GameSpot's early access reviews evaluate unfinished games that are nonetheless available for purchase by the public. While the games in question are not considered finished by their creators, you may still devote money, time, and bandwidth for the privilege of playing them before they are complete. The review below critiques a work in progress, and represents a snapshot of the game at the time of the review's publication.
If there's anything that horror has taught us, it's that being stuck overnight in a cabin in the woods really, really stinks. From Robert Bloch's Lovecraftian "Notebook Found in a Deserted House" right through the Evil Dead franchise and send-ups like Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods, it's always been as clear as Crystal Lake that you're as good as dead if you see the sun going down on your log abode in cottage country. Clearly, then, you shouldn't expect any relaxing moments in Darkwood, an adventure-angled experiment in survival horror currently available via Steam's Early Access program. Developer Acid Wizard Studio has replicated many old clichés to the letter, but the game veers away from predictability with a surreal story and setting, freakshow characters, an in-depth crafting system, and off-the-charts difficulty. Darkwood's best elements occasionally combine to make for compelling and atmospheric adventuring, but the current alpha 1.3 build is aggravating and awkward, with a deluge of iffy game mechanics that serve no purpose but to kill you early and often. Right now, the game's frustrations outweigh its frights.
You play the lone survivor of some kind of apocalypse, stuck in the deep, dark woods within a dilapidated cabin that serves as your hideout. There are no immediate goals other than to survive and search the randomly generated environments for an escape route. Of course, this is easier said than done. Those surrounding environs are loaded with murderous freaks straight out of The Hills Have Eyes, aggressive wolves, and hungry things whose very existence defies the imagination. Foes can be found all over the place at all hours (particularly in the deep woods along the map's edge; beware of the smoke monsters lurking there), but the land becomes particularly perilous after the sun goes down. By nightfall, you must remain holed up in your hideout. Chances are good that you'll be slaughtered if you go on any moonlight nature walks, and a mysterious affliction called The Thirst kills you around midnight if you fail to take a drink from a mystic well located just outside your rural headquarters.
Chances are good that you'll be slaughtered if you go on any moonlight nature walks.
Events grow progressively weirder as you stumble forward. One moment I was taking quests from a werewolf trader; the next, I was hanging out with a Baba Yaga-like old woman with a chicken fetish and the bubble-headed monster child playing the violin on her lawn. Occasional plot points float to the surface, but they amount to little more than gibberish at this stage. The burned scraps of paper, old photographs, and other seemingly random detritus gathered and logged into a journal may well form a story in the future, but for now, all of these elements only add to the confusion.
Venturing into the creepy wilderness of Darkwood is as questionable a call right now as heading off to the country for a weekend getaway with Evil Dead's Ash Williams. Even though the game has an eerie atmosphere, along with some legitimate scares and an intricate crafting system emphasizing the grim nature of this post-apocalyptic world, a host of issues--the fragmentary surreal plot, off-kilter mechanics, and extreme difficulty in particular--mean that this current alpha build isn't really ready for play yet. You should allow Darkwood a few more updates before you get out your credit card, or you might find yourself realizing just how much it really does stink to get stuck in a cabin in the woods.
What's There?
The Alpha 1.3 build includes the first chapter of the full game. Expect a good seven or more hours of gameplay, more if you get killed a lot and explore every inch of the map.
What's To Come?
Acid Wizard Studio is promising to expand the story, further refine game mechanics, and possibly even make major changes to the design based on player feedback.
What Does it Cost?
$14.99, available via Steam Early Access.
When Will it Be Finished?
Mid-2015. Look for a final release around July of next year.
What's the Verdict?
Darkwood is spooky, but it's also kind of kooky and ooky. The bizarre setting and extreme difficulty make for an experience that is more frustrating than frightening right now, though its sheer weirdness makes the game occasionally compelling despite its flaws.
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