Rating
The Church in the Darkness
From Richard Rouse III and inspired by real-life events, The Church in the Darkness is an action-infiltration game that delves into the radical movements of the 1970s. As a former law enforcement officer, you have resolved to get into Freedom Town and check on your sister's son. But life in Freedom Town may not be what it seems.
Details
- Released
- August 1, 2019
- Developer
- Paranoid Productions
- Publisher
- Fellow Traveller
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The Church in the Darkness Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
The Church in the Darkness is an ambitious game and delivers on its premise almost all the way. It's worth sipping this Kool-Aid.
When ex-cult members describe the process of leaving dangerous religion behind, they often say they “got out.” The Church in the Darkness makes this literal.
The 1970s come to life in Richard Rouse III's passion project, but is that all that comes alive?
Step into Freedom Town and explore the story behind “The Church in the Darkness,” a 1970s cult whose camp is hidden in the jungles of South America.
While interesting on paper, The Church in the Darkness is mostly just a collection of anti-capitalist audio logs blaring over harder-than-it-needs-to-be stealth gameplay. There's no love lost in this place.
Even with the Nintendo Switch's hybrid console capabilities being perfect for titles based around doing multiple short runs like this, The Church in the Darkness is marred by several technical shortcomings that draw players out of the experience and kill the pacing. Once the narrative's charm begins to wear off in later runs, The Church in Darkness' flaws really take hold. Still, if you are obsessed with theology, political theory, or cults, you will find a lot to enjoy from the narrative of The Church in the Darkness. It's definitely a game that will be on my mind for some time, for both good...
It feels like The Church in the Darkness has bitten off a little bit more than it can chew. Packed full of ideas, themes, and a handful of mechanics on top, it’s the infiltration of a cult whose ocean spreads far and wide but only goes a couple of inches deep. There are things to like in Paranoid Productions’ latest effort, but you’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel before you’ve had your fill.
Numerous games have explored what happens when insular societies revolve around cult-like personalities, from the Ayn Rand rhetoric of Andrew Ryan in BioShock to the grassroots gospel of Joseph Seed in Far Cry 5. The Church in the Darkness proposes a more grounded, indie perspective on the subject, with procedurally generating elements to keep things fresh. Unfortunately, shallow stealth gameplay and a lack of interesting ideas cause this movement to stall out far sooner than it should.
The Church in the Darkness is full of bold narrative topics, but the gameplay and presentation fail to match, making it quite difficult to experience the message.
There are some intriguing ideas at play here. Decent stealth mechanics and a captivating cultist backdrop will reel you in though there just isn’t enough substance to make The Church in the Darkness a lasting, worthwhile experience.
The world-building done here is great and the stealth gameplay continues to be fun on repeated playthroughs. The Church in the Darkness almost serves as a history lesson, making one of the most shocking headlines of the ‘70s into a noteworthy interactive experience. The game is out Aug. 2 on all platforms.
The Church in the Darkness is an indie action-adventure game from Paranoid Productions set within South America in the 1970’s. Your mission hits close to home as you attempt to find and rescue a loved one from the grasp of a deceiving and diabolical cult.