DARQ is a 2.5D side-scroller that tells the story of Lloyd, a boy who finds himself in the middle of a lucid dream. To Lloyd’s misfortune, the dream turns into a nightmare and all attempts to wake up end in failure. Trapped inside his own subconscious, Lloyd has to face his deepest fears in order to find a way out.
The gameplay in DARQ bends the laws of physics and players have to manipulate the fluid fabric of the dream world in order to escape. The game is full of stealth and suspense rather than out and out combat as Lloyd would almost certainly fail in a one-on-one.
View the DARQ release trailer below:
The game is designed to be a moving artistic experience. Elegance is the keyword in DARQ’s art direction – it serves as a means of seduction, or an invitation for the player to step in and develop an emotional connection with the experience as they progress. The goal is to make the player like being there, even though being there involves facing their fears.
From what I’ve seen of DARQ so far it reminds me of Little Nightmares, which we gave 5/5 in our review, which is certainly no bad thing. Quite frankly it looks terrifying!
Key features:
- Unique art style combining 2d and 3d graphics.
- Shining-like pacing
- Music written by Hollywood film composer Wlad Marhulets.
- Puzzles that involve bending the laws of physics
- Emphasis on sound – some parts of the game involve navigating the environment in complete darkness
- Randomly generated elements of the gameplay. No walkthrough is the same.
- Multiple endings, depending on the choices you make throughout your journey.
DARQ is available now on Steam.
View some DARQ screenshots in our gallery below:
