Looking for dark, non-horror action adventure games

Recommend some action adventure games to scratch my current itch. I'm looking for something that has atmosphere and art style as dark and gritty as it gets without being a horror game. Fortunately what I consider "horror" are the hardcore titles, that are designed specifically to scare you and screw with your mind (Silent Hill, Amnesia, Blair Witch and games alike), so you have some freedom with suggestions. I'm not really turned off by gore, murder, grotesque and other "controversial" stuff - I just don't want the game to try and scare the living shit out of me.

I'm going to describe what I expect to see in the game, in case some of you don't have an understanding of what an "action adventure" game is. The game should be a mix between action and an adventure genre. That means it should be either in FPP or TPP, mostly consist of progression through levels in a linear manner and killing enemies, have some puzzles from time to time, that need you to put some thought into, and be heavily focused on storytelling. It should also have little to no RPG elements in it.

As for the atmosphere and setting, I'd rather prefer a fantasy world or something stylized off Victorian England/18th-19th Century, than the real world, but everything else is passable, if the game is worth it.

The game should also pose some challenge. I don't want the difficulty to be sadistic, where I'm punished for everything I do and die because of cheap tricks (I'm looking at you, Dark Souls 2), but I don't want it to be piss easy, like AC, either. Something inbetween'd be perfect, though.

Games I've already played and fit the criteria more or less:

-Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2, and Defiance

-Prince of Persia: Sands of Time*, Warrior Within, Two Thrones, and "the one from 2008"*

-Tomb Raider Legend, Anniversary, and "2013"

-Alan Wake

-Batman: Arkham Asylum*

-Fable III (it's more of an action adventure title than an RPG imho)

-Assassin's Creed*

-Dark Souls 1 & 2* (writing it just in case anybody got that idea; don't take it as a prime example, though)

-Hexen 1 & 2

-Rune

-Heretic 1 & 2

*didn't like it

Thank you for all the help in advance.

EDIT: I don't mind the graphics that much. I'm willing to play any game from '96 and up.

Dishonored? and the first 2 Bioshocks

@klunt_bumskrint:

I've played both of them, but forgot to mention. Sorry. I'm not really good at stealth games, so I didn't play Dishonored for long (only the first 3 missions), but the game was good. Too bad the way I like to play (assassination of every enemy) is the wrong way to play it. As for Bioshock, I've only played the first one, but didn't like it. It had great atmosphere, but it frustrated me to no end - the only way to effectively kill an enemy was to use the environment to create traps, but when you ran out of objects to burn, freeze or electrify, you were pretty much screwed, as guns didn't do shit. That meant I was seeing the loading screen more than I did the rest of the game.

Well if you liked the Legacy of Kain games you can apply for Nosgoth beta. It's not an adventure, tho, just a 4vs4 MP, but it's dark alright. And it's a lot of fun. You probably played Max Payne 1 and 2, but I remind you just in case. Again, it doesn't meet all your criteria, but it's one of those games you just have to play.

Not for me, really. I don't like multiplayer games. Should have mentioned that...

Thanks for reminding. Yes, I've played them, but they're not really "action adventure" games. They're just shooters.

Only thing i can think of is pathologic, check it out. Yet to finish it but it does have a dark, depressing atmosphere.

The cat lady is the darkest game I've ever played, check it out

I kinda like it. Will play if nothing better shows up.

So, where's the "action" part of the game? From what I've seen it's a classic adventure game through and through.

Did you try "Singularity" ?

@woomar:

Yes, I did. I played it only for two hours or so. I remember it being somewhat clunky, unresponsive, and incredibly annoying because your guns weren't very effective (sometimes I ran out of ammo before killing even one enemy) and you had no other means of self defense, unlike in Bioshock.

I thought it was great , okay how about "Cryostasis" its an excellent one but it needs a decent specs , even though it has been released a few years ago but it was badly optimized .

Not really what I'm looking for. I've seen a gameplay and it looks like a "typical" horror game.

Hah, look like we have different tastes in games , fine , how about Riddick EFBB you can't go wrong with that .

Played it and while it was cool at the very beginning (when you had to fight with fists, shanks, screwdrivers etc.), it lost its charm and became nothing more than a simple shooter when you got access to the guns.

