It's great to see the turn-based adventure game making such a successful and prolific return to the gaming world. It's also intriguing to see the mobile format leading the way alongside the modern super consoles.
What The Dark Dimension offers is a classical example of the genre. Taking a distinct lead from immortal fantasy tales such as Thomas Covenant and The Dark Crystal, The Dark Dimension casts us in the role of unwitting champion thrust into the hero's shoes by happenstance.
Wandering lost and lonely in the forest, our champion (that's you) finds a glowing, ominous crystal shard. Compelled to touch it, you're hit by lightning as reward for your curiosity and wake up in a strange, fantastical land. The isometric view provides a clear and concise portrayal of this new world, and you're immediately free to begin roaming.
The action button brings up a circular menu which encompasses the main character and makes available all possible interactions with your surroundings. The reason this is of particular note is its raw functionality; bringing the inherently intricate adventure game genre completely and effortlessly within the bounds of the handset's limited controls.
As well as cycling through the options, such as 'interact', 'attack', 'magic' and 'search' (amongst others), the keypad numbers jump to the associated action, making control of the Dark Dimension world superbly accessible.
By searching the medieval environment and chatting with its inhabitants, you learn of the world's plight and how the shard must be reunited with the crystal to vanquish evil. Not massively imaginative, perhaps, but certainly sufficient to begin the rather expansive and lengthy quest at the game's core. The story builds from there, however, and soon begins to live up to its exciting suffix of 'The Secret'.
To ease the pain of on-foot travel around the impressively large map (a common nuisance of adventure games), once you leave a settlement the view zooms out, and remains that way until another settlement or character crosses your path. Traversing the considerable distances is made significantly easier – and less boring – with this astute addition to the gameplay.
Combat with the many antagonists is turn-based, so a certain amount of strategic, chess-like tactics come into play. Finances, strength, agility, magic and a host of other character attributes are all garnered by exploit and adventuring, so the continual progression and growth of your character makes for an engrossing and addictive experience. There's no shortage of action, either, which can become a little irksome during quests, but does keep the game tense and interesting.
Without wanting to spoil the vital storyline and events, The Dark Dimension: The Secret provides a detailed and extended adventure for anyone who enjoys an epic quest. Casual gamers might not be prepared to put the time and effort in that's required to unlock The Secret, but the ease of control makes it a great introduction for the pocket gamer who's jaded with single screen puzzles and wants to expand their mobile horizons.
The Dark Dimension: The Secret
An epic quest built around a simple and accessible execution, The Secret is a great way to lose hours to the successfully rejuvenated adventure genre
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.