Every once in a while a game comes out that doesn't fall into the normal realm of gaming. Years ago Myst was one such game that garnered a huge following and inspired books and other games based on its premise. The problem is now that gamers like their games fast and lean, and playing with a point-and-click interface normally doesn't bode well. You know the kind of game where when moving around locations, you don't as much walk as you are instantly dropped there by means of direction arrows. Darkness Within is one of those games.

Now I like a sinister and really creepy game as much as the next person, but every once in a while, I get the hankering for something really H.P. Lovecraft-like dark. And when I booted this game up, it was about 10:00 at night and no one was home, I turned down the lights and did everything I could to get a feeling of gaming dread and danger. Well, imagine my surprise when the game (which actually starts off with a little H.P. Lovecraft) turned out to be a point-and-click adventure. But being the professional I am, I pushed through, determined to not let a potentially good gaming experience be marred by my distaste for such controls.

So, with a new resolve to find something dark and sinister within the game's boundaries I started off on my point-and-click quest.

 
"Mr. David, you really shouldn't be walking around after that type of surgery."

Now in Darkness Within you play as a detective who has drawn the peculiar case of Loath Nolder. Loath was a private detective who went missing some five years ago only to resurface and pick up as if nothing had changed. Now, he is wanted in connection with the death of a prominent citizen who had a taste for the occult. As you pursue Loath through strange locations and try and piece together the clues that are spread out like puzzle pieces, your own sanity starts to betray you. Are the ghastly things that you are seeing real? Or are they manifestations of your own tortured psyche? The point is, you - as the player - must try and discover the truth.

Since this is a point-and-click style game you can count on the obligatory cursor change when you run a cross something of interest. As a player, you can expect to open lots of drawers and sift though paperwork, reading the various passages that you find that help move the story along. I figured about 30 minutes into playing that this was the kind of game my mother would like: 1) because it really is a detective's game and she loves that kind of stuff, and 2) towards the beginning of the game you find your gun in a drawer and in true point-and-click fashion, never pick it up. Now interestingly enough, the game has three different modes of play for all levels of detectives. The hardest gives you no (automatic) clues and really hangs you out there in terms of figuring stuff out. This is quite difficult, specially if you are not familiar with how the detective process works within the game (more on this below). The medium difficulty allows you to try and figure things out on your own, but gives you a hint after a while in order to keep you in the hunt. The third is the easy mode, where hints are available as soon as you find new clues.

Now in order to decipher the clues, you must enter inventory mode. In this mode you can examine items more closely and spin them around in case something is written on the back of a piece of paper. Combining clues in a secondary inventory shelf and hitting the brain icon allows your character to think out the clues. Yes, this is a way to lessen the deductive reasoning some folks want to have, but hey, it does work and when you are stuck, sometimes it helps to start stabbing in the dark. Now here is where things get a little hinkey (ie. goofy). The game really wants you to be an intuitive thinker, and to give you an example, I'll tell you something that happened early in the game. After looking over the crime-scene photographs of an office you realize (after going back to the office) that one of the paintings has been moved and is slightly askew. At that point, you should have been able to walk over to the painting and examine it more closely. Instead, the game wants you to take that picture and place it in the inventory secondary bar and hit the brain icon. Form there your character tells himself "That picture has been moved" and you can now go check it out more closely.

Was it a little frustrating? Yes. Was it necessary? I suppose so because the game needed some sort signal to allow further access to items that otherwise should not be able to be examined. My thoughts, though, were that after you examined the picture, that should have been the catalyst and allowed you to examine it. Am I making sense? I hope so because you need to realize that while the game has all the trademarks of a good mystery novel, I question the gameplay aspect when discovering clues.

 
"You know, you want to go down there."

Since there is little movement in terms of walking around, the game looks better on weaker PC systems. Sure, when you are staring at a desk you can look up, down, left, right in order to look for clues, but this is nothing more then a false sense of freedom. Nothing is worse than wanting to walk across the room and look out the window, and not being able to because a partially open trunk is in the middle of the room. In all fairness though, the developers did come up with some decent and creepy visuals, and there is no doubt that no sane person would go to some of the places your character does.

Interestingly enough, the voice acting was pretty good. You got the sense that the game takes place in Europe as the narrator (your character) is very well spoken with a slight accent and pronunciation of certain words that aren't said that way here in the states. Even the dialogue that pops up as the narrator speaks has spelling that, while correct, is influenced by geographical location. Of course, I could be a moron and this could take place in New England, but I don't think so. 

Gameplay: 6.0
It's slow, point and click and while most of us are used to fast-paced action and movements, the game does have a certain thoroughness to its meanderings. The inventory can be a help as much as an infuriation.

Graphics: 6.2
The game can be run on older systems due to its almost "picture-perfect" quality of visuals. Yes that bureau is nice to look at, but it's still a bureau.

Sound: 7.0
I thought the voicework was well done, and while there is a background track, I was hoping for something with a bit more mystery and sinister-ism (is that a word?).

Difficulty: Hard
Even the easy and medium levels can be a tough go at it, even with clues. You had better be Sherlock Holmes and Matlock rolled into one to get through on the hard setting your first go-round.

Concept: 6.0
The game feels very familiar, and while mysteries of the occult and archeological finds are old hat, I will give credit where it is due, and that is the game's decent plot and well thought-out mystery.

Overall: 6.3
Chances are I will send this to my mother; she loves this sort of thing, but if you don't like mysteries and can't stand point and click, then you would be best to stay away. The game moves at a methodical pace, which will drive some players mad.