Maybe Oddworld has the edge in this genre.. but who could forget a boy, his dog and the nightmarish adventure ahead?
User Rating: 8 | Heart of Darkness PS
I sat down with Heart of Darkness some time ago and after perpetually being killed off early on in the game over and over again- I put it away for some time. Later of course I pulled it out and remembered the "oh so disturbingly terrible to watch death animations followed by bouts of frustrating sequences of solving the same puzzle for the 17th time," but thats a pretty close description of the game at hand in all reality. Should I hate Heart of Darkness for being genuinely challenging and absolutely horrifyingly well animated when it came to imaginative new ways of watching a small boy be eaten alive or dissolved? Or should I hate it more for being a string of unmercifully difficult and long puzzles that only get more ridiculous as I get closer to the end? My conclusion? I couldn't put the game down after an hour or two. I might still be on the same portion I was on 15 minutes ago, I might even be immensely displeased with the puzzle I'm trying to solve currently, but something keeps me playing nonetheless. Call me crazy, but I honestly enjoyed Heart Of Darkness as much as any "Oddworld" title. Between the difficulty curve, the gorgeous backgrounds, the character animations, and even the awful FMV movies- theirs a good solid game here. Yes its dishearteningly tough, rough around the edges, not as tight control-wise as it should be, but its worth playing and worth mentioning its strong points as an adventure/puzzle game. I recommend this game to anyone looking for something a little different than "Oddworld" or even people that got through "Out of This World" without feeling like they wasted their time. In short, it has some problems, but a slightly unpolished presentation shouldn't diminish the core quality of this title and thats what truly matters if you enjoy the genre.
