Dark Earth

Moby ID: 2874
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/17 5:48 AM )

Description official descriptions

Arkhan was born in a post-apocalyptic world and raised in a Stallite (Citadel of Light), one of the few places in the world with natural sunlight. Outside of this sanctuary, the world is not a safe place. The darkness creates a sickness that ravages the land. Given such an environment, the sun is worshipped as a god. A sun priestess Arkhan is defending, is attacked by an assassin. In defending her, he gets a vial of darkness thrown at him. Affected with the disease, Arkhan begins to wander the land in an effort to cure his illness and bring order back to the world.

Dark Earth is a third-person action game with light puzzle-solving elements. It has pre-rendered backgrounds with fixed camera angles, similarly to Resident Evil games. There are few firearms in the game, and ammunition for them is limited. Weapons break down after a while and must be repaired. Arkhan can grab and use improvised weapons such as kitchen utensils. He must also search for food to replenish his health when wounded. During the course of the game, Arkhan gradually succumbs to the dark side in him. On several occasions the player is able to make dialogue choices that will influence this transformation.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Windows version)

170 People (144 developers, 26 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 80% (based on 28 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 27 ratings with 1 reviews)

A blend of medieval gothic, with a little steampunk, and some post-apocalypse

The Good
The atmosphere in Dark Earth is a rich experience. It is our world plunged into a new dark age (metaphorically and literally) by dust clouds created from a giant passing meteor, a world that combines medieval gothic with a little steampunk and some post-apocalypse designs.

As Arkhan, a temple guardian of Sparta -- one of the few remaining areas on earth that still receives natural light -- the player guides him in a quest that uncovers a grave threat and conspiracy. While this may seem a cliched plot, it is well-developed and intricately written.

To add further suspense, Arkhan has been contaminated with a dark disease that slowly turns him into a mutated beast (which visibly changes his look, voice, and vocabulary as the game progresses). Thus, the player is faced with a time limit, albeit it is well-paced so that the game is not too frantic.

The adventure plays in the 3rd-person perspective, with 3D character models on beautifully pre-rendered backgrounds, similar to Alone in the Dark. Arkhan explores many unique places around the city, in the slums, underground, and more. There are also a fair amount of interesting characters to meet and converse with. Most of the quests are good inventory-based or logic-based puzzles.

Combat is fundamental to the game, and is luckily well-designed. Ammunition for firearms are scarce, so the majority of the fighting takes place with melee weapons such as axes and swords. Arkhan has different moves he can execute, which adds another element to combat strategy. Best of all, the fighting can almost be skipped by adventure gamers not interested in it with the auto-combat option.

The Bad
Dark Earth has an frustrating and unbelievably hard endgame puzzle - a labyrinth with razor blades that kill Arkhan instantly. Not only does this require good timing, hand-eye coordination, and lots of trial-and-error, the game only has save points a specific locations so you are forced to start the puzzle over should you die. After spending spending numerous hours across several days on it, I finally uninstalled the game without finishing it.

I don't know how this puzzle made it past QA given that it forces the player to use platform-gaming skills that were not evident in any previous portions of the game.

I felt a ominous flashback to Bioforge (another wonderful game I could not finish because similar endgame puzzles) as soon as I encountered this.

The Bottom Line
With the exception of the last puzzle that drives a gamer with poor hand-eye coordination to crushing despair and lost hope for adventure games, Dark Earth is a marvel in the deteriorating adventure gaming genre.

The combination of excellent graphics, sound, story, and puzzle design all add to an enriching experience.

It is unfortunate that the planned sequel had been cancelled, although there is supposed to be a pen-and-paper RPG release in this gameworld.

Windows · by grimbergen (433) · 2001

Discussion

Subject By Date
Errors in XP Nan Grif Aug 15, 2007

Trivia

Cancelled PlayStation 2 port

Despite publishing interest by both Sony and Konami, the PS2 version of Dark Earth was ultimately cancelled early in its development cycle.

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Hopeless 3: Dark Hollow Earth
Released 2017 on Android, iPhone, iPad
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Dark Ranger
Released 2014 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, 2015 on Macintosh...
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Released 2005 on Xbox, Windows
Earth Muncher
Released 2018 on Windows
Middle Earth
Released 1979 on North Star
Earth Universe
Released 2005 on Windows
Earth Marines
Released 2021 on Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch...
Terraforming Earth
Released 2020 on Macintosh, Windows
Earth Invasion
Released 1993 on Windows 3.x

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 2874
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Adam Baratz.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Cantillon.

Game added January 3, 2001. Last modified March 9, 2024.