Lights Out

The Good
Lights Out is the story of one man who has been called to do a job in a distant location, only to find out, in the midst of everything, that his purpose there is completely different.

The plot develops gradually and has all of the elements of a great adventure - an apparent murder in 1912 in an old lighthouse; spirits who still inhabit the lighthouse in 2004; and time travel to the ancient past, present, and future. If the "hero" is successful in discovering the secret behind the apparitions, he can change history - his fate and the fate of others.

This is a ghost story. It stands to reason, then, that the atmosphere will be "dark", as the title implies. But, unlike the first game (Dark Fall: The Journal), you'll be exploring many places in the bright sunlight in addition to the gloomy nighttime. All of the locations are rendered realistically, in my opinion.

Also because it is a ghost story, a haunting musical score and ambient spooky sounds are absolute necessities. Again this game carries off these requirements quite well. You'll hear creaks, groans, echoing footsteps, whispers and an occasional shriek. In fact, you may find yourself gripped in suspense because of those elements, especially if playing the game in a darkened room at night (my preference).

The game's mechanics are pretty straightforward. As a point-and-click game, arrow cursors and a magnifying glass are the only navigation needed. Finding tiny directional arrows can be frustratingly tedious at times, though. Sometimes, changing your viewpoint by moving around a room is the only way to "click" on the proper item or scene. This, I think, was a way to make the atmosphere seem like 3D even though it isn't.

Save files are tiny text files and can be saved anywhere on your computer. You play in a "letter box" shaped screen with inventory locked at the bottom and the Save, Load, Exit functions at the top. Objects are easy to see and find, so "pixel-hunting" is not a problem. Within inventory, they can be viewed only slightly larger by highlighting them, but they have no titles and cannot be combined, turned around or otherwise manipulated.

The game's puzzles are Easy. Most are dependent upon information you find while exploring, while a few are based on the use of inventory objects.

The Bad
Lights Out is the work of a solitary designer (Jonathan Boakes), and that accomplishment is quite remarkable. However, several irritations and frustrations need to be noted.

Installation Hang-Ups: One huge file can take up to 30 minutes to unpack.

Engine Glitches may prevent some from seeing the introductory and ending videos (this happened to me). Luckily they're both Windows Media Player files and installed on your hard drive with the game files. Therefore they're viewable outside of the game.

Slow, and boring, Start: The game starts out kind of slow and players can get stuck early on simply by not clicking on an unimportant piece of scenery! This first impression made me think the game was dull and uninteresting, and I almost uninstalled at that point.

What did he say?: There's no option for subtitles. It is hard to understand what is being said, either because the speech is intentionally garbled or the voice is too soft.

Without A Clue: A mix of linear and non-linear, you can wander and explore for hours, but still not know what's going on - or, more importantly, how to progress farther. Reading materials can be viewed where they are located, but not picked up to take along for future reference. While you'll find a camera, it cannot be added to inventory. In fact, there are dozens of objects that can be picked up and merely looked at. (Taking notes and making drawings is a must while playing this game!)

Inconclusive Finale: In the end, I still didn't completely understand what I had accomplished. Did I reverse history and save everyone, including myself? Who knows?

The Bottom Line
If you're looking for a spooky first-person adventure, this is it! Dark Fall 2: Lights Out has all the ambiance you'll want - dark and moody atmosphere, creepy sound effects to increase your heart rate, bits of the old world, current day and futuristic science fiction - all rolled into one.

Still, this game is not for everyone. Fans of "Myst-like" games will be prone to liking it the most. Even then, the frustration factor may dissuade some, even with a walkthrough or hint file handy.