sigil and open the next door. There is no surprises no tricks no shocking scenes. And those pages are so un-clever and unexcited. One thing that i found so absurd is that when you begin to collect pages, with each page you collect, the enemies are attacking more often and you know this because there is a reveal thingy in your interface that shows you are in trouble( You have 1/6 page you are not in so much trouble, you have 5/6 pages then they are coming, lol). For a horror game this is an epic failure because you know that you should be more careful. The randomly generated rooms are no more than a marketing strategy because they were all look the same and nothing really changes.

    And i have to say that the game is incredibly short! Yesterday i installed the game and finished in 2 hours.If you just run, you can finish in 1 hour because when you run enemies do not catch you. The ending came so quick and i was like '' is that it?!?!''. When i finished i thought that this game is just like a beta version of an unfinished game.

    The only good thing is the sounds and musics. They are also not original but at least they make u feel uncomfortable sometimes. The graphics are good but that does not help.

    If you are still curious about this game, i think you should wait for a good sale.    … Expand
  3. epeternally
    Oct 14, 2014
    2
    Unspeakably bad. Repetitive, a total failure of gameplay, misuse of procedural generation, dull, tedious, not scary, horrible story, bad mechanics, nothing here works correctly. It has some nice graphics for the first half an hour until you realize that yes, you are just going to be seeing the same rooms over and over again at which point they become as tedious as everything else. There isUnspeakably bad. Repetitive, a total failure of gameplay, misuse of procedural generation, dull, tedious, not scary, horrible story, bad mechanics, nothing here works correctly. It has some nice graphics for the first half an hour until you realize that yes, you are just going to be seeing the same rooms over and over again at which point they become as tedious as everything else. There is not a price for which you should buy this game. At 99% off, this would still be a skip. It is a waste of the time and money of all parties involved.… Expand
  4. Dantevus
    May 10, 2014
    3
    If you are in the market for this kind of game I'd just go with Amnesia. It's fun...ish. It does a great job with the mood, just not with the actual gameplay. Also, I got it free with my GTX 770 and yet it maxes out my card while lagging like crazy unless you modify some of the files. My 770 is manually overclocked and puts out between 90-144 fps on every other game I own. While lookingIf you are in the market for this kind of game I'd just go with Amnesia. It's fun...ish. It does a great job with the mood, just not with the actual gameplay. Also, I got it free with my GTX 770 and yet it maxes out my card while lagging like crazy unless you modify some of the files. My 770 is manually overclocked and puts out between 90-144 fps on every other game I own. While looking for solutions it appears I'm nowhere near the only one with this issue so I feel like they released the game without actually finishing the game. This is a trend lately in the gaming industry. It worries me. Laziness.… Expand
  5. aplehanov
    May 13, 2014
    0
    Poor visual quality, bad sound quality. Stupid gameplay like in cheap horrors. Enemy unexpectly appeared in front of your face and screaming - thats all gameplay... No psychological, no deep emotions - just dumb "BOO" method. At this moment game has a terrible technical ussues. To say simple - is unplayable.
  6. a2980567
    May 4, 2014
    1
    It's fail. I bought it just because of U4. Was thinking, that graphics would be great.
    And graphics failed. Game is piece of sh*t. It, boring, stupid and not scary.
    I want my money back.
  7. DcMightyHamster
    May 6, 2014
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is not really creepy, when you understand that you just don't have to look back when you hear the step behind you or just light a torch.
    The story could be good if they explain more the end, because this end is really not good, we discover the story of the 13 witch and that your mother try to protect you from this island but they don't explain why they want us and pls that end "OH my god ... it's ....me ! " after we understand that just by going on the light we killed all the witch .
    2 hours to discover all the note in game+, first game with only like 2 or 3 note missed in 1h40 min i tried to seed if they have explanation scribe anywhere on wall or anything.
    The E3 player was more scary than the game and the game cost 14 euros for only 2hours !

