Darkest Fear
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| Darkest Fear

Many children refuse to sleep without some form of nightlight, afraid of the lurking monsters that inhabit the darkest corners of their bedroom. Perhaps this behaviour is a throwback to the caveman, lighting a fire to scare away the roaming beasts that might otherwise attack during the night. More likely, though, it has something to do with unsupervised television and an overactive imagination.

Yet, after playing this new title from Rovio you might well find yourself sympathising with children.

Darkest Fear is a puzzle game with the heart of a horror movie. You step into the shoes of Mr Thomas Warden, a self-professed 'history researcher' who has received a phone call from his wife, Susan, a doctor at Grim Oak's Hospital. Turns out she wants you to search the hospital for your daughter, apparently a patient there.

The atmosphere is immediately eerie, featuring some of the creepiest music you're likely to hear in a mobile game. A film noir ambience permeates the frequent cut-scenes, maintaining a bleak sense of despair as you traverse each level, searching for the exit.

In order to achieve this you must solve a series of fairly linear puzzles. Keys can be found in closets and used to open various doors, for instance, while other doors can be opened by pushing a crate on top of a switch (a security method used too rarely in modern hospitals). Occasionally, you might also find a stack of crates blocking a doorway, which need to be pushed away in order to continue.

And all of this would be fairly simple but for Darkest Fear's rather nasty twist.

You see, for some reason the patients have been infected with a mutating virus, and the diseased inmates have since transformed into monsters which inhabit the dark areas of each room or corridor. Walking unprotected in these pitch-black sectors causes them to attack you, lowering your health.

Thankfully, you aren't completely helpless against the virus victims. Scattered around each level are a variety of portable light sources that you can use to clear a path through the darkness. Light is the nemesis of the mutants, killing them should they become exposed.

In addition to the portable torches and lamps are windows and fireplaces, which provide a permanent source of light, and mirrors which reflect light from any point in the direction you place them.

Moreover, not everyone you meet is nasty. Some patients have yet to succumb to the virus – an on-screen counter tells you how many of these occupy each level, and keeps track of how many you save. To rescue them you must discover their location and provide them with a pool of light, before going on to complete the level.

Although rescuing these patients is optional, each one saved grants you a permanent health boost when you access the next floor, giving you more freedom to venture into those life-draining dark zones.

The story, although admittedly silly, is told with such earnestness that you can't help but be drawn in by it. At one point you're even faced with a moral choice, giving the game three possible endings and therefore extra longevity. And despite the daftness of the plot, the various elements blend together nicely to create an engaging experience.

If Darkest Fear has a weakness, it's to be found in the simplicity of some of the puzzles. Although there is a degree of thought needed to make your way through each level, you'll probably find the solution to most of them fairly quickly. The lack of challenge can also mean not everyone will be willing to play through the game again to discover the different endings.

But aside from the dodgy script, being slightly too easy, and the nagging feeling that a hospital shouldn't contain doors that are so complicated to navigate, Darkest Fear proves a hauntingly atmospheric experience that overshadows many other puzzlers.

Darkest Fear

Chilling and original, if a little easy, puzzle games don't get more atmospheric than this
Score
Wayne Turton
Wayne Turton
Wayne's childhood ambition was to become a superhero. However, having been told that running round in tights is improper adult behaviour he now spends his days playing video games and watching cartoons instead. Millions of citizens sleep more soundly in the knowledge that he isn't watching over them.