The Church in the Darkness — Does anything stand out about this game? | Review

The Church in the Darkness is an action-adventure game that suffered delays in its release and finally hit the market on August 2, 2019. It was designed by Richard Rouse III, developed by Paranoid Productions and is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One , PC, Nintendo Switch, Mac OS Classic and macOS.

Imagem: Divulgação/Fellow Traveller

The game's plot is quite straightforward: you find yourself in the 70s and the central mission is to rescue your nephew from a cult that has influence over South America. As for the exact location on the continent, that is up to your imagination. This cult, originally originated in the United States, is now on South American soil due to persecution in its homeland, as a result of its beliefs and ideologies.

At the beginning of the game, you customize your character's characteristics, such as gender and ethnicity, and choose between two equipment options to start the game, including weapons and medical kits, among others. As you progress through the game, you will find several notes that are essential to understanding the story and guiding your progress. By scouring the environments, you can collect ammo, healing items, and other resources. There is no shortage of enemies in the game; You come across several of them and must always be ready to face them or quickly escape across the map. A map is available and you must constantly use it to achieve your objectives, although the task is challenging due to the large number of enemies along the way.

Imagem: Divulgação/Fellow Traveller

Enemies aggressively approach you, even if they are not armed, considering you an intruder on their territory. Therefore, you must remain alert at all times. They have a field of view and you can press a button to view it, allowing you to avoid being detected. Being stealthy is essential to playing this game, and you can also throw objects to distract enemies and attack them from behind.

Read too: LA Noire – Interesting but boring | Review

It appears that the game does not have automatic or manual saves. From the pause menu, you can exit to the game's main menu and save your progress. However, if you die, the game takes you back to the beginning, where you make character trait and equipment choices, as I mentioned earlier. There may be some save system, but in my case, I didn't notice it. Perhaps the game doesn't include this feature due to its short length; It is possible to finish it in just 30 minutes, depending on the pace of the game.

Imagem: Divulgação/Fellow Traveller

The game's sound effects are well produced and incorporated appropriately during gameplay. However, The Church in the Darkness does not feature a traditional soundtrack; instead, it uses audio recordings and speeches as its main element. Throughout the game, a loudspeaker broadcasts a variety of messages, which include propaganda and information. It is important to highlight that this propaganda is biased, as there is a clear fusion of political and religious elements that can be considered an attempt at brainwashing. The game references socialist themes, featuring images of communist leaders and flags of countries with this ideology. The connection between South America, the socialist cult and other references may give rise to varied interpretations, but it is up to the player to draw their own conclusions.

As for the visual aspects, they are quite simplified, neither exceptional nor disappointing. The game uses an overhead camera perspective, but allows you to zoom in to bring the character closer when necessary, such as in situations that require a closer view. However, it is not advisable to use it when fighting enemies.

The Church in the Darkness is a game with an intriguing story, however, it lacks significant improvements in its mechanics and suffers from excessive repetition, which, unfortunately, can lead players to lose interest in continuing to play.

Analyzed on PlayStation 4

Did you like the review? Leave your comment and follow me on social media!