Daylight

48%
Game Brain Score Based on 507 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Daylight Game Cover
Daylight's horror atmosphere starts strong, but repetitive corridors and nonthreatening enemies squander it quickly.
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Daylight is a single-player Horror Action game developed using Unreal Engine 4, known for its pretty visuals and dense atmosphere. The game takes place in a procedurally generated abandoned hospital, with the player's only source of light being their phone. With every playthrough offering a different maze and eerie presence lurking in the darkness, Daylight provides limitless replayability and a constant tense experience.

  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Cloud
  • Play​Station
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

48%
Audience ScoreBased on 507 reviews
story33 positive mentions
gameplay22 negative mentions
  • The game has a creepy atmosphere and effective jump scares that can genuinely frighten players.
  • The graphics are impressive for an indie title, showcasing the capabilities of Unreal Engine 4.
  • The procedural generation of levels adds some replayability, making each playthrough feel slightly different.
  • The gameplay quickly becomes repetitive, with players having to collect remnants to progress through nearly identical environments.
  • The story is weak and poorly executed, leaving players confused and unsatisfied with the narrative.
  • Many players experience technical issues, including crashes and poor optimization, which detracts from the overall experience.
  • story166 mentions

    The story in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it thin, predictable, and poorly executed, often relying on scattered notes and diary entries to convey its narrative. While some appreciate the atmosphere and the potential of the plot, others criticize it for being disjointed and lacking depth, leading to a confusing experience. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a weak point, overshadowed by gameplay mechanics and jump scares, leaving players divided on its effectiveness.

    • “The story is very interesting, all the way through the end (which I found to be quite fantastic) - assuming you actually take the time to explore and find the story pieces hidden everywhere.”
    • “Individual taste comes into play, but if you enjoy an ominous and dark story told through old letters and an immersive environment, then I cannot see how you can go wrong with this game.”
    • “The insitute's peculiar location gives room for despair, and rarely in a game do I feel the way I did as I at one point emerged from the institute and gazed across the unruly sea to safety in the nearest city, wishing myself away from the island where this story takes place.”
    • “There's barely any story to speak of, or gameplay for that matter.”
    • “The story is almost nonexistent (just some confusing papers you have to find)...”
    • “The story felt rushed and didn't make sense half the time.”
  • gameplay114 mentions

    The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and uninspired, often likening it to a "fetch quest" reminiscent of titles like Slender. While some appreciate the atmosphere and unique mechanics, others criticize the lack of depth and engaging content, leading to a sense of boredom and predictability. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a significant flaw, detracting from the potential horror experience.

    • “The gameplay is engaging and keeps you on your toes as you wander the creepy grounds and endless corridors, as you make your way around the haunted hospital in which you are trying to escape.”
    • “The gameplay was enjoyable for me so far, didn't make much progress, but there was enough difference; I didn't have to see the same doors and walls over and over again. It can also be very scary when you know something's coming closer, but you don't know where it's coming from.”
    • “The mechanics of the game, like trying to shine a light on the item you need to look for, is pretty cool.”
    • “There's barely any story to speak of, or gameplay for that matter.”
    • “The gameplay is so lifeless and devoid of any actual gameplay, that it’s incredibly hard to justify experiencing the adventure for a second time at all.”
    • “Unfortunately none of those are enough to carry the game through its stale & repetitive gameplay, predictable scares and incredibly poor writing.”
  • graphics113 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising its visual effects and atmospheric design, particularly for its time as an early Unreal Engine 4 title. However, numerous criticisms highlight issues such as repetitive environments, low-resolution textures, and poor optimization, leading to a perception that the graphics fall short of modern standards. Overall, while some players find the visuals appealing, others feel they do not live up to the potential of the engine, resulting in a lackluster graphical experience.

