I Can't Escape: Darkness Reviews

Really good. And this was me coming at it with a complete disregard for permadeath in dungeon crawlers. You can enable saves on start up and I can't see how this game can be played any other way. As to me it's too samey and without much variety to sustain long and repetitive plays as a roguelite. For example, as far as I can tell, there's only like 2 enemies that you can fight (one is a rat), and only about 3 weapons. There are some nice side stories and bits of lore you can pick up from discarded adventurer diary pages, and murals on walls. I had a solid 2 and a half hours of exciting dungeon delving and got the good escape ending (and the more secret traitor ending) without any fore-knowledge of the gameplay, and I thoroughly enjoyed it without getting bored. But I don't think I could have played it for another hour, as what I experienced felt self-contained and complete. And the game isn't as horror centred as you would expect. The game is quite vague as to what your goal is but you'll figure it out with enough exploration and fiddling with things. I died over 70 times in my playthrough (again, how is this doable as a roguelite?), and walked over 2k steps, but every death was only a small setback which kept me persevering. Don't think it's worth it full price but on a decent sale this is a worthwhile addition to any library for those who are fans of dungeon crawlers.

Dungeon Master meets Rogue meets Amnesia! While it may not be as epic or important as these three games (it is a small game after all), it is actually pretty good. The atmosphere is thick and the length/replayability is just enough to get tho most of that. It may be a little confusing at first, since one may not know well what is needed to do, but that fades away fast enough. The puzzles are actually really simple, but I feel that it would be distracting otherwise. Same goes with the fighting mechanic. The controls are a little clumsy, but it is not a dealbreaker. If you have played some classic dungeon game, you will feel right at home. So that's about it. It might not be for everyone (even in the area of creepy games) but if it sounds right for you, it probably is.

I Can't Escape: Darkness is really made for certain types of people. You will either love it or hate it. It's cryptic, unfair, mysterious, and confusing. If you're looking for a spooky game to hold your hand, give you hints when you're stuck, and explain how things work, this is not the game for you. If you can handle repeatedly dying for experimentation and accept that the real fun is within exploring and the secrets inherent in the levels and not in the story, this is a damn good game that always has another facet to ponder. Has a old-school vibe to it, both in the graphics and the approach (basically unguided, screw yourself if you want). My only real gripe beyond this is that the controls earn't great. Particularly, the whole space vs F right hand left hand thing and the q and e to turn instead of following the mouse or something. Overall, I wish more games were made like this.

Hey everyone and this is my review about the game! This is a Survival Dungeon crawler game. [h1]Interface/Menu/Settings[/h1] There is a Tutorial. There is a slide bar for Music/Sound/Gamma and Mouse sensitivity. You can change the Graphics quality from low to high. But i am not sure if this has any affects. You can play this fullscreen or window mode. There are a couple of different languages. You can change the controls. You can play this game with the xbox controller. (Which i do not recommend). [h1]About the game.[/h1] You will fall into a tomb/dungeon once you have finally reach the "building". From there the horror begins. You will have to survive the traps/monsters and other craziness. You have to be careful where you step otherwise the floor will collapse and you will fall a level lower. The deeper you are, the more dangerous it will become. You will have to find the exit by finding the keys. Ofcourse the exit key isn't on a safe place. The deeper you go, the less light there will be and eventually you will encounter light problems. Light is a limit resource. You can find it around like other items. The game offers you a Tutorial if you want attempt to bypass this. Game is difficult. You have to find the right key to open the door. Combat music is like a "Tribe" Feelings, With drums. You can allow maps and save your game. (Turn save game off if you prefer perma-deaths). The graphics are "okay" a bit pixelated. Soundtrack fits the theme. It has the same walking style as "Legend of grimrock". Walking speed isn't fast. Animations are a bit weird. You have a backpack/inventory, where you can collect stuff. The bigger the item, the more space it will require to place. [h1]Other things.[/h1] If you do not trust a floor tile, Place a rock onto it and see if it falls down. However the rock will be dropped down a floor below. The eye balls in the wall create some light whenever you are looking at it. Look carefully where you walk, if a floor tile is darker then another you might fall a floor level lower. The game is not scary, There are some "horror" Elements but they are not scary or anything. Putting the Gamma on the highest will remove MOST of the darkness out of the game. Unless you walk in the Darkness Fog barrier. This could make the game alot easier. Game pace is slow because you walk slow. Enemies will never walk on "hidden trap floor tiles" The game doesn't have a life bar, which is a shame.. Yea your screen get hits but it's not telling you how much HP you got ------------------- I Give this game a 7/10