    For me this game could be a masterpiece if they did a bit longer ,give us a real story well written and with more enemy or more jump scare

    so to simplify :
    + the price 15 eu ( but surely drop at 7 or 5 eu on promotion thanks steam ^^)
    + the graphics and sounds

    +/- playable with xbox controller on pc / but only qwerty with keyboards, normally it gonna be patch

    - the enemies, too easy to escape from them and they don't spawn in front of you
    - story with a lack of explanation
    - level design and gameplay
    - too short only 1h40min
    - not really scary when you understand how work the enemies    … Expand
  8. DrDefiler
    May 20, 2014
    1
    I love horror games, and the trailers gave me some hope that this could be entertaining. I went into this with an open mind, hoping for something special. I was terribly wrong.

    This game is another walking simulator. The 'gameplay' is barely there, you will wander semi-randomized maps as you try to find scraps of paper and photographs just like Slender. The only difference here is    I love horror games, and the trailers gave me some hope that this could be entertaining. I went into this with an open mind, hoping for something special. I was terribly wrong.

    This game is another walking simulator. The 'gameplay' is barely there, you will wander semi-randomized maps as you try to find scraps of paper and photographs just like Slender. The only difference here is you have a map on your phone (Which I was expecting to do more, possibly by taking photos or using it to detect things) and glow-sticks to help you light the way.

    Flares are your ghost-repellent and the game throws them at you frequently enough that anyone that keeps moving won't have much of an issue with the ghosts that hound you. The only challenge the game presents to you is when you are forced to use no items as you clutch items that open sealed doorways. Even then, you just make a mad-dash and you can get through it in a matter of seconds.

    The story was completely forgettable, and the 'twist' was about as cliche as it could get. Saw that coming miles away. The game also ends on an abrupt note with no sense of closure or actual...well ending. You find something out, credits roll. Don't expect much.

    Then the actual length of the game is between 1 and 2 hours. With how they advertise the randomly-generated rooms and maps, I ask why I would ever want to play this again? Nothing would make me want to go through this again. I'm giving it 1 point only because this isn't Slender, which to me was the worst walking simulator of all time. The game chugged on my PC a bit which was weird when I can run Far Cry 3 without issue, and there was a massive visual bug with the water in game, but it still looks better than most indie horror games coming out right now.

    Don't waste your money.    … Expand
  9. WACOMalt
    May 26, 2014
    4
    This game tries too hard to be scary, and misses the mark. For an unreal Engine 4 game it doesn't look very good. It relies on too many tropes and is generally very repetitive gameplay.

    If this came out 4 years ago it might have gotten a 7 or something. But overall it's just too generic gameplay and too generic graphics to hold my interest. It's not buggy and seems to be pretty    This game tries too hard to be scary, and misses the mark. For an unreal Engine 4 game it doesn't look very good. It relies on too many tropes and is generally very repetitive gameplay.

    If this came out 4 years ago it might have gotten a 7 or something. But overall it's just too generic gameplay and too generic graphics to hold my interest. It's not buggy and seems to be pretty polished, its just not a great product.    … Expand
  10. GuruChaz
    Apr 30, 2014
    4
    The 50 + consecutive rooms with nothing interesting happening really scares me to death! The best parts were the wall art and Twitch streaming while people make jokes about this....whatever it is. Bundle it with a beer and a Dorito and it might get better ratings.
  11. mmmMatto
    Apr 30, 2014
    4
    I got this game with the purchase of my GTX 760 card. It's not my usual type of game, but hey, it was free so I gave it a shot. At the very least it gave me a chance to test out the new computer I built last week out of fancy shiny new parts.

    Now then, the game: The atmosphere is creepy, and there are enough spooky noises in the dark and ghosts moving furniture around to give you some    I got this game with the purchase of my GTX 760 card. It's not my usual type of game, but hey, it was free so I gave it a shot. At the very least it gave me a chance to test out the new computer I built last week out of fancy shiny new parts.

