Dark Fall 3: Lost Souls

Well, my favourite time is almost upon us: HALLOWEEN!  And what better way to celebrate than to play the oh so spooky Dark Fall 3: Lost Souls.  And it's scary.  Very scary.  So scary that I can't play it by myself.  Okay, that goes for pretty much all scary games but this has to be one of the worst for sending me into fits of hyperventilation.

Dark Fall 3 comes from Jonathon Boakes, who has become one of my favourite independent game developers.  Other games of his that I’ve played include Dark Fall: The Journal, Dark Fall 2: Lights Out and The Lost Crown.  All are great horror games, especially considering that they are of the adventure genre and they’re definitely worth checking out.  You can get them here and at GOG.

Normally I might take the time to review the two previous Dark Fall games as well, but again my incredibly tight schedule has left me woefully little gaming time, so I’ll have to be satisfied with a quick synopsis.  The original Dark Fall game took place in an abandoned train station hotel.  Two ghost hunters mysteriously disappeared, one leaving a message for his brother asking him to come and help out.  You, obviously, were the brother in question and it’s no surprise that not only is the hotel haunted but also possessed by a malevolent force known only as “the dark fall”.  It was Boakes’ first real foray into gaming and it’s wonderfully creepy and classic.  The second game has the same sort of story, replacing the hotel with a lighthouse and set in the 19^th century.  However, it soon takes a turn for the sci-fi and I’m definitely not going to ruin that plot twist for you.

Unlike Dark Fall 2 which despite having “Dark Fall” was its own independent story, Dark Fall 3 is a direct sequel to Dark Fall 1, returning to the Station Hotel once again.  This time, you are an Inspector…or at least, you were.  It seems that you rather mucked up your last case of Amy, a small girl who went missing and was never found.  Depressed and probably drunk, you wake up groggy eyed in front of the Station Hotel with nothing but vodka, some clozapine and the ghostly voice of Amy beckoning you forward.

Would YOU want to find this girl?

Luckily, playing the first game is not necessary to enjoy this game.  Despite being set in the same location, the hotel is a far cry from what it used to be. Where Dark Fall 1 portrayed somewhat of a pristine time capsule haunted by ghosts, the hotel of this game is decayed to the point of collapse.  Weeds have crawled their way through the area, teenagers (who else could it be?) and the homeless have littered and vandalized the building, and worse still a mysterious creep named Mr. Bones has taken up residence to make the station his creeptacular playground.

Like a mannequin tea party...

All of this adds up to an incredibly gruesome game experience.  Like Amnesia, another indie horror, the game rarely gives you a chance to breath.  There is always a mannequin staring at you that you have to turn away from, always some creepy imagery, always random spirits who WILL jump scare to annoyingly great effect, and a creepy little girl who makes simple games like "Red Light Green Light" the most terrifying game ever.

Like the previous installments, you can't reaaaaaaally die.  The few points that you can potentially die simply resets back to the moment before you failed the first time.  You would think that this would take away from the horror aspect of the game, but I've had a few friends play this with me who were STILL too scared to click the mouse to go into a new room.

This is thanks to Boakes' understanding of a good horror game:  what we don't see is often far scarier than anything that jumps right in front of our faces.  I would see a mannequin blocking a door down a hallway, turn around and do something else only to turn back and see that the mannequin had moved and was now pointing at me.  It pretty much mentally crippled my friend and I for a good ten minutes.  The sound design is pitch perfect for these purposes as well.  The voices and sounds heard out of the corner of the screen and the incredibly tense soundtrack will keep you on edge for most of the game.

These parts often take half an hour to solve due to my game buddy and I yelling "No, YOU go near it!"

Of course, this is also a point and click adventure as much as it is a horror, and the puzzles play an important part within the game.  For most of the game, you'll spend your time following text message clues left by the aforementioned Mr. Bones who was a prime suspect in the missing girl case.  I've always been a fan of Boakes' puzzles, and Dark Fall 3 doesn't disappoint.  They range from the somewhat obvious to the most serious of head scratchers.  Sure, there are a few moments of frustration, but overall the puzzles are extremely enjoyable to solve and make sense to the story of the game.

Just when you feel like you have a handle on the story and what's going on, the game throws another curve ball at you in the form of time travel.  That's right.  As it turns out, you do get a few breaks from the intense atmosphere in order to gather information to free various lost souls still trapped within the station's walls.  These were usually people who died tragically or regretted life, etc. and are being kept against their will.  They play an integral part to the story, and an enjoyable one at that.  Talking any more about it will give away spoilers, so I'll leave it at that.

If there's anything to complain about in the game, it's the navigation system.  On the one hand, I do have to applaud Boakes for experimenting with new interfaces and design.  On the other hand, this particular experiment fell slightly short.  Rather than a slideshow view or a 360 view, Dark Fall 3 seems to try to mix those two methods together with not so great results.  Looking up, down and sideways involves clicking the hand cursor to the location you want and watching the view lurch in that direction.  It's kind of funny to picture the inspector wildly swerving his head around to look anywhere and makes for an awkward and sometimes frustrating game experience.


Other than that though?  I love this game.  To be honest, I haven't completed it yet, and yes, part of that is because it's such a stressful and creepy experience that I'll often need breaks from it.  The other reason is that it's a very long game.  You will definitely get your money's worth for it.  A point and click adventure horror is not something you see very often, and Jonathon Boakes did a fine job of this installment.  Seriously, try it.  Even if you're not a big fan of adventure, I would highly recommend it if you enjoy some horror.  I know I scare easily, but I have run into few people who weren't creeped out by this game.  I can't wait to see what comes next.