Was a huge fan of Legend of Grimrock, so a more spooky, atmospheric version seemed like a safe bet. Frankly though, the game's just boring. Poor, hamfisted attempts at exposition through narration on each floor, coupled with dull, grating exploration that just isn't rewarding.

A real fun little game with thick atmosphere and some spooky moments, without any tedious jumpscares. Lots of little hidden secrets to find and, while short, very replayable. Great use of sound, too, the soundtrack is top-notch. I feel like it could do with more content, and if I bought this at full price (£9), I would feel a bit more disappointed. Still though, I really enjoyed it and would want to see more, whether a sequel (being this is already a spiritual successor, that's not hard to imagine), or some more content via updates/ DLC.

Recommended, but with caveats: I've enjoyed ICE:D. It's a slow-burning horror game that takes it time to build a feeling of despair. Having said that, I suppose I technically didn't enjoy it. But that was the point of the game, so I love it. I wish I could say something the store page doesn't, but I'd be spoiling the experience. Having said that, I've read critics negative reviews and seen let's-players who disliked it. So I looked for more of those to understand why not. And I've reached two conclusions: 1) If you're expecting the wrong kind of game, you WILL be disappointed. Some got the first impression that ICE:D is like Legend of Grimrock, only to be let down by the simplistic combat and by puzzles less complex than LoG. Those elements aren't the focus of ICE:D. Also, don't except old-school survival horror akin to Resident Evil and Silent Hill. It's not that kind of horror game. 2) The psychological approach of this game is like coriander/cilantro. Either you enjoy it, or it just tastes like soap. The slow burn approach combined with trial-&-error and rogue-like gameplay can frustrate, bore, or otherwise turn-off some people. But an optional save feature does mitigate the later two elements' impact if it bothers you. The easy way to gauge in advance whether you'll love or hate this game is to search for "I Can't Escape" on Newgrounds. (or wherever flash games get re-upped) It's a simpler "proof-of-concept", but it's free. If you enjoy it like I did, then I can't recommend ICE:D enough. Otherwise, well...

Let me say this: If you haven't played the original, go do it. It's free. This game is basically the first game on an extraordinary amount of steroids. The claustrophobic, crushing atmosphere of the first is present here in spades. The first game had a very silly and convoluted "solution" of sorts, but was so drenched in atmosphere that it managed to be amazing anyways. This game seems to take the silly aspects of the first game and toss them to the side. So all that's left is a legitimately awesome, distilled experience. Let me tell you, this game is pretty fucking hard too. Managing your resources is HARD. You really have to pay EXTREMELY close attention to your resources and take every decision very seriously. Losing as it were is not a very big deal. It sucks to lose of course, but part of enjoying this game is learning from your mistakes. I don't want to call it a roguelite (it's very much NOT) but this game is not meant to be completed in just a few attempts. You will fuck up and die, but each death will teach you something valuable. I spent probably a good 20 hours with the first title, and I haven't had that much time to play with this game, but I can already tell you this game will consume me when I get the time to properly sit down and digest it. tl;dr: Go play the first (FREE) game. Enjoy it? Then get this. This is the first game x100.

Looks spooky, gives you chills. Awesome soundtracks(very eerie). A worthwhile game if you're into the maze/puzzle dungeon cralwer sort of game. Can't really say anything bad about it. Would only recommend buying it at a non-discount price if you're really into the genre, otherwise don't.

