Dark Seed
Game developer: Cyberdreams
Game release date: 1992 year
Game status: Released
Darkseed is a horror adventure from the early 90's and like many adventure games from that time it had digitized graphics. This process allowed for some pretty nice scenery which the developers have used to incorporate artwork from H.R. Giger for some really scary scenes. The story revolves around Mike Dawson, a would be writer, and to get away from the busy city he wants to buy a house in a small town. He finds a seemingly perfect location with an old mansion and a cheap price attached to it so he takes the plunge and moves in. However soon after arriving you have terrible nightmares and they feel unnatural so you must try and find the source of the problems before it's too late.
The games starts right after one of Mike's nightmares where a gruesome scene shows something being implanted into your head. You wake up with a terrible headache again and even though you feel better after some pills and a shower things have been getting worse. Walking around in the old mansion does give you a weird feeling but once you start seeing things while you are awake you realize something is really wrong. Examining the contents of the house which have been left by the previous owner will give you some clues as to what exactly is going on or at least where to look for more clues. You'll eventually find out that your house is a doorway to a dark dimension which only you can access and you have only three days before the implant in your head bursts open and literally gives you a splitting headache!
The game is played with a pretty standard point and click interface which each icon depicting a different action such as use or talk. Some items have to be used several times before they give the desired result so you have to try using it until it will give you a repeating result. Walking around is easy and once you find some secret passages you will be a step closer to solving your problem, however always remember that the dark dimension is almost exactly like the normal one and things will change in both world if you leave a door open in one of them for instance. Some of the puzzles even require you to do something in one dimension to be able to continue in the other. The three day time limit is quite important as time passes in game and some events will only happen at certain times like the mailman delivering a package. Unfortunately it is quite easy to miss an event and you will not be able to complete the game afterward because of that which is rather annoying.
Darkseed is a nice idea but some of the problems in the game spoil it a bit, the most obvious one is the fact that a missed event will result in you being stuck until you either die or reload a previous game. The still graphics are good especially the dark dimension which uses an almost black and white palette making it very eery and atmospheric. Animation is nothing to write home about though and your character walk incredibly jerky but I have to admit it did not bother me that much after a while. Despite the problems I still enjoyed the game and the dark dimension is a great addition to the game. If you can stand a bit jerky animation and save often so you can reload in the case of a missed event you should be ok.
Game genre: Adventures, Horror Games
Platform/System: MS-DOS Games, Amiga Games, Mac Games, PlayStation Games, Sega Mega Drive Games
Dark Seed : Is it worth playing?
