Heart of Darkness

04.07.1998
Users 80/100
Genre: Platform
Heart of Darkness places players in the role of a child named Andy as he attempts to rescue his dog who has been kidnapped by creatures known as The Dark Souls. The game has about half an hour of storytelling cinematic sequences, thousands of 2D animated frames, and uses pre-rendered background scenery. The game was supervised by game developer Éric Chahi, known for Another World, this time with a team of artists and developers. The game also features an original score by film and television composer Bruce Broughton. A Game Boy Advance port was announced in 2001 but it was never released.
The game follows Andy, a child who hates his abusive teacher, loves his dog Whiskey, and has nyctophobia (fear of darkness). One day, Andy and Whiskey head for the park. A solar eclipse occurs while they're there. During the eclipse, Whiskey is taken away by an unseen creature. Andy then rushes to his treehouse, where he keeps his inventions, and jumps inside a spaceship to find Whiskey. He takes off and finds himself in the Darklands, which is a portion of the Heart of Darkness. Inhabited by creatures of the night and ruled over by an evil sorcerer that's known as the Master of Darkness, the Darklands are extremely dangerous. Andy must find it in himself in order to rescue Whiskey and find a way home. Andy collides his spaceship into a winged shadow creature and crashes in a canyon on the outskirts of the Darklands. Here, his gun is eaten by a giant monster. Andy manages to escape into the swamps, only to run into more danger while unarmed. Meanwhile, the Master of Darkness is abusing his servant when a winged shadow arrives with a sack that has Whiskey in it. Angered by the mistake (the shadow was supposed to capture Andy), the Master of Darkness kills the shadow and takes his anger out on his servant by throwing him at a spiked wall. However, the monster that swallowed Andy's gun appears, accidentally saving the servant, and explains Andy being in the Darklands. The Master of Darkness then orders his minions to search the Darklands for him. Deep in the swamp, Andy saves a winged creature that's named Amigo that starts to carry him to his home island, but is dazed by a fireball that was thrown from a winged shadow and drops Andy into a lake. At the bottom of the lake, Andy comes across a magic rock that grants him the power to manipulate plants and destroy enemies. After resurfacing, Andy is rescued once again by Amigo, who takes Andy back to his home and introduces him to his people. Andy wins their approval by creating an apple tree for them. The Amigos then agree to hide Andy in their village, but the shadows attack and destroy the village when night falls. However, Andy manages to slip away. After reuniting with the Amigos, Andy witnesses an Amigo fall to the evil ground, and becomes a winged shadow within contact. Andy convinces the Amigos to obtain the magic rock's power and wage war on the Master of Darkness. With their newfound powers the Amigos help Andy slip into the Master of Darkness's lair. While in there, Andy is captured and thrown into a cell with Whiskey, but manages to escape and free Whiskey. Meanwhile, the Master of Darkness's minions have found the magic rock and bring it to the Master, who destroys it, thus draining Andy and the Amigos' powers. Unarmed once again, Andy can only run from the shadows. While fleeing, he accidentally falls into a hole and lands on top of the giant monster, who promptly swallows Andy whole. However, he is able to escape by obtaining his gun from the monster's stomach and blasting him in half from within. He then encounters the servant and forces him to help defeat the Master of Darkness and find Whiskey. The servant tells Andy that the only way to defeat the Master of Darkness is to drop the completed magic rock into the dark portal. Andy then searches for the fragments of the rock in order to reform it. He manages to obtain all but one piece, which is laying on the bridge near the portal. While Andy is fighting his way to the bridge, the servant betrays Andy by kicking Whiskey into the portal. After fighting countless shadows and dodging several fire blasts that are thrown by the Master of Darkness, Andy makes it to the bridge and obtains the final piece. The Amigos then tie up the servant and lower the rock onto the bridge, crushing the servant in the process. Ignoring the Master of Darkness's claim that everyone will be killed if he does so, Andy connects the final piece of rock, which then falls into the portal, which begins destroying the castle and the platform that the Master of Darkness floats on. He then falls into the portal, but manages to take Andy with him. They find themselves in the main area of the Heart of Darkness, where they battle. Andy wins the fight and then hears the sound of a door opening, only to see red eyes approaching. He prepares to strike, but lights come on from Andy's mother, revealing that the eyes are Whiskey, and they are in Andy's tree house...the whole thing was in Andy's imagination. Andy's mother calls them to dinner. After being kissed goodnight by his mother, Andy taunts Whiskey's fear of the dark a bit and then turns the nightlight off, revealing that he has conquered his fear of the dark thanks to his make-believe journey. The scene then shows the Amigos finding the wreckage of Andy's ship, with the servant also there tied up, being harassed, revealing that Andy's adventure was not imaginary.

