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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.
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The Church in the Darkness Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
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.
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 Church in the Darkness is an ambitious game and delivers on its premise almost all the way. It's worth sipping this Kool-Aid.
The Church in the Darkness has much more value as an idea and as a story creation tool than it has as a game. For people like myself, it’s interesting how the information the game sets as constant from the beginning, but does not reveal to the player, can influence the way a narrative organically develops, and guides the player to adopt different play styles to suit. The team at Paranoid Productions has important things to say about humanity and society, and it does not pull punches with its subject material in the way another recent-high-profile-game-about-cults did: it presents a believabl…
This game is set in a very real context of a religious cult that rejects the mainstream society, breaks out on its own and more or less holds its followers in
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.
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.
A game in which you have to infiltrate a cult and dismantle it from the inside sounds like the perfect game for me. There is so much potential for great stealth gameplay, disguise mechanics, and world building. Does Fellow Traveller’s The Church in the Darkness live up to the expectation though?
An unholy union of procedural generation, non-linear narrative design, and a Jonestown-inspired cult backdrop. There are a plethora of ideas around The Church in the Darkness I’d love to deliberate over. I’d [...]
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.