    Now then, the game:
    The atmosphere is creepy, and there are enough spooky noises in the dark and ghosts moving furniture around to give you some jumps. At first the visuals looked pretty cool but it gets boring quickly. It's basically a fetch quest in a randomly-generated maze. All the doorways look the same, all the hallways look the same, all the rooms look the same, the one creepy ghost who follows you around always looks the same. After the first level there's almost nothing new to see. I think there was a story but I couldn't really piece it together from the scraps of paper strewn about and the ambiguous flashback cut scenes.

    Final verdict: It made for a decent afternoon distraction, but it's fitting that the game is set in a mental institution. If I was forced to live in a labyrinthine building like that I'd go crazy too.    … Expand
  12. Soulreape
    Apr 30, 2014
    4
    What a total disappointment, was looking forward to this, being a fan of this genre. Repetitive, pointless fetch quest, looks rather abysmal on my GTX 780 Ti, reminds me of the original Quake with brown everything.
    It's a tech(although there isn't much tech) demo that has been directly converted into a game with a menu attached at the last minute. You might as well have just left it on a    What a total disappointment, was looking forward to this, being a fan of this genre. Repetitive, pointless fetch quest, looks rather abysmal on my GTX 780 Ti, reminds me of the original Quake with brown everything.
    It's a tech(although there isn't much tech) demo that has been directly converted into a game with a menu attached at the last minute. You might as well have just left it on a console command. Pitifully presented. With what amounts to pretty much no story.
    Compared to Outlast this is a joke. I wouldn't be happy with this on a steam sale at £2.    … Expand
  13. JokerProduction
    Apr 30, 2014
    2
    Not even the advanced graphics of the Nvidia workshop can save this dreadful clone of every other horror game that is plaguing the gaming world right now. Not even worth it for free.
  14. Fluxing
    Apr 29, 2014
    0
    High hopes, but wasted potential.

    Zero thought on level design, no variation on enemies or situations. Every level is identical, collect X pieces of paper to get some object to appear and then use said object to unlock the door. The only thing holding this game up are it's graphics, and even then such a nice looking game is wasted on a such a poorly written story (ie; there pretty    High hopes, but wasted potential.

    Zero thought on level design, no variation on enemies or situations.

    Every level is identical, collect X pieces of paper to get some object to appear and then use said object to unlock the door.

    The only thing holding this game up are it's graphics, and even then such a nice looking game is wasted on a such a poorly written story (ie; there pretty much isn't one.)

    Wait for a Steam sale, or freebie on PSN/XBL.    … Expand
  15. nnoom
    May 3, 2014
    0
    OmG how did this game ever make it out of development and onto digital shelves?! It was by far the most boring game I've ever played in my life. Every room looks exactly the same, you need a 90 inch screen to see the map, it's not scary in the least bit, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep a couple times during it. I even ran up close to see the ghost thing that follows you and thought,OmG how did this game ever make it out of development and onto digital shelves?! It was by far the most boring game I've ever played in my life. Every room looks exactly the same, you need a 90 inch screen to see the map, it's not scary in the least bit, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep a couple times during it. I even ran up close to see the ghost thing that follows you and thought, "seriously?" I mean for real, Gingerdead man was scarier than this crap. Didn't they delay this game to make it scarier? They probably should have delayed it for a few more years, or better yet, just scrapped the entire project. Never again, Atlas, never again.… Expand
  16. thekillergreece
    Apr 30, 2014
    3
    This game deeply dissapointed me. Mostly, the COMPANY dissapointed me... I was expecting this game be SAME as ALPHA versions(The old pics when the game first revealed) with ghosts rather than zombie crappy witches with slender mechanics.

    The good thing is that, it has great sounds with the screams that gives you creeps, the phenomena moves at some moments that can give you a small jump    This game deeply dissapointed me. Mostly, the COMPANY dissapointed me... I was expecting this game be SAME as ALPHA versions(The old pics when the game first revealed) with ghosts rather than zombie crappy witches with slender mechanics.

