Creepy goings on
The Dark Being is a very creepy and atmospheric Myst-style puzzle adventure which is let down somewhat by its ridiculously hard puzzles but which just about manages to be an entertainingly creepy romp. The game takes that classic horror movie concept of a writer moving into a remote location in order to work on his new novel. When exploring the area, you find an eccentric scientist and his daughter and after their lighthouse is struck by lightning, they mysteriously disappear. It falls to you to find out what's going on, and your epic quest will see you venturing into a bizarre alternate reality in order to track down the hapless duo and save them from whatever nightmare they are in. What follows is a traditional adventure game, where you explore a series of locations from a first person perspective, picking up items, interacting with characters and trying to solve the puzzles which bar your progress. The puzzles are mostly logic-based, requiring clever manipulation of the environment rather than simple inventory management, but it's here that the game hits its major hurdle. There's undeniably heaps of atmosphere to enjoy here, with well realized environments and plenty of creepy moments, the puzzles are frequently ridiculously hard and illogical and which is likely to put many players off. However, if you are a veteran of such things, you might fare better and there are some memorably complex ones to try out which are quite delightful in their sheer outlandishness. However, for beginners, you're best off looking elsewhere, perhaps in the direction of Jewels II.
