9 /10 1 Votes
Developer(s) Acid Wizard Studio Engine Unity 5 Mode(s) Singleplayer | 9/10 Steam Publisher(s) Acid Wizard Studio Release date(s) July 24, 2014 Initial release date 24 July 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre(s) Third-person view survival horror Platforms Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems, SteamOS Similar Teleglitch, Project Zomboid, Fable: The Lost Chapters, The Forest, The Long Dark | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Darkwood is a third-person survival horror single-player video game developed by Polish company Acid Wizard Studio. The game was released through Steam Early Access on July 24, 2014, and supports Windows, MAC OS X, SteamOS and Ubuntu. It is set in an isolated forest somewhere in the Soviet Bloc, where the main characters have been trapped for an unknown amount of time. The game's prologue, first and second chapters are currently in a playable, though incomplete state. According to the developers, access to the game's epilogue will probably remain locked until the release of the final version.
Contents
Gameplay
The game features a semi-open world, with the player unlocking new areas as the storyline progresses. It also features a crafting system, a day/night cycle, trading and NPC interaction, a skill system, stealth and combat, as well as new or improved mechanics being planned for the upcoming versions.
Development
According to the developers, the game's reveal was made through the release of a Pre-alpha gameplay trailer on YouTube, on March 5, 2013. A page for the game was created on Steam Greenlight on March 11, 2013, with the following months seeing the release of a campaign on the popular crowdfunding website Indiegogo which funded the game's initial developing. The campaign collected over US$57,000, totalizing 143% of the established goal ($40,000 USD). On July 24, 2014 the game was released to the public in an Alpha stage, with updates being released ever since. The game is currently on version Alpha 8.1. According to the developers, Darkwood was inspired by:
"The works of David Lynch, Strugacki brothers, Stanisław Lem. Games like Fallout, Dark Souls, Project Zomboid, Teleglitch. Slavic folklore. And, well, life."
Reception
Critics wrote positive pieces regarding the game prior to its public release, although a lack of press attention in subsequent releases make the game's reception by the critics uncertain.
