From The Darkness

At A Glance

• Released: 3/30/21

• Reviews: 1,914, net very positive, as of 8/2023

• English Reviews: 846

• Localized in: English, Russian

• Had Publisher: No

• Majority of reviews:

  • English ~37%

  • Russian ~19%

  • Korean ~13%

• Price: $6.99

• Review report:

  • Negatives: puzzles were a bit confusing, lacking in story, not scary at all, boring, got stuck in some places

  • Positives: terrifying, purely atmospheric, ambience and audio are on point, insanely scary

Gameplay

• One of the switches turned on then broke

• Grabbed a key, hear breathing from a dark room

• One of the doors is pushable

• Got a key item, then another room illuminated on its own

• Puzzle item was in the oven

• I was previously being blocked from the inner apartment, but it unlocked when I got the puzzle item

  • Symbols hidden under bed and in mirror, not hard to find

• Get a flashlight

  • The light doesn’t exactly follow the camera, lags behind (looks good)

  • Camera in general also leans into where the player is looking

• Must walk around apartment, note says enemy dislikes light

• Had to use a guide, didn’t realize I could interact with the wall and peel back a curtain

• Had to pull teeth out with a tool

• There is now a box of candles but i need a lighter

  • Entrance slams open, no need

  • Outside it is a nightmare world

• There is a spot on bottom floor that leads to outside, but it’s an empty plane

  • Appears that the doorway was the main ending, but wasn’t supposed to be reached yet

• Supposed to get in an elevator with scary guy, haven’t seen this done before

• No credits

  • Also no way to continue, just stuck

Music

• Music is interesting, like a dubstep heartbeat

• No music, mainly a really intense droning, sounds heavy and foreboding

Sounds

• Walking sounds odd, seems like the sound fades in/out when starting/stopping

  • Probably prevents popping

• A ghostly wail played, must be on a loop or something because it played earlier too

• Elevator noise from upstairs

• Waiting a minute, I hear fabric ripping

• Heartbeat plays after leaving room

  • Could also be feet on a carpet, odd beat

  • I can also hear where it ends/loops, abrupt

• Heard a knock at the door, maybe some events are on a timer?

• Sounds start playing, some guy eating flesh and moaning

  • Now the game has become terrifying

• Baby crying after retrieval, closer to the room the crying is warped

Art

• In-game you can see your body (no fancy rotations)

• Camera moves a tiny bit when still, nice touch

• Inside apartment there’s an airlock, might be used for loading

• In apartment the screen is going black infrequently

  • Can’t tell if this is the light or blinking eyeballs

• A post-process film grain is visible in one area of the house

  • Seems to be used for dark rooms

  • Power goes out, unimpressive sfx

• Lights turned on/off at scripted intervals

• Noticed a bloody screwdriver in closet

  • After trying to leave door closes

  • Figure is outside

• Lights start going on and off

  • Appears to be on a timer

  • ‘Shift to run’ popped up even while staying still

• Going to monster room there is some goblin eating something

• In the room with broken light was a body on the toilet

• The exit turned into a skin door

• Wall graffiti says I’m doing something wrong

UI

• No options menu, they are crammed into main menu

• Default Unity UI was used

• Theres a localization gap, but it’s readable

• Load Last Save resets the main menu

Scare Factor

• Knocking on airlock door a few times causes a loud bang

  • Could hear a bit of static coming from it

• I could see an outline of the breather in the dark room

  • Nothing happened, but the post-process effect was intense

• The room with missing switch has a mirror and a jumpscare doll

  • I saw the reflection first, and naturally, wanted to get a better look (then doll jumpscared)

• Briefly saw someone's legs, but it was too quick to comprehend

• TV went all scary then cut to a picture (not video) of an enemy in the shadows

  • ‘I do not want to go over there’

• Album was in front of monster

  • Says to get out

  • Contains an image of main character walking in for first time

• Room turns light on and off

  • Dolls eyes follow you

• After running around, enemy shows hand from the darkness and crushes a light bulb, then he runs out of the room

• Running toward kitchen I see nothing, then the light goes out and I see the enemy briefly in front of me

• Under bed lights turned off, timer again?

  • Have to turn them on myself

  • Scary man in mirror, door closed

• .went into the scary room, only a chair and broken noose

  • Door closed

  • F on wall, needed to turn off light

  • Light was forced off

• Enemy was peering around corner, very tall

• Had to grab tool from closet, turn around and big scary monster was there (no sfx jumpscare)

• Scary guy was holding lighter, not dangerous

Extra

• Made a similar game previously in 2019

• Was clear about the game taking ~an hour

• Game has done very well with seemingly no marketing

  • Had somewhat of a following on itchio, made first demo game in 2018

• When opening game it goes straight in-game, camera on player

Overall

• Masterclass in using a minimal environment to its absolute breaking point and still being terrifying

• Brilliant at building tension and fear in such a small space