Platform: Abandonware
Genre: Adventure
Completed: 22/08/2024
Moving on to this game was a bit of a relief. After playing three rather long titles consecutively, I was looking forward to a game that wouldn't be as long.
Growing up, I was only ever aware of the first game - Dark Seed - and it is quite possible that I only became aware of this one when I stumbled across a working copy of its predecessor. I have mentioned them in past posts, but they are worth mentioning again - The Collection Chamber has been an absolute gem for finding old games. Their work to get old classics running on modern PCs is spectacular.
I wanted to play this title soon after completing the first game, but I had to be patient and follow my established rules. It has been tough but I got there in the end.
After loading up the game, I could immediately see areas the developers improved upon from the first game.
The scenery was sharper and I could identify hot spots a lot easier. They even added 3D introductory scenes for each area you visited for the first time. The characters were a lot more detailed too, though, the funny thing is, the main character - who is the same character from the first game - looks a whole lot younger. The game was a lot grittier and macabre. Within seconds of starting the game, the opening cutscene assured me this was one title I would not be playing while my daughter was around.
While playing the game, I was a lot more appreciative of the detail in the scenery, particularly in the Dark World. In the first game, it wasn't always possible to make out the tiny details. This time, you could truly appreciate H. R. Giger's style. Later in the game, there was a part that stood out for me. It was a green structure that was a tiny bit out of place amongst the dreary colors of black, grey, and brown. Because lately, I have been reading Tales of Cosmic Terror by H.P. Lovecraft I immediately thought, "Huh, that structure kinda resembles the descriptions from the book." I would have thought nothing more of it if it weren't for the priestess in that structure directing me to a book that she called The Necronomicon. While I would say that the game is not Lovecraftian (though there could be elements of it) I found that both Giger's and Lovecraft's worlds and designs complemented each other very well.
As I played, there was one thing that I immediately noticed when comparing it to the first game, and it's something I had posted about. Practically in all the adventure games I have played, the character you control encounters an inciting moment that pushes them onto the games' path of revenge; mystery; adventure, etc...
Broken Sword - a clown blows up a cafe you happen to be outside.
Grim Fandango - Manny wants a high-profile client.
Gemini Rue - One character is looking for his brother and the other is looking to escape (or are they?)
Dark Seed did not have this. The character had a bad dream and woke up with a splitting headache. In all seriousness, the character should have gone about his day until the parasitic alien eventually burst from his head. There had been no compelling reason for him to do the things you - the player - made him do.
In Dark Seed 2 however, they immediately establish the inciting moment within the opening moments of the game. Your high school sweetheart has been murdered and you were last seen with her. Conveniently you cannot remember anything past the moment you left with her. Lastly, you have a recurring nightmare of her trapped in the dreaded Dark World. Sounds like a compelling reason to set off on a mystery-solving adventure. I feel the writers realized their mistake from the first game and didn't want to leave any doubt as to the reason why you're not just going about your day as normal.
Once you get into the game, the story isn't all that long. However, with the amount of going back and forth, and the pacing of the characters' movements, it does drag out a bit. Most of the puzzles weren't too difficult to solve. I mostly got hung up in sections where I needed to trigger something, most of the time through conversation. This would then alert the game that something I checked before or a person I talked to previously, could be returned to and a different outcome would happen. For example, there is a single filing cabinet that you have to return to FOUR times after uncovering the appropriate conversations.
Another thing I noticed about this game, compared to its predecessor, is that it didn't have a death timer. While it wasn't obvious in Dark Seed there was a timer. The day would pass by and you had 3 days to solve what was happening. Otherwise... pop goes the weas- I mean alien. Dark Seed 2 did not have this. It did have its risks, however. Do the wrong thing or answer a puzzle incorrectly, and you will die. You are told that you are harder to kill in the Dark World, which implies a number of tries, but in actuality, this was not proven to be true. After the first required death (needed to progress in the story), I died later on because I answered a riddle incorrectly (stupid one guard lies; one guard tells the truth riddle) and I got a game over which brought about the doom of the whole world. Nice.
Now, while I did enjoy the game, there was one failing that I feel brings it down completely - if not the entire franchise. And that was the ending. After everything that you go through, the ending was a massive disappointment. You find out that it has all been in your head; that the man you considered your closest friend is a figment of your imagination and is your dark side; that you were the serial killer all along. But then your dark self stabs you, and the authorities think it is a suicide while your dark self drives off into the Dark World.
You cannot even argue that the ending was leading to a potential for a sequel. Or that maybe your actions unlocked the bad ending. This was the only ending. I had to look it up in case I misunderstood something, but apparently, it was deliberately made to be vague.
It's a shame that after all that, it all fell flat. I feel gutted because this was a game (or rather the first one was) I had wanted to play from my childhood, and hoped I would have finished it on a positive note. Now I feel both games are tarnished.
Anyway, with that behind me, I now prepare to move on to E which is Evoland 2.
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