Buy

Could be interesting

18.04.2011

Sequel to the acclaimed Portal (2007), Portal 2 pits the protagonist of the original game, Chell, and her new robot friend, Wheatley, against more puzzles conceived by GLaDOS, an A.I. with the sole purpose of testing the Portal Gun's mechanics and taking revenge on Chell for the events of Portal. As a result of several interactions and revelations, Chell once again pushes to escape Aperture Science Labs.

22.10.1999

With its enchanted storybook look beautifully translated into 3D, lush, vibrant colors, funny enemy designs, and clever jumping puzzles, Rayman 2 is platforming perfection. No arms, no legs, no problem for the little French creation that could.

28.09.2004

Crash Twinsanity is the fifth mainline series game of the Crash Bandicoot series where Crash and the villain Cortex are forced into partnership. Each character occupies the same screen but they run along on different planes. Crash's gameplay is mostly the same as before, he can still do his trademark spin attack, double jump and body slam moves. The originality comes in his duo with Dr. Cortex, as he can throw him to places he can't reach himself or use him as a hammer to slap enemies. The consistent conflict between both heroes causes many funny situations.

29.06.2016

An atmospheric 2D side-scroller in which, hunted and alone, a boy finds himself drawn into the center of a dark project and struggles to preserve his identity.

07.12.2007

A massive ocean world, teeming with life and filled with ancient secrets. Join Naija, a lone underwater dweller in search of her family, as she explores the depths of Aquaria. She'll travel from hidden caves, shrouded in darkness, to beautiful, sunlit oases, all lovingly handcrafted by its two creators. Naija's story, narrated fully with voice overs, will become yours, as you join her on this magnificent adventure.

18.06.2019

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a gothic horror action side-scrolling RPG set in 19th century England. A paranormal force has summoned a demon-infested castle, revealing crystal shards infused with tremendous magical power. Play as Miriam, an orphan scarred by an alchemist's curse which slowly crystallizes her body. To save humanity, and herself in the process, Miriam must fight through the castle and defeat the summoner, Gebel. Collect, craft and unlock a vast array of weapons, equipment and loot to defeat the countless minions and bosses of hell that await!

08.02.2018

The Wild Eight is an intense survival action-adventure set in the frozen wilderness of Alaska. Team up with friends in online co-op or go solo, explore the mysterious land, craft weapons and fight to live another day.

22.09.2017

A musical action-adventure set in the recesses of the human mind... Welcome to the world of Figment. A strange and surreal world; a place filled with our deepest thoughts, urges and memories, populated by the many voices we hear in our heads. This mind has been quiet and calm for many years. But something has changed. New thoughts have started to emerge - taking the shape of nightmarish creatures who spread fear wherever they go. The only hope is for the grumpy Dusty, the mind's former voice of courage, to get back to his old self and help the mind to face its fears. Join Dusty and his ever-optimistic friend, Piper, on an adventure through the different sides of the mind, solving puzzles to set things straight, beating back the nightmares and seeking to restore the courage that's been lost.

04.09.2018

Planet Alpha is an adventure set in a living alien world where you have the ability to manipulate the daytime. To survive on this strange planet you will have to be observant of how the environment and the wildlife behaviour changes depending on the time of day.

28.06.2018

2D platform game with classic platform gameplay, deadly traps, dark storyline and unique hero abilities, all in Tim Burton's-like audio-visual.