    • “The real money went into the visuals, and the game does have some nice effects here and there. As one of the first games to use UE4 back in the day, it was extremely notable for its visuals.”
    • “Graphics are great, especially for its age.”
    • “The graphics were very well done and it looked very beautiful.”
    • “But in 2023, the graphical power is let down by the sameness of the environments.”
    • “The graphics for Unreal Engine 4 are horrible.”
    • “This game seems like a cheap modification for UT3, but neither the visuals nor any other aspect live up to my expectations of what the Unreal Engine 4 would be capable of.”
  • atmosphere62 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its creepy and immersive qualities, effectively creating a tense and eerie environment that enhances the horror experience. However, some players feel that the atmosphere can become repetitive and is undermined by gameplay mechanics, such as predictable scares and limited exploration. Overall, while the game excels in establishing a haunting ambiance, its impact may diminish over time due to gameplay shortcomings.

    • “The atmosphere is amazing; it really feels lonely and scary in these kinds of places.”
    • “The atmosphere, the tension, and the creepy factor are amazing.”
    • “It has a creepy atmosphere and can be outright terrifying at times.”
    • “If you are not in it for the atmosphere and story, or have trouble immersing yourself into these sorts of games, then this game may not be for you, as the gameplay aspects and jump scares alone are thin compared to what the game else has to offer.”
    • “Atmosphere is alright, but it wears thin when you realize 'procedurally generated' means using the same four or five cells over and over for each area in a nonsensical pattern.”
    • “The gameplay has already overstayed its welcome, the visuals seem dated and the overall atmosphere just isn't as good as it seemed to be in the trailers.”
  • optimization24 mentions

    The game's optimization has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users reporting severe performance issues such as stuttering, long loading times, and overheating hardware, even on lower settings. Despite some players experiencing smooth performance on higher-end systems, the overall consensus is that the game requires significant optimization improvements to be playable without risking damage to PC components. Many reviewers advise against purchasing the game until these issues are addressed.

    • “Excellent optimization.”
    • “Runs smoothly on higher (not highest) quality graphics.”
    • “I hope devs keep pushing our cards like this with well optimized games so PC can stand above console legitimately, not just with ports.”
    • “This unoptimized UE4 corridors generator will burn your video card out.”
    • “First of all, this game heavily overloads system resources; the GPU overheats, CPU usage is high, and not to mention the long loading times, stuttering, hiccups, and more... and this is practically with the game on its almost medium to low settings.”
    • “Unfortunately, the game has optimization issues on PC as many players have already reported, and it might run poorly on certain rigs.”
  • music24 mentions

    The music in the game is noted for its ability to create an eerie atmosphere, effectively enhancing the horror experience, though it suffers from a lack of diversity and repetitive loops that diminish its impact over time. While some tracks are memorable and contribute to the game's mood, the overall soundtrack is limited, with many players expressing disappointment over the small number of available tracks, especially for those who pre-ordered. Despite these criticisms, the sound design and ambient effects are generally praised for immersing players in the game's unsettling world.

    • “There is not a big diversity in the soundtrack, but it sets the mood for me insanely well, and there is particularly one memorable track periodically recurring throughout the game which will be with me for a very long time.”
    • “The game’s music and sound is frightfully amazing.”
    • “It’s eerie and quiet, and the unsettling sounds mixed with the subtle but tense music really pulls you into the game’s world.”
    • “This survival horror game leaves players in the dark with a serious lack of direction, but does contain music that will inspire the fear of darkness.”
    • “Then you notice the music and sound effects are just a 5-minute loop that play over and over again and lose the creepy appeal quickly.”
    • “Only got 3 soundtracks with the preorder bonus, which 2 are the same but with lyrics thrown in.”
  • stability18 mentions

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with numerous reports of crashes, freezing, and various glitches that hinder gameplay. While some players have experienced smooth performance, many others face significant issues, including persistent loading problems and frame rate drops. Overall, the game is deemed incredibly unstable and buggy, leading to frustration among users.

