Summary
To be completely honest, traveling to South Korea from the States to visitKrafton (the publisher behindPUBGandDark and Darker)to play a touch-screen-controlled mobile version of a PC game was not on my bingo card. I typically stay away from hardcore online multiplayer titles, especially ones played on a smartphone. Still, after spending some quality time with Bluehole Studio’sDark and Darker Mobile, I’m a believer –you can color me impressed.
Dark and Darkeris a PvPvE (players versus players versus enemy) fantasy dungeon-crawling battle royale. Its genre titling may be a mouthful, but there’s no other way to describe it. Heavily inspired by ‘damaging closing circle’ battle royale games likeFortniteandPUBG,D&D Mobileplayershave to delve into dark and dangerous dungeons to try and grab as much loot from treasure chests as they can while making sure they “extract” at the right time without losing to the effects of the “Darkswarm.” And while this is happening, other real players will be around, ready to attack anyone in the way. Of course, strong monsters are all around the maps, too, causing even more chaos.
Right now, there are five distinct classes for players to choose from inDark and Darker Mobile. There’s the Fighter, who carries a shield to deflect enemy attacks; the Barbarian can hold powerful two-handed weapons and can perform a spinning move, dealing damage to anyone in its path; theRanger is greatat dishing out damage to foes at a distance, using a bow and arrow to defend themselves; then there’s the Rogue, who uses stealth and poison to get what they want; to wrap it up, the Cleric works more like a support class, healing allies and doing more damage to Undead enemies.
I found myself enjoying the Fighter class the most, as it offered a versatile skill set and could get me out of most sticky situations.
Being a touch-screen game, one might think a hardcore fantasy extractionbattle royalecould be difficult to control, but Bluehole Studio has done a pretty standup job converting the PC experience and optimizing it for smartphones. Moving around, tapping to open treasure chests, and even attacking enemies feels good –not once did I think the game would be more enjoyable on a PC or traditional console.
With how easy it was to join other players in the lobby and connect, I could seeDark and Darker Mobilebeing a hit with the free-to-play crowd. Bluehole mentioned in our interview that they do not intend the game to be “pay-to-win” –they just want players to have fun with friends and not worry about paying a ton of real-world money to catch up with others. And from the time spent playing this with other people in the same room as me, the energy in the air was positive. We were all communicating to talk strategy, shouting if a formidable enemy spawned in or if someone was down and needed a revive. It could get pretty intense because if you fail the extraction and fall prey to the closing circle or just a dumb monster, you lose all of your equipment and treasure –and yes, we mean all of it.
The game will be nice to players and hand you some starter equipment to hold you over if you have nothing left after a match, but it won’t help in the long run, so buying or finding better weapons and equipment is paramount to success inDark and Darker Mobile. It can sometimes feel like the world is against you if you manage to die repeatedly, but once you get the hang of things and get help from friends, it can be a little easier, especially if you stick to the beginner maps and grind for a little before getting smacked by the late-level maps.
It’ll be interesting to see how the mobile audience vibes withDark and Darker Mobile. From what we’ve played, it seems like a title that could do well, but if it ends up being an experience where people need to pay to get ahead, it could also be a massive dud. The dev team will have to carefully straddle the line of making the game enjoyable and fun for free-to-play users while also making sure the paid extra content is worthwhile while not giving those same significant advantages.
You can check out our interview with the producer onDark and Darker Mobilebelow.
