REVIEW

The Darkside Detective Review

by Rob Pritchard, July 27th, 2017

The point and click adventure has seen many changes since it began in the early 1980’s with games such as The Secret of Monkey Island leading the charge. Originally developed during a games jam in 2014, The Darkside Detective by newly established Irish developers Spooky Doorway is the latest adventure game to make a drastic change to the formula, while at the same time offering the experiences we have enjoyed since the genre’s conception.

In the sleepy American town of Twin Lakes, where the occult has been essentially forbidden, mysterious supernatural occurrences take place on a daily basis. The only line of defence is The Darkside Division, an underfunded police department which is staffed by a young detective named Francis McQueen and his partner Officer Dooley. Together with his supernaturally ignorant partner, Detective McQueen must solve the cases that arise, and restore the balance between Earth and a parallel dimension known as the Darkside.

During the six cases that you investigate as both McQueen and Dooley, you will need to travel to several normal and supernatural locations, and utilise the tried and tested method of item combination and puzzle solving. From solving the disappearance of a wealthy heiress, to closing a wormhole that has opened on the subway, each case brings a new element of the supernatural to the table, and offers a set of unique and challenging puzzles for players to enjoy. One of the best puzzles has a reference to a LucasArts classic, and forces you to pass objects between two separate worlds in an unconventional manner.

Like any adventure game, sometimes you run into a slightly logic baffling puzzle, but the majority of them can be solved with a sense of accomplishment rather than repeated frustration. Alongside the investigation which is generally played straight, you will find references to various franchises such as The X Files, Twin Peaks and even the Twilight series to lighten the mood, and make you crack a smile at the same time.

The Darkside Detective may appear on the surface like a standard supernatural investigation affair, but it has two major changes that set it apart from the competition. The first is its graphical art style, which has a block 8 bit aesthetic reminiscent of Phoenix Online Studios horror adventure The Last Door. The second is that all of its cases can be completed in less than fifteen minutes. Although this might sound like a criticism, it is one of the game’s unique selling points. In this case, it definitely works well with the adventure game formula as it allows players to have a regular sense of progression throughout the narrative of the case.

While the graphics of The Darkside Detective work well in providing the game with a unique presentation style, its greatest strength can occasionally be its greatest weakness. In some locations, the items that can be picked up are not immediately obvious because of the minimalist pixel artwork, and it can something take several seconds of pixel searching to find the appropriate hotspot. This problem has also appeared in other examples of the genre such as King’s Quest and Quest for Glory, but unlike those games, there appears to be no option to display all the hotspots in an area with the click of a button.

The soundtrack of the game is quiet and unimposing, in the best possible sense. Its lack of presence builds the tension well, and during the times it does increase in volume, the tones feel appropriate for the situation happening on screen. There is no voice acting, so you will need to rely on the game’s subtitles to understand the spooky goings on. Although it would have been great to hear someone like Eric Idle returning to the world of voice acting for a game like this, the lack of character voices is not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination.

Overall, The Darkside Detective is a fun and challenging adventure game that is worth every penny of its asking price. While the graphics can sometimes lead to hotspots being overlooked, it’s unique aesthetic along with the minimalist soundtrack and numerous pop culture references make The Darkside Detective as essential purchase for anyone who has ever seen something strange in their neighbourhood.