Allgraff has finally released their newest game, named Darkout, on Steam. This release of Darkout is Stage One of the planned release schedule for content. Allgraff has a total of four stages planned currently, with each stage adding more content, story, and environments to add to the game. I was able to play the Darkout Beta version a while ago, and walked away from that experience disappointed but hopeful that the developers could fix the myriad of issues that I ran into during game play. With the Stage One release, I am happy to say that Darkout is mostly fixed, but still far from perfect. I was able to move beyond the tutorial with this release, so did get a lot more game time outside of the first area.
Story
The story for Darkout is much more fleshed out then it was in the beta, thanks to a new introductory cinematic. The cinematic shows a derelict space cruiser, in orbit around a darkened planet. Within the cruiser, there are signs of some sort of battle or catastrophic failure, which caused all but one of the escape pods to have been jettisoned. You are in the last pod, and as the cinematic closes, you are rocketing towards the dark planet.
Your character then begins their new life on this mysterious planet, with no resources save for what can be found in the escape pod or on the planet itself. The rest of the story currently is essentially created by you, the player. Currently, the story line feels structured more like Minecraft then Terreria, which this game is heavily influenced by. Stages 2-4 will be adding much more story line to Darkout, along with survivors to interact with.
The problem with this story telling model, is that you currently have no other objectives then to just survive. Once your home is built and you have the basic camp set up, you are just supposed to wander around a little aimlessly, gathering more materials to research more items. Players of the game know that more story will be coming, but will have to wait for it.
Game Play
Darkout is heavily influenced by Terreria, from its two dimensional world all the way to how you interact with the world and build structures. The good news here is that Darkout is a much more good looking game then Terreria is, and is based more on science fiction survival then fantasy. Bottom line here though, folks, is that if you played Terreria then you are already know what to expect from Darkout.
Character creation is minimal at best. You select either Male or Female, then you select a color. I am still experiencing a bug that misplaces the type face for the color choices, but it is annoying at worst. You then get to select a world and then you are all set to begin the game. The tutorial is finally fixed and makes much more sense then it did in Beta. The tutorial explains how to interact with the world and sets you on your first job of gathering wood to make a home. Placing and picking up items in the world still feels hit or miss at this point, but are much easier to do then in the Beta. Yay for progress!
Darkout utilizes the same idea that Minecraft did in terms of enemies, the darker it is outside, the deadlier the world is. So light becomes imperative to protect yourself, not only in your home but as you are exploring the world around you. Torches not only serve to light your way, but they start off as your default melee weapon, with a pistol being your ranged option.
Darkout plays much more smoothly in the release version of the game then any other version I have played before. I finally feel that I can open doors, place objects, and pick up items more consistently then before. Currently, Stage One has a boss that the player can work towards defeating, and Allgraff will release a new boss for each stage of development. There is no current multiplayer for Darkout, but that is in the plans for Stage Two Alpha and hopefully to be released fully by Stage Three.
Aesthetics
Darkout is a much prettier version of Terreria, with the developers choosing not to go with a stylistic 8 bit feel, but a much more fleshed out and higher resolution game visual. Lighting is especially good looking in Darkout, and can be seen as the focus of the entire game. Enemies glow and they move through the world while plants off their own bio-luminescence to help light your path. It is very cool to be exploring a very dark cave, just to come across some soft, ambient lighting that is coming from some form of fauna at the bottom of the cavern.
We do need some more options for character creation, especially with the upcoming multiplayer that is planned. Currently, there are only two models, one male and one female, that you can choose from. There are a nice selection of colors that you can tint your suit with during creation, but the developers really need to come up with a plan to make sure the models look much more different before multiplayer.
The sound of Darkout is interesting, but not memorable. Allgraff says that there is voice acting in the game, but during my time with Darkout, the only thing that was voiced was the tutorial. Voice acting isn’t currently the most pressing problem that faces Darkout, since there isn’t anyone else right now to interact with, but hopefully as survivors are introduced this is something that becomes more prevalent to help the story along.
Final Thoughts
Darkout’s development seems to be the new way of how smaller, more independent companies are going to be making their games in the future. That is, by releasing a Beta version of the game and selling access to said beta, the developers are able to help fund the future of the product while allowing the community full access to what they have made and incorporating community ideas and suggestions into the final product. Minecraft, a game with a similar development cycle, is a monstrous hit and has proven that this type of development can work very well. I can already see much improvement between this version and the last Beta version that I played for our preview. Of course, this type of development means that the players must be much more patient for the complete experience, since content will still be released in stages. The Minecraft we play today is a much different experience then the one we played a year ago, and Darkout will be the same. Darkout is ultimately a very solid game that plays just like Terreria, but has the potential to be great as more of the content gets released in the future. Darkout Stage One is available now on Steam.
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