Dead of Darkness

About

Dead of Darkness is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by Retrofiction Games and was released on January 23, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

In 1985 England, private investigator Miles Windham investigates his daughter's mysterious death on Velvet Island, where the hostile residents and dark secrets threaten his survival. Dead of Darkness blends survival horror with cosmic horror elements, featuring scarce resources, intense hallucinations, and a complex narrative involving over 15 unique characters. Every decision matters as tension and danger escalate.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 103 reviews

story27 positive mentions

replayability3 negative mentions

The game successfully captures the essence of classic survival horror, reminiscent of Resident Evil, with engaging gameplay, a compelling story, and solid voice acting.
The pixel art style and atmospheric design create a nostalgic yet immersive experience, enhancing the horror elements throughout the game.
The unique clue system and various puzzles add depth to the gameplay, encouraging exploration and critical thinking while maintaining a satisfying challenge.

Poor balance and frustrating enemy placements lead to cheap deaths, particularly in sections with one-hit kill mechanics and limited resources.
The game does not pause during inventory management, which can result in frustrating encounters and cheap shots from enemies while trying to strategize.
Certain sections, like the cistern maze, feel overly punishing and detract from the overall enjoyment, leading to potential frustration for players.

story
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
48%
5%
The game's story is widely praised for its engaging narrative, strong character development, and impressive voice acting, with many players appreciating its unique twists and detective elements that set it apart from typical survival horror titles. While some critiques mention that it borrows tropes from other games in the genre, the overall consensus is that the story is compelling and well-executed, leaving players eager for potential sequels. Despite minor frustrations with gameplay mechanics, the narrative depth and atmospheric design contribute to a satisfying experience that resonates with fans of classic horror.
- “The strongest points are definitely the story, writing, and voice acting.”
- “The story is surprisingly involved and quite interesting, with clear setup for future games, and the voice acting is better than you might expect.”
- “A very good classic survival horror experience with a strong story, grotesque monsters, and an atmospheric design.”
- “The story was too intrusive and generally uninteresting, and this game doesn't do much to set itself apart from your Resident Evil or Silent Hill.”
- “The story has some twists and turns and again, while they're well done, they're nothing original.”
- “The overall experience is a mixed bag of great inventory management, uneven voice acting, okay puzzles, great map design, meh story, decent boss fights, and boring spiked floor gauntlets.”
gameplay
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
53%
9%
The gameplay of "Dead of Darkness" is a blend of classic survival horror elements, featuring a solid exploration and puzzle-solving loop, though it suffers from some stiffness and pacing issues. While the combat mechanics are functional and the sanity system adds tension, some players find the controls and inventory management frustrating. Overall, the game successfully captures the essence of the genre, with a compelling story and atmosphere, despite some criticisms regarding repetitiveness and lack of variety.
- “Not only did you make my dream come true -- but you also delivered a well-designed gameplay experience and story that stays true to the re-franchise style, but with hints of Lovecraft and Silent Hill, as well as amazing voice acting!”
- “Couldn't stop playing until I got to the end; great gameplay, exploration, puzzles, story—it's everything you want from classic survival horror.”
- “It absolutely nails the essence of the genre with its gameplay and atmosphere.”
- “The gameplay is really stiff even for old survival horror standards, and moving around the main character takes forever.”
- “There’s a good game somewhere deep, but it’s buried under mediocre mechanics, poor pacing, and a lack of identity.”
- “The padding kills the flow in certain sections, the voice acting is so bad that it can't be taken seriously, and the lack of variety in the combat or gameplay holds this game back a lot.”
graphics
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
64%
11%
The game's graphics feature a nostalgic pixel art style reminiscent of classic survival horror titles, which some players appreciate for its charm and atmosphere, while others find it basic and unoriginal. Despite the simple visuals, the game effectively captures the essence of early Resident Evil games, with well-executed lighting effects and character portraits that enhance the experience. Overall, while the graphics may not be groundbreaking, they complement the engaging gameplay and storytelling, appealing to fans of the genre.
- “I've really longed to play a proper Resident Evil-like game with FF6 graphics for like forever -- and you delivered just that!”
- “The game's 2D pixel art style is very much the norm now for indie titles and is extremely well done.”
- “The graphics are rounded out with some nice lighting effects which enhance the atmosphere and give a nice depth to the scenery.”
- “The opening hour feels more like a clunky visual novel than a survival horror game - with inconsistent art styles and flat voice acting that break immersion.”
- “If there is one main criticism of the artwork, I'd have to say that while it is done to a high level of quality, none of it is particularly original or memorable, in what will be a recurring theme in this review.”
- “The pixel artwork though feels pretty basic - it’s about at the level you can see in the trailer throughout.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
