Posted October 28, 2009
Dark Fall: The Journal is a first person perspective point and click adventure game, set in a British town in the late 1940s. It is based on a short ghost story of Jonathan Boakes who eventually designed and produced this game himself.
You are in search of your missing brother who was investigating paranormal events in an old hotel. At the start of the game you meet the spirit of an 11-year old child, Timothy Pike, who leads you to the train station next to the hotel. Tim's ghost will prove to be a helpful, though cryptic, hint giver throughout the game.
Dark Fall combines quite a gripping storyline with eerie music, dito sound effects and carefully designed locations. Gameplay is mainly focused on collecting clues and solve (sometimes complex) puzzles. Ironically, "Dark Fall: The Journal" actually lacks a journal that contains all clues you have collected. This may seem to be a downside at first, but it actually helps the player to become immersed with the game as he is solely responsible for writing down all relevant clues and information.
The game may become repetitive at some points as you have to revisit somelocations over and over again but the story is so strong that you will want to finish the game in order to get the answers you're looking for. Probably just once, though, as the game has very little short-term replayability. The graphic detailing sometimes seem outdated in respect to the time the game was produced, but Dark Fall is nevertheless a very decent game.
GOG.COM adds a nice bonus by including the game soundtrack. I hope the "hits and solutions" guide will also become available in the future, as it was also present in both the original game release and the special "pins & needles" release of early this year.
You are in search of your missing brother who was investigating paranormal events in an old hotel. At the start of the game you meet the spirit of an 11-year old child, Timothy Pike, who leads you to the train station next to the hotel. Tim's ghost will prove to be a helpful, though cryptic, hint giver throughout the game.
Dark Fall combines quite a gripping storyline with eerie music, dito sound effects and carefully designed locations. Gameplay is mainly focused on collecting clues and solve (sometimes complex) puzzles. Ironically, "Dark Fall: The Journal" actually lacks a journal that contains all clues you have collected. This may seem to be a downside at first, but it actually helps the player to become immersed with the game as he is solely responsible for writing down all relevant clues and information.
The game may become repetitive at some points as you have to revisit somelocations over and over again but the story is so strong that you will want to finish the game in order to get the answers you're looking for. Probably just once, though, as the game has very little short-term replayability. The graphic detailing sometimes seem outdated in respect to the time the game was produced, but Dark Fall is nevertheless a very decent game.
GOG.COM adds a nice bonus by including the game soundtrack. I hope the "hits and solutions" guide will also become available in the future, as it was also present in both the original game release and the special "pins & needles" release of early this year.