Darker

""The horizon's glow should not be envied. For in darkness is a lasting power, burning brighter with every generation. How weak is a light in a pale world- its glow is worthless. But the same light in blackness; how boldly it shines!""

- taken from "The True Light"

"Here is the true light that can never be extinguished. And so we commit this soul. His light will diffuse in the Kismet waters, yet his contribution is eternal."

- taken from Delphi's funeral rites, displayed when you die. You will see this a lot.

An obscure 1995 DOS flight-shooter computer game by Psygnosis.

Darker takes place on a far-off planet in synchronous rotation around its star -- meaning that half of its surface is shrouded in perpetual darkness. On the light side of the planet, the Halons have built a mighty empire using their bountiful solar energy; on the dark side, the people of Delphi struggle to eke out a life with the little power they can generate for themselves.

And now that mighty Halon empire is invading the planet's dark side, turning that vast power towards crushing the unarmed Delphi. The player is given a Caero shuttle, hastily converted for combat for their defense of their city; it handles like a cross between a biplane and a paper airplane. Did we mention that it gets its only power source from the streetlamps dotted throughout the city, and will rapidly slow, stall and crash if it isn't kept near them? Or that the Halon have an entire army of supersonic fighters backed by tanks and bombers, while you're armed with, basically, a glorified flying cab with a blaster strapped to it?

Gameplay is based heavily around the tactile feel of your rickety fighter. Large lamps spaced regularly throughout the city not only provide your ship with power, but will cause your speed to rapidly increase for the instant you pass near them; you will have to carefully manage your nitro-style reserve power just to avoid crashing during extended fights in the spaces between them.


 * Awesome but Impractical: One of the first weapons your scientists make for you is a long-range guided missile, which you can control remotely using a missile-cam. The catch? It's 'guided' by mimicking the movements of your shuttle, and the missile-cam fills your entire view when you turn it on, so if you try to control it, you inevitably crash near-instantly.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: The core premise of the game.
 * Light Is Not Good
 * Storming the Castle - The final levels.
 * The Night That Never Ends
 * Minimalistic Cover Art - Pretty appropriate.
 * Nintendo Hard: The game's premise should make it fairly clear what you're in for.