At night, you have to hole up in your shanty of a safe house and pray you survive the coming onslaught until dawn. During the day, you scavenge for supplies, fending off rabid dogs or crazed villagers and meeting a supporting cast full of endearingly freakish characters. You play as a mysterious abductee who awakes in an oppressively gloomy forest the trees have grown so rampantly that they've created an impenetrable wall, trapping everyone inside and driving them to insanity.
With its top-down perspective, brutal-but-doable challenge, and pristine pixel art - which gives you just enough gruesome detail to let your imagination do the rest - Darkwood feels reminiscent of classic PC games mixed with modern psychological horror.
If Silent Hill's aesthetic is rust and grime, Darkwood has mastered the art of making everything feel like it's dripping with rot, mold, and fungus.
