Blackout Demo

In the world of literature, few writers are as revered as H.P. Lovecraft, especially since he managed to create the perfect blend of mystery and horror. His stories are not usually very graphic or gory, but the way he presents the events and the monsters is incredibly scary. Hence, it’s no wonder that many horror video games are heavily inspired by his style.

Blackout is a text-based adventure game in which you get to tackle a terrifying mystery and make choices that affect your character’s sanity. The most important aspect is the fact that your decisions also influence the story progression, because you can follow many different routes along the way and witness events depending on what you choose to do in certain situations.

As such, you play as a man with no memory of the previous few days, who finds himself on a dark street in the middle of the night. You can turn around and find a way home almost immediately, but it’s also possible to investigate the alley in question in order to uncover a few clues. Certain actions provide you with items that may come in handy, while others permanently alter your character’s view on the whole situation.

Every now and again you get a chance to try something that’s not guaranteed to succeed, such as kicking a door open. To make such situations more engaging, the game features simple mini-games that challenge your reflexes, and although they are pretty easy to beat, they really complement the experience. You can also retry the chapter multiple times to see what you may have missed.

Lastly, this is mostly a text-based game, so do not expect too many visual aids, but there are some gorgeous artwork pieces you can admire every now and again. The interface is also very enjoyable, especially since you can figure out how everything works right away. Thus, there’s no learning curve to worry about, which allows even non-gamers to have an easy time playing through the adventure.

When it’s all said and done, Blackout is really onto something here, even if the demo at hand is a bit too short at the moment. Hence, we can only hope that the developers keep working on this and provide us with a complete experience as soon as possible.