    The good thing is that, it has great sounds with the screams that gives you creeps, the phenomena moves at some moments that can give you a small jump scare. Story was good and somewhat interesting.

    However, the worst things are, repetitive gameplay, when you lose, you have to do it all over AGAIN... Enemies are terrible and repetitive, they always appear in same model using slender mechanic such as spawn next to you and despawn when you are too far from them, leaving you alone for a while. Graphics on the other side, are not looking so good, except on PS4 versions. What dissapointed me is, the final version has nothing to do with the alpha versions such as beauty places, ghosts, better phone layout, etc etc... Same fate as Aliens:Colonial Marines.

    Nothing to say more, this is terrible game with the same fate as Aliens Colonial Marines. Price is ridicusly high because you can finish the game in 1-2 hours or so... Avoid buying this game until it gets discount at least 50%+.

    3/10.    … Expand
  17. ozymandias79
    May 5, 2014
    0
    Played for about 15 mins. Felt like I was wasting my time, then read some reviews. Have to agree with the low scores, this game is rubbish. There's a difference between slow burn and no burn...
  18. CaptainFriZZbee
    May 1, 2014
    1
    I played Outlast, Penumbra, all Slender subtitles, Paranormal and docents of small indie horror games, but this game is the worst and most disappointing horror game, i've ever played.

    1/10
  19. Storm1672
    May 11, 2014
    3
    I cannot begin to imagine how is it possible that this game gets some 7s or 8s... It's beyond me.

    From the menu to the very first gameplay seconds it is quite obvious that this is a game of very poor quality. After having examined it for about 1 hour and a half I have reached the ending and also the conclusion that this is probably the worst game I have played in a long time. And I have    I cannot begin to imagine how is it possible that this game gets some 7s or 8s... It's beyond me.

    From the menu to the very first gameplay seconds it is quite obvious that this is a game of very poor quality. After having examined it for about 1 hour and a half I have reached the ending and also the conclusion that this is probably the worst game I have played in a long time. And I have played Double Dragon Neon and Rambo: The Video Game.

    Let's see... positives... Oh, when you turn around and see the ghosts beside you can be really creepy the first couple of times. Till you realize you can just light a flare... Also, the story that I read later from a site that this game has is interesting. Too bad that the storytelling is crap and won't make sense at all.

    Technically it's equal to PS2. No, not kidding. There is an explosion at about 3/4 of the game (1 hour in). Please check it. Please see the visual effect. I've seen reviews praising it's lighting effects and that they could get the Unreal Engine 4 impact. Yeah, ok... Let's just face it. Not ALL small companies make adequate games. Some of the smaller games are small for a reason.

    I'm gonna stop complaining now. This game is a post-Slender horror game that needs you to walk aimlessly through corridors, search for notes and go back to a portal to go to the next level. When Slender did it, it was cute. Now it's time to cut the bs. This could not and should not evolve into a full fledged game as there is no content. The atmosphere is kinda creepy, but that's just your imagination working.

    Trully terrible graphics, trully awful gameplay. And did I mention that I completed it in under 2 hours?

    ps. Oh, yeah, the randomly generated rooms.... WHY would I want to go through it again?    … Expand
  20. andruzlopez
    Apr 29, 2014
    2
    damn, the game is freaking boring, i almost killed myself while i was playing....every scene is just the same not to mention that poorly ''witch'' and her annoying scream that makes the whole game even more boring..
  21. k3Ck
    May 11, 2014
    3
    (I completed this game from start to credits)

    3 AT BEST This game is just absolutely horrid. First off the level design is garbage, some of the worst I've seen in my 30+ years of gaming if not the worst. Every single room and hallway looks the EXACT same and because of this getting lost is easy, every level turns into a boring maze of hallways. This is supposed to be Unreal Engine    (I completed this game from start to credits)

    3 AT BEST

    This game is just absolutely horrid. First off the level design is garbage, some of the worst I've seen in my 30+ years of gaming if not the worst. Every single room and hallway looks the EXACT same and because of this getting lost is easy, every level turns into a boring maze of hallways. This is supposed to be Unreal Engine 4? What a joke, Outlast looks 10x better and it Unreal Engine 3. The "gameplay", if you could even call it that, is just finding notes. Enemies are awful and just pop out in front of you. To kill them you light a torch. Yes, you light a torch and they die. The game is INSANELY short and I beat it in just under 1.5 hours and there is absolutely zero replay value. I'd rather rip my dick off and throw it in a river than play this game again.