And don't get me wrong - I'm not picky in this case. It's you that keeps on suggesting shooters, while I'm looking for an action adventure game. It's expected that they're not what I'm looking for, for the most part.

Batman Arkham City. I hated Arkham Asylum as well, and could never get into superhero games and thought they were silly and couldn't be taken seriously, until I played Arkham City that is!

Also, Thief 2014 is a very good game. I never really play video games that have a score below 70 on meta critic but I'm glad I made an exception for Thief. Just focus on the campaign and you should have a 10 hour long campaign with a great atmosphere that, sometimes, borders on the edge of horror. It is also a very pretty game.

@xxninja666xx: it's not action at all, any slight opportunity to recommend it I will. It sure fits the dark theme your after but your right it's not action at all.

Still the game blew my mind

La Noire

So you say that when I didn't like a game about Batman beating the shit out of criminals, I'll for sure like its sequel which is basically the same principle, just in a slightly different setting?

Just asked a friend, who is a long-time die-hard fan of the Thief series. He said that while it's a decent stealth game (which is of no importance to me), it sucks majorly in every other aspect not strictly as a Thief game, but as a game in general. And I'm leaning towards believing him.

Darksiders?

Looks like something I'd want to play. I have some doubts after watching this gameplay, though:

1) Does it have any puzzles and dialogue-heavy moments, or is it just a slasher for kiddos with a short attention span?

2) Does the hectic gameplay pace keeps up for the whole game, or is it just some more intense moment shown in the video?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Couldn't tell ya. Never played the game. I've heard good things about it and it was what I thought of when you listed legacy of kain.

There is a Darksiders 2 that might be more appealing. But someone else might have something to comment on it, or if you search a bit on the web you might find your answers.

Dark Messiah (might and magic) is very good.

Two games that immediately spring to mind:

Darksiders 2
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Darksiders are pretty solid games, kinda like a dark-but-poor-mans Zelda at times. I played the first Darksiders and found most of the gameplay elements very solid.

I think Castlevania: Lords of Shadow pretty much echoes what you're after in terms of visual style and gameplay. I havent played Castlevania: Lord Of Shadow and dont know what the PC port is like, but I've heard good things in terms of atmosphere and narrative, but kinda lacking in gameplay aspects compared to Darksiders or its competitors.

Here's the Steam pages for these games for other reccommendations (see the bottom).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/50650/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/234080/

Both games seem pretty solid in terms of length

demon's souls

Yeah, pretty much. It's a tad bit too fast for me, and I never really liked slashers, but I think I'll get over it, as the game has the exact atmosphere and art style I was looking for.

How about older games like The Mummy ?

Also , are you interested in point and click ?

That's the gameplay formula I'm looking for, more or less. As for the game itself, it got bad reviews from both the critics, and the players. From the gameplay video it looks pretty awful, too (and I'm really not talking about the graphics) - kinda like a failed attempt at making a Tomb Raider clone.

Not really. I don't like to be overwhelmed with puzzles, so I need some action to balance it out.

In my opinion don't always count on the reviews , sometimes reviews can be very unfair .

"Manhunt" is the type you are looking for but there aren't too many puzzles and they are rather easy to solve.

With the restriction to the game you are putting its hard to find something that fits completely (and with good reviews) , for example Resident Evil 3 is all you want but its a horror game , so you have got to let go of something in order to find a game that fits.

I don't always count on them, but when I see that majority of people who've played it thinks it's a mediocre game at best, I believe them.

It's a pretty good suggestion. I really liked the game, but it became too hard for me when I got to the Smileys gang levels (mostly because I suck at stealth games). Might replay it some day.

To me it's not. I'm only scared of titles that really try to scare you, like Silent Hill, where you almost have a heart attack when you see a silhouette of an enemy creeping in the darkness. Resident Evil is only zombies and grotesque monsters, so mostly cliche stuff, nothing more.

The new DMC?

No. I know it sounds weird, since I liked illmatic87's Castlevania suggestion, but I really hate slashers, They're too fast paced and "hardcore" for my taste. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna play that Castlevania game, as it seems to be like any other slasher in existence. It's marked as the best answer because it's the closest to what I'm looking for as of now in terms of atmosphere, setting and art style. It can still change...

