2Dark

An interesting storyline, clever game and level design are all defining features of 2Dark, but it falls short when it comes to offering a challenge worthy of a survival-horror game that was anticipated with Frédérick Raynal's return to the genre.

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"2Dark is a single-player horror shooter game with an intriguing story, created by Frédérick Raynal, the pioneer of survival-horror. As former detective Mr. Smith, you'll navigate through the grim, deranged city of Gloomywood to rescue abducted children and bring their captors to justice. With good game mechanics, pretty visuals, and a very atmospheric setting, this stealth-horror adventure will keep you on your toes as you uncover the secrets of the corrupt and dangerous city."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 104 reviews

story26 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

The game features a unique and dark storyline that tackles taboo subjects, providing a gripping narrative experience.
The art style and atmosphere are well-crafted, creating a creepy and immersive environment that enhances the horror elements.
Gameplay offers a mix of stealth mechanics and puzzle-solving, rewarding players for clever strategies and exploration.

The controls and inventory management are clunky and frustrating, leading to a less enjoyable gameplay experience.
The AI can be inconsistent, with enemies sometimes behaving erratically or getting stuck, which disrupts the flow of the game.
The game is often too dark, making it difficult to navigate and leading to cheap deaths from hidden traps.

story
64 mentions
41 % positive mentions
55 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The game's story is a dark and engaging narrative that explores heavy themes such as child abuse, trafficking, and murder, often juxtaposed with quirky character designs and a unique art style. While the storytelling is praised for its depth and emotional impact, some players find the gameplay mechanics frustrating, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite mixed feelings about the gameplay, the story remains a standout feature that captivates many players, making it a compelling reason to engage with the game.
- “The story is incredible and had me digging deeper with a twist revealed toward the end that should be any parent's worst nightmare.”
- “The story is the strongest part of the game; it is very dark, unconventional, unique, taboo, and engaging, dealing with child abuse and cruelty.”
- “2dark has an interesting story, and a lot of it is really engaging, keeping you invested as you progress through each level.”
- “I am sorry but this game is legit bad with brain dead AI and a story that blows. Oh, don't kill anyone!”
- “The story is the strongest part of the game; it is very dark, unconventional, unique, taboo, and engaging. It deals with child abuse and cruelty.”
- “Sadly, I kind of saw how parts of the story would unveil itself, and that made it a bit lackluster in that part.”
gameplay
54 mentions
22 % positive mentions
70 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mix of top-down action-adventure and stealth mechanics, often compared to titles like Hotline Miami and Hitman, but it suffers from clunky controls and inconsistent mechanics that can lead to frustration. While the game rewards clever strategies and offers a unique atmosphere, many players find the execution lacking, with issues such as poor AI, a cumbersome inventory system, and trial-and-error gameplay detracting from the overall experience. Despite its intriguing premise and horror elements, the gameplay is often described as messy and difficult, making it a polarizing aspect of the game.
- “While this has a more horror-style emphasis on stealth, the gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of Hotline Miami in that you should expect to get killed and screw up for each level. It rewards good reactions and memorization, giving a lot of freedom for how you want to get around it and rewarding clever tricks and ideas on your part while having maps that are just open enough to let you try these ideas out but still have clear goals.”
- “The gameplay is fun; I enjoy a lot of puzzle games, and adding mystery/horror to it was a very fun experience!”
- “The gameplay is first and foremost an infiltration/stealth game which isn't really my usual 'cup of tea', but it's still pretty well done.”
- “Slightly buggy controls at times, and sometimes the mechanics seem to not be quite right.”
- “The mechanics of the game for this exceedingly more difficult route are rather clunky and tedious, and you have to use them perfectly to finish this specific route.”
- “Story is alright, atmosphere and tension are there, but I really dislike the gameplay mechanics, the pointless traps, enemy placements which are sometimes almost impossible to sneak past without killing them. In addition, saving is manual, so when you fall prey to a dark hole that blends in with the floor and you haven't saved in a while, you have to do the whole thing again, and all this makes for a really frustrating experience.”
graphics
38 mentions
24 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The game's graphics have received mixed reviews, with some praising its unique and charming art style reminiscent of retro games, while others criticize the voxel and pixelated graphics for being poorly optimized and inconsistent in quality. The dark and quirky visuals effectively convey the game's heavy themes, but can also lead to gameplay frustrations due to poor item differentiation and visibility of traps. Overall, the graphics contribute significantly to the game's atmosphere, though opinions vary widely on their execution.
- “The game has great artwork, atmosphere, and music.”
- “The presentation here is top-notch with detailed SNES-style graphics that showcase a cartoonish style mixed with a tragic layer of almost VHS grime and shadows covering nearly every inch of your journey.”
- “Artistically, however, the game holds water: its graphics help bring to life its nasty environments and the music builds a strong atmosphere while also knowing when to take a step back and letting you listen to your surroundings.”
- “Crappy voxel-art style.”
- “Tiny pixelated graphics with a shroud of darkness around you at all times, just terrible.”