Do I recommend this game? Yes. Does this game deserve it's current (Feb 7, 2016) Metacritic score of 40? No. To begin, let's break down a few things from the “About This Game” section. 1) “An Infinitely Replayable Living, Breathing Dungeon” This one is mostly hyperbole. It's true that the setting is quite good, as is fitting for any horror story in which the location/environment is almost a character in and of itself. The game having “infinitely replayable” is by definition true, the same way that the ocean has infinite re-sailability. You've never see the same fish, wave, or storm in the same place twice, but after enough trips out it all sort of blends together and you get a good idea of what to expect. Nothing new shows up; it's just in different places (just like other rogue-like games). 2) “The Truth About The Darkness” Yes! This game is surprisingly intricate. There's a ton of little details and hidden clues [i]on top[/i] of everything you'll find out just in a more “casual play through.” There's lots of backstory (both directly stated and halfway hinted at) that you can pull out of the game if you merely try hard enough and pay attention. 3) “A Guaranteed Uneasy Feeling in the Pit of Your Stomach” A definite yes! I've played through dozens and dozens of runs in the game and have over 24 hours on record, and the game still gets me wigged out at times. As a self-professed horror junky, this game will definitely get you immersed. Not to mention the newest update tweaked out all the sound effects, and all for the better in my opinion. This game would be fantastic for a VR headset. 4) “The More You Explore, The More You Will Find” Also definitely true. As mentioned above in point 2, there are so many little things in this game. There are a lot of good secrets and several good puzzles too. Not to mention that the dev claims I have “almost all the secrets,” but not actually all of them. I have no idea what I've missed, but apparently even I could still find more. 5) “Tweet Your Escape… Or Your Death” Yes, you can. It doesn't do anything in-game, but it could be fun depending on your social preferences. As for my more general comments, this is definitely a more retro style game. Very much like point-and-click adventurer games, very old-school in it's controls. The controls are probably the weakest aspect of the whole game when comparing this to other, more modern games, though I did find the controls to give [i]I Can't Escape: Darkness[/i] (ICE:D) a rather unique feel and character. The controls aren't hard to get used to, but you may likely find yourself fumbling when you get into your first few panics. I can't comment much on some of the negative things that have been said about the game. Most of the negative things brought up in other reviews had no real impact on me while I was playing the game. The game definitely demands patience from you and a certain analytical mindset and a resilience to failure, all aspects I can easily see as being weak points for perhaps a majority percentage of gamers. I know I tend to get frustrated a little easily myself. It's almost certainly unfair to have just insinuated that the failure to enjoy this game is on the players themselves, rather than the game itself. There are things about ICE:D that could have been tweaked or polished, but at the end of the day this game is going to demand a different style of play because it is a different style of game. Perhaps the true root of the problem is in the style itself; consider how this genre of game basically doesn't exist anymore. (Yes, yes, [i]Grimrock[/i] exists, but I don't think you could argue it made any big waves when it came out. ALSO! 8/7/16 Edit here: Having now played [i]Grimrock[/i], I think the comparisons between the two games are largely inaccurate. ICE:D and [i]Grimrock[/i] are VERY different games. A rough simplification is that ICE:D is puzzles and [i]Grimrock[/i] is combat.) But I digress. Bottomline: I do recommend this game. If you like puzzles, if you like being in creepy places, if you like trying games that are different than the current market, if you like very challenging games, or if this strikes your interest at all really, I'd go ahead and get it. Trust your gut. It's not expensive and I think you'll at [i]least be[/i] interested by your time here. Also, do note that the devs have continued to support this game and tweak things based on the feedback they've been getting from players. David Maletz has been continuously active on the Steam forums for the game, and Chase Bethea has continued doing some really cool work on the sound design. While these are component pieces and not a main focus for most players, I think it is only fair to acknowledge the work their team has been and is still doing. Also check out firmwares' review. I agree with everything they said. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198057478381/recommended/346090/