@xxninja666xx:

Since Resident Evil 3 doesn't scare you you can try :

> Dead Space (Fair amount of puzzles , but depends a lot on shooting)

> Alone in the Dark (2008) Great game in my opinion , just a few bugs.

And Have you tried AM Alice and Madness Returns ?

Might try it out. We'll see. I honestly know nothing about this game except it gets pretty boring towards the end (my brother, who've played it, told me that).

Again, it's a game that got mediocre to bad reviews everywhere and is considered garbage by many. Convince me it isn't and I might look into it.

I did play American McGee's Alice, but never got to finish it. Is it worth it?

Alone in the dark has a few things that i really liked :

1-Soundtrack.

2-Its not an open world game , but you can go anywhere in the map without being forced to find your next objective .

3-The atmosphere.

4-For some reason i felt like it was different from all other games , the combat system is very good (I don't believe others will agree with me on this one) , you may drive a car in it (which is something you nearly don't see in other games in the same genre).

And more but i forgot some of them since i played about 2 years ago , Its important to note that it has some bugs like the animation looks wrong in some situations , although the combat system is "very good" but in some cases things gets wrong.

About AM Alice and Madness Returns : I really enjoyed both of them , AM Alice being a little darker in general , both of them are great in terms of gameplay , Madness Returns had really great scenes (not necessarily HD graphics but rather unique in the looks) and amazing characters (which is an also common thing between the two) , for the story telling I felt Madness Returns was better .

SWAT 4.

It might be a FPS, but sometimes is a little creepy :p

American McGee's Alice. One of the best games I've ever played, and it's exactly like what you were describing.

Well, it's worth a shot. Let's hope my CD with the game still works. It's a much better suggestion than "Dracula May Cry: Belmont's Awakening" (Castlevania: LoS), after all.

The thread is pretty much done and I sort of got my answer (even if it's not exactly what I've been looking for; Alice's "adventure" in the Wonderland is a tad bit too psychedelic for my taste), but I'm going to ask anyway: Do you have any other suggestions? If you do, feel free to post them. Suggestions in vein of Legacy of Kain will be the most appreciated, but other ones are welcome, too.

Well, that was the case for me. AC is better than AA in every aspect. It's very atmospheric/Gothic with a very good story and some pretty dark stuff for a Batman game. Not to mention that the game look fantastic and the game play is much better than AA with fluid movement and fun combat.

Beating the shit out of criminals, while very fun, is far from being the highlight of AC.

I know little about the quality of the game, but Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, I don't know a whole lot about it and it might stray too far into the horror realm, but it might be a title that sounds up your ally OP. Also how about Half-Life 2? I know it's usually a given that a person has played it these days, but figured I'd throw it out there. I'd also like to second recommendations for Darksiders and Darksiders II, they're defintely more action and and puzzle solving oriented, with equal mixes fighting and problem solving/exploring, the first game especially has a VERY unique setting that you may enjoy (Earth after the apocalypse, nature reclaiming cities)

The next few recommendations are scary/horror games but definitely heavy on the atmosphere, there's the Penumbra series, from the makers of Amnesia (Penumbra came first however). There's also Amnesia and the recent stand-alone expansion Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. And last but not least I'll just throw out FEAR as a recommendation for a scary game.

Based purely on people's opinion on numerous forums, it doesn't compare to Amnesia, but it's indeed a horror game... and really scary. That doesn't really sound like my type of entertainment.

I'm not an exception. I've already played everything that has Half-Life slapped on it.

Ehh... I really want to like those games, but I can't cause I hate slashers. If only the combat in this game was normal...

Well... FEAR is neither scary nor has any puzzles, so...

To be honest, that's not really it. I liked the gameplay of Arkham Asylum, so I'd surely like Arkham City, but to me the case is, the game is about superheroes. They managed to create a very dark, gritty and realistic environment full of natural looking looking people, with Batman being in kevlar armor etc etc, and then they throw in every villain looking like they came straight out of the comic book pages - cartoony, disproportionate and whatnot. That kinda rubbed me in a wrong way.