Stay in the Light

Review

On the Main Menu Screen there is New Game, Options, Generator and Exit Game. Selecting a New Game for the first time will take you to the Explorer screen. Here you will be able to choose one of four explorers: Owen, Silas, Clarice and Mae. Each explorer has some background information about them to help you decide who you’d like to play with. Once you have decided, hitting the Start Game button will take you into the game.

After a small introduction, you find yourself on a small ledge.  There’s an entrance into the dungeon which lays in the side of the mountain in front of you, and behind you is a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains and cloud; you might want to watch your step as it’s a long way down. You’re here to find a treasure of great wealth; many have tried finding this treasure, only to never be seen again. The treasure is protected by HIM, a creature who resides in the darkness of the dungeon.

Entering the dark and gloomy dungeon you will need to find your way through and solve puzzles. Completing these puzzles can reveal hidden rooms, treasure and the exit from your current level. To help you through the dungeon you can use a torch, which can be found in a torch holder along some of the walls. Once you have a torch, you’ll be able to see better and you can light other torches to help light up a room. Light is your friend in this dark dungeon; not only will it light your way, it can also keep HIM at bay. The bloody big spiders which can be found don’t like the light either and run away from it. This is a good thing because I don’t like spiders and my mummy wouldn’t hold my hand while I played the game. Light is also needed to complete puzzles; you can place torches in specific places such as the exit point. Other times you may need to bounce light off a series of mirrors, which when completed will open hidden doors.

You only have a few items to help you through the dungeon as you search for the lost treasure. Along with the torches, you also have some chalk which you can use to mark your way through the dungeon so that you don’t get lost. The last item you have when you find it, is a mirror. Looking into this mirror can reveal hidden objects, and even HIM behind you. I think there are other mirrors to find that will do other things when used.

As you make your way through the dungeon you will find random treasures to collect. You can take a better look at any of the treasure you find on the Treasure Collection screen. Here you’ll have some information about the treasure and its possible market value. You can also inspect the treasure more closely and from all angles if you wish to.

Scattered here and are the skeletal remains of previous explorers who never left this mysterious place. These lost souls are indicated by a green glow surrounding them. You can talk with these poor souls and they may give you some helpful information (or they may just moan about being dead).

Upon completing a dungeon level, your progress will be revealed.  It will detail how many Treasures Collected, Total Treasure Value, Puzzles Solved, Time Bonus, Total Level Time. All these will factor into your Total Level Score for that level. The faster you complete a level while collecting plenty of random treasures, the better your score will be.

Along with the campaign you can also generate random dungeons to play by selecting Generator from the main menu screen. You can regenerate any dungeon if you don’t like the looks of it, but should you want to play, you only need to hit the Play this Dungeon button.

In the Options you’ll find Controls (Keyboard Links and Invert Mouse and Controller On/Off), Audio (Master, Music, Effects, Voice and Interface Volume sliders), and Video (Resolution, Sample Rate, Field of View, Ray Traced Shadows, Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion, Ray Traced Reflection Resolution, Screen Space Global Illumination, Post Process Quality, Head Bobbing, Vertical Sync and Show FPS Counter).  Also in the options is Erase Save Game File, to erase any previous gameplay should you wish too.

The game looks good and along with the sounds and music it gives an eerie feeling as you walk through the dungeons, especially when it’s dark. In the darkness you can hear HIM telling you that he can see you, which puts you on edge and has you looking around each corner. The puzzles aren’t very complicated, although it may be hard trying to find what needs to be done. It took me a while to figure out how to use the mirror, but once I had, I could see the hidden little gargoyle faces in the walls behind me. Overall, it’s not a bad game and worth giving a bash.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!