{"id":93671,"date":"2019-05-17T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/darkwood"},"modified":"2019-05-17T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T19:00:00","slug":"review-darkwood-a-gripping-switch-horror-title-full-of-terrors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/05\/17\/review-darkwood-a-gripping-switch-horror-title-full-of-terrors\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Darkwood &#8211; A Gripping Switch Horror Title Full Of Terrors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/darkwood\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/darkwood\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96539\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96539\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Despite appearances, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/darkwood\"><strong>Darkwood<\/strong><\/a> wants you to survive as much as it\u2019s determined to kill you, but it wants you to <em>earn<\/em> every life-fortifying dawn as it emerges from the darkness. Much like the <strong>Five Nights at Freddy\u2019s<\/strong> games and, to a less extent, the central crux of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/minecraft\"><strong>Minecraft<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Survival mode, Acid Wizard Studio\u2019s top-down offering is all about fortifying a small hideout against things that go bump in the night, while attempting to avoid getting bumped off yourself by the time morning comes around.<\/p>\n<p>This is very much a horror game, but not one that relies on the often cheap thrills of jump scares. Instead, Darkwood aims for a slow sense of dread that unfurls itself more and more with each passing night. It\u2019s often the things you <em>don\u2019t<\/em> see to begin with \u2013 or the ones that are half-glimpsed, like nightmares lurking at a glance \u2013 that are the most frightening; as are the long, dead silences that follow. Because you do eventually come face-to-face with what lurks in the thickets and bracken beyond, you\u2019ll soon start longing for the days of audio-only terror.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96540\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96540\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>What Darkwood does <em>really<\/em> well is that it emphasises your isolation. You\u2019re a man lost in a set of corrupted woods somewhere in the Eastern Bloc, and it&#8217;s the densely-crowded of trees that are the game\u2019s most compelling &#8216;character&#8217;. Looming from every corner, they\u2019re a timely reminder that the world of Darkwood is indeed full of terrors, and they\u2019re always getting closer. That feeling of utter helplessness and lack of direction extends from character to player. There\u2019s a very brief tutorial designed to guide you on your first \u2018quest\u2019 to locate a stolen item, but after that, you\u2019re very much left to work out what to do next and how best to defend yourself. Those first few nights are designed to spook you, but also to galvanise you to prepare sufficiently for the task ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, just because a game is purposefully obtuse doesn\u2019t mean that the effect is always going to play out in its favour. For the first hour or so, that lack of direction and hand-holding really works, but after a while having to work out where you are on a hastily-drawn map based on not-so-easy-to-distinguish landmarks can sometimes make for a needlessly frustrating experience. Darkwood does, however, try to punctuate this sense of unknown exploration with the handful of characters you\u2019ll meet along the way. Each one offers quests that will shape the final outcome of the story, and while you can opt to just treat Darkwood like a traditional survival game, there are some really compelling narrative beats to be earned that help flesh out the nightmarish story unfolding within that titular forest.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96536\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96536\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Working on a day\/night cycle, it soon becomes clear you need to arm yourself and fortify the small house that serves as your base. A trader will visit you every day to help replenish specific items you need for crafting, but most of the things you\u2019ll utilise will be found in cupboards, in abandoned cars and near the remains of some poor soul. The map itself \u2013 as well as the flow, timing and intensity of encounters \u2013 are all randomly generated elements so no amount of prior map knowledge will give you an advantage on each new run. So when day comes, and the monsters are banished back into the corrupted woods around you, you\u2019ll need to head out and scavenge for parts and resources.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s these resources that become a vital part of your nighttime defences. Darkwood\u2019s simple crafting system enables you to upgrade the strength of your hideout, construct new weapons, build traps and even brew potions with temporary effects. Resources are, unsurprisingly, rather limited so each night often boils down to using what you have most effectively \u2013 and how often things descend into anarchy once the beasts are unleashed. It\u2019s at night that Darkwood <em>really<\/em> shows its true nature.<\/p>\n<p>From rabid dogs and mindless savages to things of a decidedly more Eldritch nature, the enemies you encounter know where you are and they come for you without pause or mercy. There\u2019s something intrinsically frightening about barricading windows, setting traps and even pulling furniture in front of a door in order to slow down an enemy\u2019s pursuit of you. More often than not, you\u2019ll take a few out with your traps, but there are <em>always<\/em> more that get through. Combat is simple but effective, so when you are forced to defend yourself \u2013 be it with an axe or a gun \u2013 every move as a deliberate weight to it. You only have so much stamina, so you can\u2019t just spam the triggers in the hope of getting a lucky hit.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96538\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96538\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Darkwood Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The Nintendo Switch port of Darkwood has had plenty of patches and support from the developer right up to the point of its release, and these updates have helped improve its overall performance. However, there are still a few technical problems, such as seemingly inexplicable periods of slowdown and the game\u2019s physics often playing by a series of ever-changing rules. When items you\u2019re trying to drag or interact with fail to respond, it can get very frustrating \u2013 especially when you\u2019re trying to defend your ramshackle home in the dead of night. These niggles take the shine off what is otherwise a very assured experience, and we hope they can be ironed out over time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Darkwood is, thankfully, rather unlike any other horror game on Switch. Those with a taste for survival games will appreciate the constant pressure to salvage parts and craft new items while a clock ticks down in the background, while those with a love for all things sinister will really appreciate some of the truly disturbing moments. Despite the occasional technical flaw, the result is a purposefully slow experience that rewards multiple playthroughs with a storyline that branches depending on just how far into madness you\u2019re willing to tread.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite appearances, Darkwood wants you to survive as much as it\u2019s determined to kill you, but it wants you to earn every life-fortifying dawn as it emerges from the darkness. Much like the Five Nights at Freddy\u2019s games and, to a less extent, the central crux of Minecraft\u2019s Survival mode, Acid Wizard Studio\u2019s top-down offering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}