    For $15 you're better of buying a small bag of heroin and starting a heroin addiction.    … Expand
  22. veilex
    May 10, 2014
    0
    Atlus is normally a pretty good developer. Their mistake was very likely that they allowed the extremely poor quality development team from Zombie Studios anywhere near the game. This game feels less like what I tend to expect from Atlus, and more like what I tend to expect from Zombie.
  23. mailliwivad
    Feb 6, 2015
    2
    Got this for free with my video card. I was able to give it about an hour, after that I couldn't take it anymore. Boring and pointless; I have way too many other games in my steam library before I waste my time with this. Glad I didn't pay anything for it.
  24. Gracz-org
    Aug 8, 2017
    4
    Aktualnie Daylight jest dla mnie jednym z największych rozczarowań tego roku. Przeciętna grafika, słaba grywalność, słaba fabuła i straszenie „na siłę” gracza - że nie wspomnę o częstych spadkach ilości FPS, które nie idą przecież w parze z tym co widzimy na ekranie. Warto jeszcze wspomnieć o losowo generowanych pomieszczeniach, co do których mam mieszane uczucia. Niby urozmaica toAktualnie Daylight jest dla mnie jednym z największych rozczarowań tego roku. Przeciętna grafika, słaba grywalność, słaba fabuła i straszenie „na siłę” gracza - że nie wspomnę o częstych spadkach ilości FPS, które nie idą przecież w parze z tym co widzimy na ekranie. Warto jeszcze wspomnieć o losowo generowanych pomieszczeniach, co do których mam mieszane uczucia. Niby urozmaica to rozgrywkę, jednak schematyczność gry i tak daje się we znaki, zapewne więc większość graczy nie będzie miało ochoty podchodzić do tego tytułu ponownie. Tak jak wspominałem wcześniej, po UE4 spodziewałem się o wiele, wiele więcej - zwłaszcza, że jego wcześniejsze wersje są w końcu jednymi z najczęściej wykorzystywanych silników graficznych w historii elektronicznej rozrywki… Mam nadzieję, że następne gry sygnowane jego logo będą już tylko lepsze i zatrą negatywne wrażenie, jakie wywarło na mnie spotkanie z Daylight.

    Plusy:
    + momentami ścieżka dźwiękowa
    + sporadycznie potrafi wystraszyć

    Minusy:
    – fabuła, a raczej jej brak
    – można ją ukończyć w niecałe dwie godziny
    – nudna, przewidywalna rozgrywka
    – nieciekawe i schematyczne lokacje
    – brak jakichkolwiek innowacji
    – co najwyżej przeciętna grafika

    Pełna recenzja dostępna jest na blogu Gracz.org    … Expand
  25. XxAlbertoBuzzxX
    Jun 2, 2020
    4
    Daylight
    ..................................................................

Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
51

Mixed or average reviews - based on 59 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 59
  3. Negative: 22 out of 59
  1. CD-Action
    Aug 25, 2014
    50
    After 15 minutes Daylight is no longer scary and makes you explore boring, very similar environments that in addition are procedurally generated in a mindless manner (e.g. a whole floor of bathrooms). [08/2014, p.64]
  2. DarkStation
    Aug 7, 2014
    60
    Overall, I enjoyed getting scared by horrible, scary-looking spirits.
    Read full review
  3. Worth Playing
    Jul 10, 2014
    45
    From top to bottom, Daylight falls short of being a good horror game.
    Read full review
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