As time passes, people use idioms that have origin stories that they are unfamiliar with. One of the more popular ones that people are using with the way things are going politically nowadays is “drinking the Kool-Aid.” What Kool-Aid could have such negative connotations? Well, Reverend Jim Jones (James Warren Jones) of the Peoples Temple had over 900 people drink Flavor Aid laced with cyanide, creating a mass suicide, with about a third of the deaths being children. As you may have guessed, this game takes heavy inspiration from this man and his beliefs.
To create a cult and have people actually follow you, a purpose and reason is necessary. One of the biggest pros for people to join Jones was his stance on racial discrimination. He was very keen on the integrations of races and adopted several non-white children to further his conviction, for which he used the term “rainbow family,” also utilized by the Peoples Temple. After moving to California and spending time in San Francisco, the group eventually moved to Jonestown, a place created by the group in Guyana. This location is essentially where the The Church in the Darkness takes place, with you (Vic) infiltrating the forest looking for your nephew Alex.
Of course, this is a game, so the figures portrayed are not real – instead, we have Isaac and Rebecca Walker heading up the camp, with speakers strewn across the region, spouting propaganda throughout your runs. Perhaps the most notable thing about this game is their dialogue, which is voiced by John Patrick Lowrie (Sniper in TF2) and Ellen McLain (GlaDOS in the Portal series), who have been married since 1986. As you traverse the map and explore the different buildings and meet various characters, you’ll be listening to them speak about the actions of the United States, why they’re justified in what they’re doing, and playful banter between the two. It’s definitely the highlight of the whole experience, even though some of it is repeated more often than I expected.
The game provides little pop-ups that let you know how to use different mechanics as you come across them, although not everything is handed to you on a silver platter. I attempted to use the gun when it told me how, but it didn’t seem to work – this was fine though, as I tend to avoid killing people in stealth driven games unless I have to. I played the first twenty or so minutes of the game without realizing I could pull up a map, meaning I had walked in circles for longer than necessary (the open cabinets gave it away). While this uses some procedural generation and has different aspects that change from run to run, the map in general stays the same. As I did the first time I got to Dragonlord in Dragon Warrior when I was but a young child, I pledged my allegiance to Isaac and completed my first run. Upon completion, I was told I unlocked the opportunity of meeting a new NPC, as well as the use of tranquilizer darts. You also find out that there are many endings available, depending on how you play and what you choose to do.
Having an understanding of how to play, this can be beaten within a few minutes. Should you choose to spend your time exploring though, or if you play on the hardest difficulty with no real assurance of vision cones, it can take quite a bit longer. Sadly, the gameplay loop isn’t all that enticing to bring you back more than a handful of times, despite it having an exorbitant amount of endings. Because of this, the changes between runs don’t add a whole lot to the experience. While I appreciate the different responses from the NPCs based on how you play or how the preachers act, none of it is as awe-inspiring as the positive or negative decisions in something like Fallout 3 or inFAMOUS 2. The stealth is also a bit quirky, allowing you to run right behind people without them noticing, but subduing someone out of their visual range can sometimes spark their interest. While running around looting buildings and avoiding enemies can be fun – Metal Gear Solid was a blast, after all – the charm is absent, even with the overarching threat being voiced constantly (it continues if you pause the game too). The game doesn’t look exceptionally good either, although there are some fun environmental tells that say a lot about the world these people live in. I guess I just expected more from this after a two year delay.
As an exploration of a very dark religious movement, this has some interesting takes. The dialogue is fun, and the personal stories found within can be quite demented. I just wish it did more with what it had, and perhaps developed what’s in it to be more enticing. The Church in the Darkness will undoubtedly be a hit with anyone intrigued by cults, but without that interest, it’s a fairly mediocre stealth game.
6 out of 10
Pros
- Isaac and Rebecca Walker
- Narrative
- Reactionary Decisions
- Environmental Story Telling
Cons
- Stealth AI
- Uninspired Gameplay Loop
The Church in the Darkness was developed by Paranoid Productions and published by Fellow Traveler. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of The Church in the Darkness, check out the developer’s site.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
Check out OpenCritic for a better idea of how our review stacks against others.