Dark Light

Review

You play as a Dark Hunter and find yourself on the floor in front of a portal with a loss of memory after being dropped into this troubled world. You hear a voice, which is your Combat DLS Drone ready for service. The drone tells you that your current mission is to return to Cargo Bay while your memory recovers. On the way back to Cargo Bay T140 of Undercity you’ll go over some of the basics of the game. Cargo Bay is under control of the Cargo Bay Soldiers Factions. There are two other factions you’ll come across later in the game: House of the Blood Wolves and Knights of Diamond Order.

In Cargo Bay you will find various outlets where you can buy new weapons, upgrade weapons, hire a combat drone, store weapons and items, and a shrine where you can increase your health and energy. You also find Eztli here.  An AI Cyborg Facilitator created long ago in the Golden Ages, he is one of a few remaining facilitators who serve as mentors and guides to the human race. You can visit Eztli for your missions, he’ll also give you some details on the world.

Leaving the safety of Cargo Bay you will travel by lift to the surface, where you will make your way through different areas. Within each area you will find Portals that you can use to fast-travel back and forth between places you have previously visited. You can also Rest at these portals and replenish your health.  However, the downside to resting is that all the monsters and creatures that you had killed within a region will return, so you’ll have to deal with them again if you need to pass by them. This isn’t a bad thing as you can grind for shards, ammo and other items which can help you.

Also scattered here and there are Bankers, who will take shards which are dropped from enemies and turn them into credits for you. Just be wary about how long you hold on to your shards because if you die you will lose any shards that you’ve collected. If you remember where you died, you can go back and collect the dropped shards. While you travel around areas there is a map which you can use to check your position, although to begin with the map is covered with a Fog of War so you’ll have to explore the area to uncover where everything lies on the map.

There is a Legend which will detail the icons found on the map.  One of those icons indicates Rooms. When entering these rooms there is no map and no matter how much you explore that room the map will never reveal anything. I did find this a little bit frustrating, as often in these rooms are places you need to visit which will then allow you to complete a mission. I spent a lot of time messing around in rooms, dying and forgetting where I had been, especially after I’m trying to complete a mission but I couldn’t find a way to reach where I needed to go.

Looking on the world map and the areas showed me where the missions were, although I was unable to find a way so that I could do the mission, this has happened a couple times where I struggled in finding a way. One time I found my way through to the end of the room but upon entering an area I was then unable to exit through the exit. There was a lever that I pulled which did something to this big round thing, but that was it. Later I found myself back there but this time there was an Optional Boss waiting for me (why it wasn’t there before, I haven’t the foggiest). Anyhoo, after defeating the boss a door opened up, allowing me to proceed. I’m guessing it was just a bug but it did get me wondering if other bugs had hindered me in other places.

You begin with a Tachi Machine Blade and a Redon 55A pistol.  Each weapon has a small amount of detail about it: Damage, Clip Size, Attack Speed and Critical Damage, Current Grade Level and Reload Time.  Melee weapons like the Tachi also have Energy Usage. You’ll gain needed weapons as you progress from defeated enemies and bosses. Weapons can also be found in chests and you’re able to buy some from traders. There are some weapons that you cannot buy but you will gain from defeating bosses.

The melee and the guns each have the ability to add three Gems to them, giving them abilities. There are four types of gems: Fire, Lightning, Ice and Poison.  To install a gem into a weapon you must first find the gems, which you’ll do as you progress through the game as well as from fallen enemies. You must also have enough credits to add a gem; with each gem added, the cost of credits will increase, but it will add more firepower to your weapons. Each gem type will tell you what performance increase it will add to your weapons; some will give more power than others but it’s up to you how you would like to upgrade your weapons. You are also able to upgrade your weapons at a trader, where you can buy weapons, ammo grenades etcetera.

You will be able to take advantage of different types of grenades, but all will go b00m! mini turrets to help you defeat the enemy and their bosses. You also have some skills which can be assigned to your drone (the one that found you at the start). Later you can change the type of drone as you unlock new ones.

In combat, no matter which gun you have they all take the ammo, although they come with different magazine capacities. Your melee weapons, however, will use up energy as you swing your weapon around; how much depends on the type of weapon. If your energy runs out then you’ll be unable to attack using your melee weapons, and the light on your drone will turn off as it also uses energy. Your energy will automatically be replenished over time, but you can replenish it yourself with energy orbs collected from defeated enemies. There are also rejuvenate orbs which you can collect to replenish your health.

In the settings you’ll find options for General (Auto Climb, Shake, Auto Reload, Double Press Reload, Pixel Mode and Player Interface Size), Sound (Master, Music, Ambient and Effects Volume Sliders), Display (Text Size, Resolution, Display Mode, V-Sync and Blur), and Language (English, Chinese and Japanese).

It’s an enjoyable game to play, I like the graphics and haven’t really had any problems with running the game, it even runs well on my Steam Deck. I did find it a bit frustrating at times, as I mentioned, with the rooms that don’t have maps and getting lost and unable to find my way, or the bug with the boss.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com

Dark Light Steam Store Page