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    1) Sword of Jade: Parallel Dreams reviewed by JSH357
    2) Vikings Of Midgard reviewed by MirceaKitsune
    3) Bug on the Wall reviewed by JSH357
    4) Tightfloss Maiden reviewed by yhposolihP
    5) A Blank Mind reviewed by Dorumagesu
Pitch Black vs. RedMaverickZero
Pitch Black Batteries are a girl's best friend.
Shadowiii
Download: 1.12 MB
V.S.
RedMaverickZero
Play Time: hours and 20 minutes
Review # 15 for RedMaverickZero Batteries are a girl's best friend.
Them's Fightin' Words
    Remember when you were little and you had a nightlight because you were scared something was gonna jump out and grab you in the dark? Well... Pitch Black brings back those memories, except with an odd twist. Because while it is slightly scary considering you don't know when the music will change and evil monsters whom are invisible and just kill you when a certain music plays. Freaks me out personally... But, this game is pretty good actually. Everything is done very nicely and perphaps one of the most thought out games I've seen in a while.
Graphics
    Graphics are simply astounding. Every room I imagine was either ripped from something else seen or drawn very very nicely. The maptiles were a bit confusing however. Where I walked in the yellow brick area I thought was a wall, turned out to be floor... Very misleading. Yet, the walkabouts were very nice. The main character, Julia had a very nice set of sprites too. Holding a flashlight in the dim room, although, I really don't see why spikes were everywhere. I understand that they were traps but still, for a trap isn't that a bit obvious? All the same, the graphics were good. I especially liked the entering the room features where you had LIGHT with no batteries! That would have made me angry, searching for clues and having no light to see em. Anyways, well played Mr.B and Shadowiii, these graphics were very well done.

 
Storyline
    Here's where it picks up and you find out why the game is called Pitch Black. Alright, Julia is the new girl in town and she has a little problem. Her friends want to enter a house and explore or whatever. She gets freaked out and backs down, which is where she should have stayed! But no, after a while goes by her friends don't return. She decides to be a brave little girl (STUPID LITTLE GIRL) and go look for them. Although her intentions are honorable, they could kill her from deadly spikes or maybe even a spooky gargoyle.... Oooooh! On top of all that, yes, Shadowiii and Mr.B add a cherry and sprinkles to make the game that much more suspensfull. Julia has a sort of confrontation with a big spooky demonish dude and well, yeah. Don't wonna spoil the ending because then you won't see it for your own glory rather than mine. It really is a good storyline though.

 
Gameplay
    This game has fairly good gameplay as a matter of fact. Although it is frustrating at times it is all the same very thought out and very nice. Traditional games seem to have the main character with a sword of some kind right? And then Star Wars had a light saber. Alright, take off the saber part of that and you have the main character of Pitch Black's weapon. Yes, it's a flash light. You must find the batteries scattered throughout the big spooky house to keep your light lit so you can see where you're going exactly.

Then when you are fortunate enough you enter my favorite part of the game. What I would call, playing detective. Not bad. Alright allow me to explain. There's one big room, for those of you who make games it's the size of a backdrop. And you become a hand for the moment for searching purposes. When you find a clue or a thing to look at. Your hand turns into a magnifying glass with a + symbol. Obviouslly, magnify to look at it. That's how you get your clues or items to progress throughout the game and find your way to the end. To her friends you ask? Bwah ha. I am not one to spoil endings.

 
  Battle
    N/A

 
  Map Design
    Oh man... This is one seriouslly thought out map. Knowing where to place switches, where to put batteries, and where the character can or can not pass to get to these things. Not to mention the fact that there was so much confusing stuff going along, such as being lucky enough to have your light on when you see the switches lying on the floor. Then you have to SAFELY navigate your way to the switches and turn them on so you can walk around and get to more rooms and find more spiffy items. The map had a great deal of thought put into it. Although my only real complaint is that the floor looked like a wall. I mean, all the time I played I thought the red carpet was the floor and the yellow tiles were walls. I didn't think Julia was Spider-Woman or anything. My only real complaint was that.

 
  Balance
    Game was balanced from a no battle standpoint. Although, to make it easier on people who haven't made it I would have added more batteries scattered around the house. Maybe an extra two or three. Because you have to consider there are some people that will gripe and complain that they can't beat the game and blame it on their dead flashlight.
Anyways, everything was hidden very nicely and you had to think. Thinking games tend to be good nowadays. But not too much thinking. Which I liked.

 
Music
    Creepy... I could have ended it with that but odds are the review wouldn't go through with one word for this area. Every piece of music creeped me out. I mean, walking around in a room with no lights and having no idea just what lies around the next corner and then to top it all off the "detective" rooms had a slightly mysterious tune to them which also creeped me out. The only music I didn't think was good was the title screen. I understand it sounds creepy, but it comes with the OHR... That kinda drags points down in my book. But don't worry, not much. Everything else was very very well placed.

 
Enjoyment
    I admit, I got stuck, not once, not twice. But three times. If not for the handy tips guide coming with the game I really don't know if I could have beaten this game, at least not in the time it took me to beat it. But this game was very enjoyable. I recommend it to everybody who hasn't already played it. Although I take it most CP people who are here have played it.

 
Final Blows
    Shadowiii has hinted around on the boards about a sequel. And I would like to know if Julia ever fulfills her goal. Which I think, that you should be able to see Julia's town and maybe talk to the kids' parents or something you know. That would kinda spark some more interest to me anyways. Odds are Shadowiii and Mr.B are thinking of it right now. It seems if anything, the Halloween Contest has spawned at least half it's games into sequels. That's pretty cool if you ask me.

Light on, light off. Hehe.

Light on, light off. Hehe.
Final Scores
Graphics: 9/10.0
The graphics were very nice. There weren't that many NPCs though. Which I would've liked to see more of. But this game really didn't have a need for much NPCs. The maptiles were a lil misleading with the floor looking like a wall. But everything else was stunning and very nice.
Storyline: 7/10.0
You really don't hear much about the storyline except for the very beginning of the game. But for what you hear it is very good. Julia has a lotta courage to go looking for her friends. But does she find them? Bwah ha...?
Gameplay: 9.5/10.0
Brilliant. It's amazing what plotscripting does to make a game hundreds of times better than if it didn't have any. I commend these two for the gameplay and general concept of this game.
Music: 7/10.0
Creepy... Hehe. I liked and thought all the music was well placed. But the title screen music was a lil.... bland. For such a creepy game it could have had much better music in that area. But it certainly didn't bring the game down any.
Enjoyment: 9/10.0
From the standpoint that you have to think and you have to really look it boosted this score up quite a bit. But this is one game that's easy to get stuck in. But, it really makes you think, which I personally enjoyed.
Overall Grade: A
Final Thoughts
    Scared of the dark? Too bad. Get off your ass or err... sit on your ass and play this game, it's good and you'll enjoy it or you get your money back! Wait... there's no money. Ah hell, download it and try it.  


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