Dark Ages

About Dark Ages

Dark Ages is a single player action game with a historical theme. It was developed by Scenario Software and was released on May 5, 2014. It received neutral reviews from players.

Dark Ages was the first shareware game to support the Adlib & Sound Blaster music cards. If featured a movie style soundtrack of eight unique songs and themes. Each volume of Dark Ages has its own unique appearance, with different goals, level designs and locations. Each volume has 10 huge scrolling levels packed with devious traps, creatures and treasures.Game Features Built in instructi…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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Reviews

52%Audience ScoreBased on 27 reviews

music4 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

Nostalgic old school platformer with a decent story and simple, linear gameplay reminiscent of early 90s PC games.
Enjoyable weapon upgrade system and addictive audio soundtrack that fans of retro PC gaming appreciate.
Runs well via DOSBox on modern systems and has a short playtime (~2-5 hours), making it good for casual play sessions or nostalgia.

Clunky, sluggish, and sometimes unresponsive controls, especially for jumping and movement, leading to frustrating gameplay moments.
Visuals suffer from a rough color palette, low framerate animations, and occasional poor color choices that strain the eyes.
Game difficulty is high with many instant death traps and 'gotcha' moments; unconventional save system can be annoying and punishing.

music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80% positive mentions, 20% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The music in Dark Ages is widely praised for being addictive and among the best of its time, with ad-lib tracks that enhance the experience. The soundtrack is officially available for download, adding to its appeal. While opinions on visuals vary, the music consistently receives positive remarks.
- “The audio soundtrack is incredibly addicting.”
- “You can actually download the shareware version of this game legally online, as well as the soundtrack which I recommend.”
- “The ad-lib music is some of the best from the time.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 25% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions
The gameplay offers simple, linear mechanics that are enjoyable for short sessions, though some elements like spider webs causing damage and sluggish controls may detract from the experience. Overall, it remains playable despite these minor issues.
- “Few mechanics I can't say I agreed with, such as spider webs causing damage and sluggish/unresponsive controls, but nothing that can't be compensated for.”
- “Core gameplay does not entertain.”
- “It's fun for hopping into and playing for a few levels at a time for the simple, linear gameplay of the early days.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, -33% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game's graphics are very outdated, featuring basic 16-color EGA visuals typical of early DOS platformers. While considered acceptable for its time, the art style may not appeal to modern players.
- “Dark Ages is one of those old school platformers with EGA/VGA graphics for DOS, and for what it was at the time, it's okay.”
- “The game is extremely old, featuring 16 color EGA graphics.”
- “Dark Ages is one of those old school platformers with EGA/VGA graphics for DOS, which was okay for its time.”
- “I didn't like the art style, but I liked the music.”
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The story is generally short and straightforward, offering an easy-to-follow and decent narrative experience.