    • “The game keeps crashing. I get into the beginning, walk around a little bit, and then it freezes up, saying 'loading' in the left-hand corner of the screen. My computer passed all the tests to run the game; I don't know exactly what's happening. It's a great game, though, but I'm sad it keeps freezing.”
    • “Three reinstalls and diagnostics that say everything is fine on my PC tell me this game is just a buggy mess.”
    • “Tl:dr: incredibly unstable and buggy (expect crashes), disjointed reactions from the character, lack of interesting plot dynamics, and huge system requirements but looks less impressive and runs worse than other games with similar requirements.”
  • replayability16 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is highly variable among players. While some appreciate the procedurally generated elements and achievements that offer a degree of replay value, many others find the content lacking, leading to a consensus that replayability is generally low. A few players noted that certain mechanics, like maze changes, could enhance replayability for specific audiences, but many felt the experience quickly becomes repetitive.

    • “The maze itself does change with each playthrough, so if mazes are your thing, this game will have infinite replayability.”
    • “The replayability of it is part of the fun, as I can't memorize the maps and such.”
    • “There are trading cards, achievements, and controller support as well, so that makes playing more enjoyable, and the achievements at least add some replay value if that’s your thing.”
    • “It is mostly useful as a tech demo of UE4; the story does not have much content and not much replayability.”
    • “The replay value of this game is almost nonexistent, even when taking into account its procedurally generated nature.”
    • “After playing through about 3 times, I realized there is no replayability whatsoever and not once did I find the game even remotely scary.”
  • grinding11 mentions

    Players consistently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and repetitive, with many expressing frustration over the lack of meaningful context for tasks and poor level design. The requirement to backtrack through monotonous environments in search of poorly placed clues, combined with an unhelpful map and restrictive save mechanics, contributes to a sense of chore-like gameplay that detracts from the overall experience.

    • “As such, the game becomes a tedious chore of looking around the current environment for letters that are marked with a red seal, though the game doesn’t provide any context as to why these letters are littered around.”
    • “The game does not allow saving anywhere and has an unrelenting auto-save that will cause you to redo very tedious sections all over again.”
    • “Also, since everything looks the same, it makes finding the notes you're missing tedious and boring, and the useless map doesn't help, since it doesn't differentiate between dead ends and unopened doors.”
  • humor7 mentions

    The humor in the game is described as unintentional and often derived from its poor execution and formulaic design, leading to moments that are amusingly bad rather than genuinely funny. Players find humor in the absurdity of the gameplay mechanics, such as avoiding ghosts by not looking at them, and the overall lack of originality, which results in a mix of cheap scares and cliches that can be entertaining in a "so bad it's good" way. However, expectations for quality humor should be tempered, as many feel the game falls short of being truly comedic.

    • “If you want a game so hilariously exploitable that you can avoid the ghosts simply by not looking directly at them, this is the game for you.”
    • “It's funny bad too, like shaking a teddy bear, and I died wanting to cuddle a ghost. I am disappointed that there is no cuddle button.”
    • “It felt like one of those hilariously bad special effects sequences in old low-budget films where they paused recording while the person or object was moved off camera while everyone else held still before continuing to record to give the illusion that they had vanished in an instant.”
    • “What I got instead was an extremely formulaic find-the-hidden-object Slender clone, piebait with levels that all look the same; making it very easy to get lost and a lot of boring cheap scare attempts that are so cliché and poorly executed I would have thought that this game was supposed to be funny.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization of the game is criticized as being typical of the genre, with many users labeling it a cash grab that lacks innovation or value.

    • “Pretty much a bog standard horror game that is nothing more than a cash grab.”
    • “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
    • “It's frustrating that essential features are locked behind paywalls, turning what could be a fun experience into a money-making scheme.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    The emotional impact of the game is notably intense, with some players reporting feelings akin to a hangover after just a short playtime, suggesting that it may evoke strong and overwhelming emotions.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

45% average critic score

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Play time

2hMedian play time
3hAverage play time
2-4hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs

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