Video games labeled under the “Stealth” genre stamp of classification can often be lethargic in essence and assess our fortitude in an effort to forge an atmosphere of suspense and vigilance. However, these games often require a degree of expertise that many casual consumers don’t have. Realmforge Studios’ 2013 release “Dark” is by designation indeed a stealth game; but man, oh man, it is much more.

Straightforwardly, I frequently find myself more often than not disinterested or frustrated with stealth games; admittedly this is because I generally find myself becoming impatient with the routine sluggish nature of the genre. Nonetheless, I found myself enthralled by this game! Unlike other games within the genre’s library, “Dark” allows three types of gameplay styles to be executed by the player: pure stealth, charging against the enemies presented, or a mixture of both.

Players that embrace the finesse required to play stealthy will find the game to flow quietly compared to the all-out guns blazing tactics of players who want to challenge themselves within the boundaries of the game’s mechanics. All the while, both styles are supported within the game as “Dark” doesn’t completely incarcerate players for being daring like many other stealth games out there. Although as a fair warning; within the tutorial section of the game you’ll learn that the AI aren’t entirely lenient towards you, making reckless tactics nearly impossible to use in specific segments of the game. Because of this, I personally found it effortless combining the two play styles into one.

The customization doesn’t end there even—as part of the main mechanic of the game is to upgrade your character in numerous ways. These upgrades come in many forms, allowing you to make yourself deadlier and stealthier than before.

 

The plot of the game is somewhat bland when compared to the gameplay; but even so I enjoyed the concepts presented within it and found myself asking questions (eventually to the point of wanting this game to birth a franchise in order to develop further and explain so many questions that ran through my head during the course of the game).

The story follows Eric Bane, a man recently turned into a vampire, who is suffering from amnesia (not completely original I know, but how they explain it, it makes sense as to why, especially late in the story) and a killer headache. Fear not though, he thankfully finds friends in four other vampires owning a club that he finds himself at. Wanting answers, he talks to the owner of the club and the “leader” of their little organization and learns that vampires have been around for a long time and hidden within the shadows of society. However, this is when the main plot point is brought into play—Eric is not fully turned; instead he must somehow find the vampire that created him and drink their blood in order to fully turn, and be that as it may if he fails to do so he will mutate into a mindless ghoul (which is a particularly charismatic type of enemy within the game). In a period of a few minutes Eric (and the player) is sent after one ancient vampire after another in order to drink their blood.

Eventually these actions cause a bit of trouble for Eric and his friends as a military-style group enters the fray with ultraviolet weapons and gear to fight against the children of the night. Once these enemies are brought into the game however, the focus of the story turns from Eric needing to get the blood of his creator to saving his newly found friends. Thanks to this turn in focus however, we are introduced to a character that seemingly pulls Eric’s puppet strings from the shadows—and there was no hint to this (which makes it a great surprise in my opinion)!

Inevitably, the game itself as a whole is short; taking roughly ,depending on how you play, ten to fifteen hours (eight if you’re quick about it) to finish. Despite it leaving me wanting more, I adored the game from the get-go and found myself messing with the enemies within the game just to pass the time and keep the experience going. Saying that, its admittedly not for everyone—but that’s the best part of gaming, there’s plenty to choose from.

In my opinion however, this game was sold a little short when it was initially released as many early reviews were negative. Are there problems? Yes, but the game in itself is interesting enough and downright entertaining (for me anyways) to warrant a good old fashion try.

“Dark” was developed by Realmforge Studios and published by Kalypso Media. It is available worldwide on the PC and in North America and Europe on the Xbox 360; all released in 2013.

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