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Dark Years

Dark Years Game Cover
28%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:humor, music
Most mentioned negative aspects:story, graphics
28% User Score Based on 54 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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Dark Years Game Cover

About

Dark Years is a single player open world action adventure game. It was developed by RSK Entertainment and was released on October 16, 2015. It received negative reviews from players.

Dark Years is an action-adventure game based on the real events surrounding ‘Operation Ajax ‘. In an attempt to secure the rights to Iran’s oil, the British and American governments secretly backed a coup that over-threw the democratically elected government of Mohammad Mosaddegh. The result was a period of great instability and violence.

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Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
Dark Years screenshot
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28%Audience ScoreBased on 54 reviews
humor8 positive mentions
story4 negative mentions
  • The game has an interesting and solid story centered around the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, offering educational and historical value.
  • The music and hand-drawn comic cut-scenes are praised and considered a highlight of the game.
  • Despite its flaws, some players find the game entertaining or amusing due to its unintentional comedic voice acting and atmosphere.
  • The controls and camera are widely criticized as clunky, unresponsive, and nauseating, making gameplay frustrating and difficult.
  • The graphics, animations, and overall technical quality are described as outdated, buggy, and poorly optimized, leading to frequent crashes and performance issues.
  • The voice acting and English translation are very poor, with bad pronunciation, awkward grammar, and confusing dialogue that detracts from immersion.

  • story

    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story receives mixed feedback, with some praising its solid narrative and intriguing detective/noir themes, while others criticize its poor translation, nonsensical plot, and inconsistent voice acting. Despite technical and presentation flaws, the story is engaging enough to motivate continued play for fans of the genre or those seeking a casual puzzle experience.

    • “The story is actually kinda solid surprisingly.”
    • “That the game has a good story, and good graphics.”
    • “It's a casual puzzle game with story enough to make you want to see what happens.”
    • “I thought the setting of this game seemed interesting and I am a big fan of detective/noir/pulp style storylines, so I was incredibly disappointed to see just how low quality this game is.”
    • “And on top of that the story is a poorly translated mess that honestly makes no kind of sense and features the worst voice acting in English I have ever heard.”
    • “The plot is nonsensical because the letters that the game uses to tell the plot are written in really broken English.”

  • graphics

    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics are generally criticized for being outdated, blurry, and glitch-prone, with poor textures, lighting, and animations that detract from the experience. While some locations show detailed design, overall visual quality is low and reminiscent of mid-90s games. Despite these flaws, the story and certain artistic elements help maintain player interest.

    • “That the game has a good story, and good graphics.”
    • “The graphics were from the mid-90's which was expected and obvious, but work well with the very specific and rigid gameplay.”
    • “Some locations are interesting and detailed, despite blurry and flickering graphics overall.”
    • “The game's graphics are very much stuck in the past, with poor textures, poor lighting effects, and very poor models and animation.”
    • “The graphics are awful and the game has about every single graphical bug and glitch you can think of.”
    • “The controls are wonky, the graphics are all blurry and flickering (though some locations are interesting and with a lot of details), the protagonists are sometimes gliding through the air, sometimes dancing.”

  • humor

    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor arises unintentionally from its poor voice acting, bad design, and storytelling, leading to moments that are laughably bad rather than intentionally funny. Players often find amusement in its flaws, especially when paired with humorous external commentary, making it a comedic experience more for its shortcomings than deliberate joke writing.

    • “It is so laughingly bad at some moments that it is funny again.”
    • “You shouldn't take it too seriously; you should play it while laughing over the bad game design, storytelling, etc. If you are searching for a game which is funny and you can laugh while playing, take it.”
    • “Actually made me laugh out loud several times.”

  • gameplay

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay receives mixed feedback, with criticism focused on slow, unresponsive combat and rigid, trial-and-error mechanics that can feel tedious. However, some players appreciate the challenging and logical progression, as well as the historical storyline that encourages continued play despite graphical shortcomings.

    • “The gameplay is good and sometimes it's challenging.”
    • “My favorite part was long and logical gameplay.”
    • “The graphics were from the mid-90's which was expected and obvious, but work well. However, the very specific and rigid gameplay requires guesswork and trial and error, often without helpful hints or much logic.”
    • “The combat mechanics are slow and unresponsive, which turns what should be tense moments into tedious, chore-like experiences.”
    • “I know it's an indie game probably made by only a few people, so I expected it to be a bit rough around the edges, but the controls and gameplay are a bit lacking.”
    • “The very specific and rigid gameplay, such as having to guess and run around like trial and error to hope to find something without helpful hints or much logic.”

  • music

    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and emotional impact, featuring notable tracks like Barber's Adagio for Strings and Eastern-inspired pieces. While it stands out as the most professionally produced element, users note that music can trigger content ID issues during streams, prompting some to turn it off. Overall, the soundtrack adds heartfelt atmosphere and complements the game's storytelling.

    • “The one thing I liked though, is the music.”
    • “You will not get any professional production value except for the music and the pictures in the loading screen, but you will get a game where the making is all heart and the development seems to be driven by a single developer wanting to tell a story.”
    • “Music is nice, including Barber's Adagio for Strings.”
    • “Car music gets hit by content ID, so it needs to be turned off on streams and such.”
    • “You will not get any professional production value except for the music and the pictures in the loading screen, but the making of the game comes from the heart, driven by a single developer wanting to tell a story.”

  • stability

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with frequent bugs that negatively impact gameplay and overall user experience.

    • “It is very buggy and a generally confusing game.”
    • “It's buggy, disgusting to look at and hard to play.”

  • grinding

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is criticized for being slow and unresponsive, making combat feel tedious and more like a chore rather than engaging or exciting.

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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Dark Years is a open world action adventure game.

Dark Years is available on PC and Windows.

Dark Years was released on October 16, 2015.

Dark Years was developed by RSK Entertainment.

Dark Years has received negative reviews from players. Most players liked Dark Years for its humor but disliked it for its story.

Dark Years is a single player game.

Similar games include Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring, The Detail, Syberia 3, Black Sails: The Ghost Ship, Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder and others.