Credit: paranoid productions / fellow traveler
I knew this was a dangerous place for my brother to stay, but he wouldn't listen to reason.
In fact, reasoning with him wasn't even an option. But in this particular version of the story, cult leaders Isaac and Rebecca Walker had cast such a powerful spell on my unmoored sibling that he was adamant about staying. The only choice I had left at that point was deciding whether to kill the cult leaders or just walk away.
The Church in the Darkness is about an anti-capitalist cult in the 1970s that's fled to South America and established a commune there. You play Vic, the older sibling -- brother or sister, the choice is yours -- of Alex, who was bewitched by the Walkers' message and fled from home to join their revolution.
Each game opens with Vic having just snuck onto the commune's grounds. The layout of the commune is always the same, but the position of guards, workers, potential allies, helpful items, and key characters -- including Alex, Isaac, and Rebecca -- changes each time you reset.
This is a stealth and exploration game, first and foremost. You creep your way around the commune in search of Alex, always staying out of sight to avoid raising alarms and drawing gunfire. You gather evidence as you go, learning more about the disposition of the Walkers and narrowing down Alex's location.
When you eventually do find and talk to him, the details you've picked up about the cult inform your next moves. Is this a happy commune? Are one or both of the Walkers unstable and prone to violence? Does Alex even want to leave to begin with? He might not, in which case you're forced to leave him behind regardless of your thoughts on the Walkers.
Credit: PARANOID PRODUCTIONS / FELLOW TRAVELER
Alternatively, you can throw caution to the wind and just gun down anyone who opposes you. Sometimes, the situation might even warrant such an approach. See, the Walkers change from game to game. Sometimes they're both great leaders, or both total monsters. Other times, there are initially unseen divisions between them. In every case, you decide how to handle them (or not) before leaving, based on the evidence you've collected.
Sneaking around is as simple as staying out of people's sightlines. At lower difficulty levels, you can see vision cones that show where someone is looking and how far they can see. You have a variety of tools for killing, disarming or destroying alarms, and disguising your movements, most of which is found as you explore the commune and rummage through cabins.
You can pull out the guns you've collected and start shooting at any time, but it's abundantly clear right from the outset that The Church in the Darkness is no action game. You might include a firearm with your starting gear, and a few bullets to go with it. Taking out guards is the easiest way to get more ammo, but you're almost always outgunned once the alarm starts buzzing.
If you are gunned down, what happens next depends entirely on your conduct in the commune to that point. If you've been a murderous intruder, killing guards indiscriminately and leaving bodies out in the open to be discovered, it's game over. You'll be executed on the spot and have to start again.
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But if you've been more careful about playing non-lethally and covering your tracks, you'll be locked up in a cage and get some one-on-one time with either of the Walkers. These can even be constructive moments, giving you an opportunity to learn more about your particular Rebecca or Isaac's mindset. Functionally, the capture mechanic serves as an extra life in a game that otherwise forces you to start over when you fail.
If the foundation of the game is its stealth and exploration, the heart of it is the Walkers themselves.
It's all played from an isometric perspective, a sort of top-down view but from an angle (think classics like Marble Madness or the original Fallout). There's a painterly feel to the presentation, which goes for more of a stylized grown-up cartoon aesthetic than any sense of realism. The Church in the Darkness paints a pretty picture, even if the story often turns in dark and unpleasant directions.
If the foundation of the game is its stealth and exploration, the heart of it is the Walkers themselves. Their changing dispositions influence every single playthrough, from the tone and substance of the messages they frequently deliver over the commune's PA system to the letters, notes, and news clippings you find hidden away in cabins.
All of it amounts to evidence in your unfolding investigation, as you try to get to the bottom of what the commune is all about and whether or not it's a safe place for Alex to live. Sometimes, you'll also use documents you find to sway the small handful of sympathetic commune members who demand proof of wrongdoing before they'll help you.
Wherever your path leads in any given playthrough, you'll eventually have the opportunity to confront Isaac and/or Rebecca on your own terms. These moments are when you use the information you've gathered to make a choice about how they should be handled. You might decide to kill one of them, or both. You might let them be, and just leave of your own free will. Some endings even give you the opportunity to join the commune.
There's no truly right or wrong answer -- all of that boils down to how you interpret the particular ending you reached, communicated via voiceover and text on the screen. If you're chill with the idea of the commune failing after eight years and everyone dispersing, then that's a good ending by your own definition. Some paths are more black and white, of course, such as when your actions eventually lead to a mass suicide.
As flexible as the story is, it's important to understand that there are limitations. This isn't a game of conversation and negotiation. The mystery you're unraveling helps you better understand the world of your particular playthrough, but the physical evidence you collect only has tangible value when it ties to a "convince me I'm wrong" quest from one of the sympathetic commune members.
I felt frustration more than once when faced with an intractable Alex who didn't want to leave a camp that was clearly not a great place, for example. Vic can't change anyone's mind unless it's part of some sidequest's script. Conversations amount to question-and-answer sessions that help you gather information, but that's all.
Credit: paranoid productions / fellow traveler
I don't want to give The Church in the Darkness a hard time for elements that don't exist inside the creative vision. But given the narrative focus on cults and how they function, I feel like some players might go in -- as I did -- expecting more from the human interactions you have. So I'm here to tell you that's not what this game is about.
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'Fire Emblem: Three Houses' has everything 'Fire Emblem' fans wantThe Church in the Darkness does a great job of delivering a sticky stealth and exploration experience that also gets your brain moving. It's not quite as replayable as it first seems, however. The seemingly large pool of possible endings isn't as diverse an assortment as it seems, and there's not a ton of variation in the evidence you gather.
That said, there's plenty here to occupy an inquisitive mind for at least 10 hours, provided you're the sort of gamer who treasures replay value and discovering all the possible plot twists in a branching and somewhat randomized narrative. I think the big stumbling point for a lot of people will be coming to terms with the fact that, when all is said and done, Vic is just a tourist.
Your trip to the Walkers' so-called "Freedom Town" commune on a purported mission to rescue your brother changes from game to game as the reality on the ground becomes clear. But over time, you realize that your limited ability to influence this world isn't a bug; it's a feature.
You can gather all the evidence and know all the facts, but sometimes Alex will still make an ill-advised decision to stay behind. You have no more control over him than you do over Isaac and Rebecca. But in The Church in the Darkness, the choices you can't make are just as important as the ones you can.
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Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
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