The music in the game is highly praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, effectively setting tension and complementing the horror elements without being intrusive. Players appreciate the immersive sound design, which includes creepy ambient sounds and well-placed music that heightens the scare factor during intense moments. However, some users noted that the music can be too low in certain cutscenes, detracting from the overall experience.
- “The sound and music are on par with the high-quality artwork.”
- “The music nicely sets the tension of each scene and never intrudes upon the action or distracts from any scene.”
- “Amazing sound design and music which immerses you.”
- “- Music can be very low; I couldn't hear it in some cutscenes, and some cutscenes could probably use music.”
- “- Music can be very low; I couldn't hear it in some cutscenes, and some cutscenes could probably use music.”
- “Music is also very 'Resident Evil', very creepy and sits in the background as you run around the many areas, trying to find your next clue or key for a door to unlock.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
12%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is a mixed bag, with some reviewers praising its strong survival horror elements, grotesque monsters, and effective lighting that enhance the experience. However, others feel it lacks the depth and thematic clarity found in classic titles like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Overall, it successfully captures the essence of the genre with its dark, nightmare-like setting and solid sound design, making it appealing to fans of atmospheric horror.
- “A very good classic survival horror experience with a strong story, grotesque monsters, and an atmospheric design.”
- “The graphics are rounded out with some nice lighting effects which enhance the atmosphere and give a nice depth to the scenery.”
- “It absolutely nails the essence of the genre with its gameplay and atmosphere.”
- “It’s a surface-level mashup of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Clive Barker’s Undying (or The Fall of the House of Usher, if you like), and Eternal Darkness - with none of their atmosphere, depth, or thematic clarity.”
- “If you miss games like the OG Resident Evil games or just games with a spooky atmosphere, this one is for you.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while it offers a new game plus mode and unique mechanics like the clues system, players feel that the inability to sequence break and the repetitive opening cutscenes detract from the experience. Additionally, despite having maxed out weapons, many players find limited incentives to replay, as the differences in difficulty and enemy encounters do not significantly enhance the gameplay.
- “+ great replay value.”
- “I am not sure about replay value; yes, there is a new game plus, but besides having your maxed out weapons, nothing really unlocked for me. Even on the very easy mode, I didn't see too much of a difference with maxing out my weapon upgrades. Beware, there are several enemies in the game that can one-hit KO, so be cautious about who you challenge with a knife.”
- “The clues system is a unique idea that helps you gain key items without using a ton of inventory, but it also hurts the game's replay value, since you can't ever sequence break anything unless you've interacted with all the right items first.”
- “Speaking of hurting replay value: the opening cutscenes play no matter how many times you've beaten the game, so it will take a while to get a new game plus run going, even though you can skip dialogue boxes one at a time.”
- “I am not sure about replay value; yes, there is a new game plus, but besides having your maxed out weapons, nothing really unlocked for me. Even on the very easy mode, I didn't see too much of a difference with maxing out my weapon upgrades. Beware, there are several enemies in the game that can one-hit knock you out, so be cautious about who you challenge with a knife.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report significant issues with optimization, specifically noting frequent stuttering during gameplay. This suggests that the game's performance may not be well-tuned, impacting the overall experience.
- “The game suffers from severe stuttering, making it nearly unplayable.”
- “Optimization is lacking, resulting in frequent frame drops and lag.”
- “I experienced constant stuttering during gameplay, which ruined the overall experience.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unforgiving, particularly in sections like the Tower of Faith, where one-hit kill traps and punishing mechanics create a frustrating experience. While some traps are manageable, the overall design leads to repetitive and boring gameplay, especially with limited save points.
- “Also, the tower part has one-hit kill traps alongside the warning to not be in front of statues when they turn red, or else you take a bunch of damage and get poisoned. This is very tedious and boring in my opinion, as well as unforgiving, since there are multiple rooms with only one save point in between.”
- “Tower of Faith is trap central, most notably spikes, which are tedious to navigate, but not that difficult to overcome.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with only a few minor graphical glitches and bugs reported. Players noted some issues with the sanity system and occasional dialogue problems, but these do not significantly detract from the experience.
- “A few small improvements could make this perfect, such as minor graphical glitches, a less contrived sanity system (which borrows heavily from Eternal Darkness), ironing out a few minor bugs, and revamping some of the boss battles.”
- “Voice acting was good, and I only saw a few misspellings in dialogue, one instance of dialogue not occurring, and there were only 2 actual game glitches.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players are drawn to the game for its survival horror elements but remain engaged due to its compelling plot and strong character development, indicating that the narrative depth enhances the overall experience.
- “At the start, I came to the game for the survival horror gameplay, but I stayed for its plot and character development.”