What can be worse than the world ending all around you? Your mind! That’s what Selecta-Play and Night Council Studio wish to show you in their first-person psychological horror, Dark Atlas: Infernum. I would like to thank Selecta-Play and the Night Council for providing this review opportunity.
Dark Atlas: Infernum puts players in the shoes of Natalia Asensio, Grand Master of an ancient esoteric order known as the Night Council (hopefully no relation to the devs!). She’s being held captive by “The Word” who speaks to Natalia and forces her to go back into her memories to uncover the truth about herself to help stop the apocalypse that’s raging.
Now, onto the game itself! When it comes to the controls for Dark Atlas: Infernum, they’re relatively simple, basic walking sim controls. You’ll have to adjust your looking sensitivity as it’s pretty stiff at the start.
You’ll have to do some adjusting with the sound because the voice volume is too high; I had to lower it, along with some others to make it easier on my headphones. The music is OK, it’s kind of forgettable as it seems to drone on.
The one thing I feel really excels in Dark Atlas: Infernum is the art. I love the colors used, depending on where you are, and the light engine helps bring these dreamscapes to life, or adds to some unease.
Now, this is where it gets tricky. I’m playing the game on the story mode, just to get through it to see the content overall. What this does is take away the creatures that are terrorizing the world from chasing you. This may have improved my experience, or made it worse, as I’ve found the game’s mechanics to be difficult. One thing this game needs is a map system, because I’ve got lost multiple times trying to find places to go. The game could also use a better hint/objective system. At one part of the game that I’m in right now, I’m stuck, and nothing is telling me what to do. Now I’m trying to imagine how much more this would suck if I had a monster stalking me on regular mode.
Overall, Dark Atlas: Infernum is…OK at best. It could use a bit more work with the execution of gameplay mechanics if I’m being honest. The exploration is fun, the story is interesting, the voice acting can be overlooked, but the gameplay is where it kind of falls off. On my scale of 1-10, I give Dark Atlas: Infernum a generous 6/10.
Dark Atlas: Infernum comes out on November 14th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
