Dark

Official Xbox Magazine (UK) (6 out of 10)

DARK is frustrating, because that initial feeling of being a zippy blur of a vampire in a world of neon-lit night never leaves you. It's just swamped in frustrating design decisions, a script that lurches from passable to laughable, weak enemy AI, and a vortex of a lead character who's impossible to like or hate. It's easy to make DARK sound worse than it is, because there's so many ways in which I wish it was better. But even with the not-insubstantial amount of entertainment to be wrung out of it, this isn't a game for which you should be paying more than Arcade prices.

4Players.de (59 out of 100)

Eric kämpft zu schnell mit nervigen Mankos wie mitunter schwach gesetzter Kontrollpunkte, Steuerungs-Problemen oder einem selbst für Schleicher zu behäbigen Spielfluss. Zu häufig wird man in eine passive Rolle gedrängt, aus der man sich am besten mit Warten befreit. Und das, obwohl man genug Möglichkeiten zur Hand hat, um den Gegnern in den überschaubaren Levelstrukturen auszuweichen und ein Schnippchen zu schlagen. Leider bleibt aber viel zu oft das Gefühl, dass die Erfolgschancen immer dann sinken, wenn man vom Entwickler vorgesehenen Pfad abweicht, zumal in diesen Momenten auch große Schwachpunkte in der vorhersehbaren KI zu Tage treten. Trotz stimmiger, wenngleich altbacken wirkenden Comic-Kulisse und prinzipiell solider Mechanik habe ich mich letztlich mehr mit Dark geärgert als unterhalten gefühlt. Für jeden spannenden Moment gibt es zwei, die mit nervigem Trial&Error oder unpassendem KI-Verhalten der aufkeimenden Atmosphäre den Zahn ziehen.

Meristation (5 out of 10)

La parte rolera, con el vampiro adquiriendo apetecibles habilidades sobrenaturales y cada vez mejor preparación para superar situaciones verdaderamente complejas es lo mejor de un juego que, verdaderamente, no logra estar al nivel de calidad exigible en ninguno de sus campos. Nada es nuevo o diferente, y se siente realmente peor que otros de su género. Recae en lo mismo una y otra vez, y tampoco se puede decir que tenga una historia atractiva o una duración generosa. Visualmente no luce como marca el cierre de una generación, tampoco en cuanto a sonido, incluso con visibles desincronizaciones labiales muy marcadas y algunos defectos gráficos horribles. Su propuesta, sigilo con poderes sobrenaturales, tiene muchísimos mejores exponentes, por ejemplo Dishonored. No llamará la atención ni de los seguidores del universo vampírico, aunque bien es cierto que está atado de manera que nada falle catastróficamente. Es un título mediocre, ni más ni menos.

The Game Hoard (3 out of 7)

Dark tried to go the route of stealth being a strict necessity to succeed, but the mechanics and systems that were meant to tie that idea together were unfortunately flimsy or ill-conceived. Enemy AI has plenty of quirks and issues that do not pair well with how the game often positions them in an area, and while you do have some interesting vampire abilities like the clever vampire vision and decent teleport, your best and most interesting skills are all tied to the awful idea of needing to slowly and noisily suck blood out of enemies when the chances to do so are slim or hard to set up. You’re kept from using your coolest powers and thus a lot of the sneaking around becomes stale or rubs up against the game’s genuine problems, Dark’s attempt at a hard focus on stealth not having the level of support such an approach needs to thrive.

IGN (4 out of 10)

Dark is a stealth action adventure that's brimming with good ideas, but poor AI, a weak story, and repetitive gameplay drive a three-pronged stake through the heart of its entertainment value. Dark's cel-shaded settings occasionally allow the otherwise drab experience to shine, but not without a forgettable protagonist and clunky movements sinking their fangs into the fun.

The Escapist ( )

Dark is a title that's full of repetitive gameplay and occasionally stupid-high difficulty, topped off with a lackluster story and dull characters.

Eurogamer.net (UK) (3 out of 10)

Low-budget games can be delightful and surprising, but only if the core elements work. Here, they don't. In its best moments, this is only ever a reminder of better games. In its worst moments - of which there are far too many - Dark frustrates and irritates as only a clumsy stealth game can.

ActionTrip (2 out of 10)

As much as I’d like to describe this game as ‘challenging’ I really can’t, in all good conscience do that, because I’d rather use the word ‘frustrating’. Not just because the game’s technologically underdone and has dumb AI, but because of the monotonous gameplay. If that won’t stop you from playing this game then perhaps you might be discouraged by crappy cel-shaded graphics, poorly detailed areas and God-awful character animation. Oh you’re still determined to like this, are you? So, what about the atrociously voiced characters? Just face it; there’s no good reason why you should play this game. The most tolerant of gamers should keep a vomit bag nearby for this game. Dark is a failure in every possible sense of the word.

Game Informer Magazine (2 out of 10)

The entire experience concludes in a fitting way: with Bane running in circles against a boss. He cannot raise a fist against this menacing figure. He can only run in circles. Before long, the credits roll, and the cowardly vampire vanishes, leaving nothing but misery and shame in his wake.

Diehard GameFan N/A

Dark seems like a winning idea on paper, as it cross-breeds a lot of neat concepts together into a game that should be a lot of fun, but the final result fails to pay off that promise, instead congealing together into a boring mess of an experience, as everything good is weighted down in equal measure by everything bad.