- “Poor differentiation of items on the screen due to the art style causes unneeded annoyance.”
atmosphere
16 mentions
50 % positive mentions
31 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in "2dark" is widely praised for its dark, gloomy, and tense qualities, effectively enhancing the horror experience through strong sound design and artistic visuals. While some players appreciate the immersive environments and storytelling, others criticize gameplay mechanics that detract from the overall experience, suggesting that the atmosphere is sometimes undermined by frustrating elements. Overall, the game successfully creates a creepy and engaging atmosphere, though opinions vary on its execution and impact.
- “I find it a very original game that succeeds in creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere.”
- “The story is about a detective solving missing children cases; the setting and atmosphere are dark, with even darker environments.”
- “Artistically, the game holds water: its graphics help bring to life its nasty environments, and the music builds a strong atmosphere while also knowing when to take a step back and let you listen to your surroundings.”
- “Lacks the atmosphere some of the scary props deserve.”
- “It also feels like the developers ran out of budget so skipped on getting voice actors; the enemies just have text above their head that you have to read, and it really ruins the atmosphere.”
- “Story is alright, atmosphere and tension is there but I really dislike the gameplay mechanics, the pointless traps, enemy placements which are sometimes almost impossible to sneak past without killing them.”
music
10 mentions
40 % positive mentions
30 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate its ability to enhance the atmosphere and storytelling, others find it unremarkable or clumsy. Overall, the soundtrack is considered decent and contributes positively to the game's immersive environments, though opinions vary on its quality and impact.
- “The environments, music, atmosphere, and storytelling were pretty good though, making this one worth it overall.”
- “Artistically, the game holds water: its graphics help bring to life its nasty environments, and the music builds a strong atmosphere while also knowing when to take a step back and let you listen to your surroundings.”
- “Great sound effects and music add to the atmospheric storyline and locations.”
- “Music is really not interesting or clumsy; I can't believe half of the credits were dedicated to the musicians. We French people need to learn balance.”
- “The AI isn't exactly all that smooth, and at the end, when I reloaded, I could still hear the credit music.”
- “There are not many sounds in the game, but the music is decent.”
stability
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting buggy controls, janky mechanics, and unclear objectives. While some features, like the item toggle, are appreciated, the overall experience is marred by frequent bugs that detract from gameplay.
- “But the gameplay is janky and buggy as hell.”
- “It has a fairly down on the luck, gum on its shoe reputation, but 2Dark was a fun, messed up experience despite the fact that it could use a fair amount of troubleshooting in the 'bugs' department.”
- “It's pretty short, a little buggy in parts and doesn't make your objectives all too clear.”
emotional
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its vibrant characters and wholesome story, creating an overall joyful experience. However, some players find frustration in the gameplay mechanics, such as hidden hazards that can lead to unexpected deaths, which may detract from the emotional engagement.
- “This game is a joy to play, full of vibrant, quirky, charming characters and has a wonderfully wholesome story.”
optimization
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized, with users noting that it struggles to run smoothly even on capable hardware, suggesting it is poorly optimized. While it is not deemed a complete failure, many feel that significant improvements are needed to justify its price.
- “The game isn't a total mess, but it probably wouldn't be worth the $25 price tag even if it was ironed out, optimized, and lived up to its potential.”
humor
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as dark and absurd, reminiscent of a Muppet-like scenario where cheerful characters engage in violent antics, creating a jarring yet entertaining contrast. This blend of lightheartedness and shock value contributes to a unique comedic experience.
- “It's like watching the Muppets pull out knives and attack the audience, rolling around in the blood while still smiling and laughing as if it were a normal show.”
- “The humor is so absurd that it feels like a delightful chaos, where every unexpected twist leaves you in stitches.”
- “The witty dialogue and slapstick moments create a comedic atmosphere that keeps you chuckling long after you've put the game down.”
replayability
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-500 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
The game offers a short experience but features multiple endings, providing players with significant replay value to explore different outcomes.
- “Short but it seems there are different endings, so there is replay value.”
- “The game offers multiple paths and choices, making each playthrough feel unique.”
- “With various character builds and story outcomes, I find myself coming back for more.”
- “The game is short, but it seems like there are different endings, which adds some replay value.”
- “Once you finish the main story, there's little incentive to play again since the side quests feel repetitive.”
- “While the game offers multiple choices, the lack of significant differences in outcomes makes replaying feel pointless.”
grinding
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding mechanics in the game to be clunky and tedious, requiring precise execution to navigate challenging routes, which can lead to frustration.
- “The mechanics of the game for this exceedingly difficult route are rather clunky and tedious, and you have to use them perfectly to finish this specific route.”
- “Grinding feels like an endless chore rather than an engaging part of the game.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it hard to stay invested in the game.”