The designers of Out of this World and Flashback,
two of my favorite games back when I still actively used
my Amiga computer, created Heart of Darkness. Sporting
similar gameplay—and in the case of Out of this
World, a similar short game length—fans of either
of the previous games mentioned above should be right
at home.
The computer graphic cut scenes are some of the best made
for the Playstation One, both in terms of image quality
and in actual animation. While the cut scenes in Final
Fantasy 7 and Tekken 3 are very good, pay attention
to the lighting and the range of movement of the characters
in Heart of Darkness. The style is a cross between
classic Warner Bros cartoons and Jim Henson's The Dark
Crystal, and I feel it even surpasses the first Toy Story.
Getting back to the game, I have been waiting for a game
with the animation quality of Dragon's Lair to
have somewhat complicated game mechanics. Older games
such as Earthworm Jim and Rayman began to
approach this goal, and I feel Heart of Darkness
is one of the closest yet. The story can get hokey at
times, similar to some of the 1980s Speilberg movies,
but the beautiful and imaginative locales and puzzles
make up for it.
The sound is quite good, from the voice acting to the
orchestrated score. The highlight though, is definitely
the atmospheric sound effects peppered throughout the
game.
In terms of gameplay, be prepared for trial and error
as you progress from screen to screen. This may frustrate
some, but it rarely gets repetitive and I feel it is worth
the effort to get immersed in the world the designers
created.
2010 ben langberg, all rights reserved.