A mysterious tale told in the dark and haunting castle Black Mirror. Can you uncover what you came for? Or does another fate await you?
Moody, dark and engaging, THQNordic's Black Mirror paints a lush picture of mystery and intrigue. You play as David Gordon, waking in a life after his father's mysterious suicide. Uncovered through various steps, you're led to The Black Mirror Castle ran by a lineage guaranteed to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The castle is dark, candlelit and the atmosphere near oppressive.
A new take on the point and click classics, you're able to move freely throughout your space without having to pre-map out a path. The game revolves around examining objects, gathering clues and taking in story through the mouths and minds of the cast. There are puzzles, but in a game that could have waved a proud flag in this respect, it chose to focus more on delivering actual storyline.
Graphically speaking, Black Mirror is gorgeous and in every right effective with the gentle horror it bestows upon the player. Visibility in hallways and far corners of the rooms are not only utilized at every turn, but a powerful gimmick to this title's uneasiness. It's not an outright horror game, but it does pull off a feeling of wanting to look over your shoulder regularly. The filter pulls off a gritty feel--one that fits perfectly with the 1926 time set this story takes place in. In their own style, the character models look brilliant and fit the tone of the voice acting quite well. Speaking of voice acting, it is one of the stars of Black Mirror, every line being delivered clearly and en pointe. The very title hangs rawly in the balance of the voice acting's success, beautifully done. Insanity is a hard emotion to capture in the heart of another character, but Black Mirror serves it on a silver platter.
Even with the compelling storyline, the game suffers from its own set of unique problems. All the thought and effort put into the pacing of storytelling and careful voice acting draws a stark contrast to the way you actually move physically through the game. Moving the character itself can prove to be quite the task--clunky, tankish controls coupled with invisible walls to run into not only break immersion, but tended to leave me quite frustrated. Unfortunately Black Mirror suffers from a host of glitches and breaking bugs in it's current state. Not to say that this can't be remedied with updates, but as it is now, I can't quite justify the full price tag.
It's a piece of art, a gripping and dark tale that you can take your own steps through, but for those that enjoy a good bit of gameplay, perhaps this isn't the one for you. I found it to be a very niche title, the telling of a ominous tale without much work from the player involved. By all means the effort is there, but the execution just falls short of the line. However, if you crave the days of point and clicks, and story in games is the reason you purchase--then I couldn't recommend this one more to you.