2Dark is a charming, retro game about… stopping children being butchered by serial killers. Oh. It’s being developed by French team Gloomywood, who have released a new developer diary talking us through the concept.
It’s presented by programmers Frederick Raynal and Thierry Platon, who have some history in this genre; they were part of the team behind 1992 classic Alone in the Dark, the game which kick-started the survival horror craze of the late 90s.
You play as Mr Smith, a detective who sets out to rescue helpless kids from the clutches of twisted serial killers. You’ll gather up these frightened children and guide them through a psycho-infested house to safety, fending off enemies with an arsenal of weapons along the way. Kids, as you probably know, are useless, so you’ll have to keep them quiet and stop them from scarpering at the first sign of trouble. Levels are shrouded in darkness, and there’s a definite survival horror-style feel to proceedings as you cower in a doorway hearing footsteps slowly creeping towards you.
2Dark’s charming, exaggerated style and cute voxel graphics sit a bit oddly with the fairly dark subject material if you ask me. It’s a bit like watching the cast of Little Rascals reenact an episode of Hannibal. Still, the team behind it has an impressive pedigree, so maybe they’ll be able to find a decent balance between cartoonish cuteness and gory horror.
There’s 33 days left on 2Dark’s Ulule crowdfunding campaign, through which Gloomywood hope to raise 30,000 euros for completion of the project.
