Is this horror worth embracing?
Embrace the darkness in Dark Atlas: Infernum, a first-person horror experience where you must remember who you are, stop the apocalypse, and face your demons. As Natalia Asensio, Grand Master of an ancient esoteric order, society collapses around you with the appearance of ghosts and the shattering of dimensional barriers. Trapped in a dusty basement, drugged and barely remembering your identity, you must engage in a battle of wills that could open the gates of hell.
Dark Atlas: Infernum will make you think of games like Alien Isolation and Amnesia. An enemy will be lurking around trying to find you with you getting instantly killed if caught. You don’t get a weapon to defend yourself, so stealth is your own ally here as you hide in cupboards or crawl around trying not to bring attention to yourself. There is a Story mode that gets rid of the lurking foe for those who just want to enjoy the plot, which is always a good choice to have for those who just can’t handle the pressure of being essentially hunted. The AI is pretty bad though.
The story itself is interesting, full of Lovecraftian-esque horror. I enjoyed it overall, but the voice-acting itself is pretty bad. I found it difficult to take the characters seriously as a result. The music itself is impressive though with some haunting tunes scattered throughout the game.
Puzzles are a mixed bag of good and bad in their design. Some are notoriously easy as well, especially the first few. The controls do feel a little stiff and clunky, which isn’t ideal. Add that in with some poor checkpointing and you’ve got a frustrating experience overall.
The visuals are pretty good, though the performance is spotty with its framerate and the odd screen-tearing moments. The game is made by a small team which could explain issues like these, but hopefully a patch could improve things overall.
The Verdict
Dark Atlas: Infernum has a decent story but is let down by poor AI, puzzle design and performance issues hold back this Lovecraftian-style horror from greatness. The saving grace is that the game is cheap so if you like these types of horror games and are on a budget, then perhaps give this a go if you can overlook its flaws.