It’s not hard to figure out the Darkness Within series is inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft. The original box art had Lovecraft’s name on the front (with the “inspired by” in smaller letters above), both games in the series to-date start with a Lovecraft quotation, and now newly re-released on Steam, “Lovecraftian” is right in the first line of the About This Game text.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing; those taking their inspiration from Lovecraft tend to be trying for something more intelligent than gore-porn, or yet-more-zombies. However, precisely because his style was so distinct, with prose very much of its time consisting of extensive sub-clauses and plentiful squirmy adjectives, it can be hard to create something which is not either hammy or descends into inadvertent parody. I was interested to see how the developer, Zoetrope Interactive, had handled this challenge.

A recurring Lovecraft theme is that curiosity can force the enquirer to face terrible things. In the role of enquirer for the purposes of writing this review, I was certainly forced to face terrible things almost immediately, namely the title screen and the opening cut-scene. I recognise these are older titles: Part 1 In Pursuit of Loath Nolder was originally released in 2007 and Part 2 The Dark Lineage in 2010.

However, the Steam re-releases are supposed to have updated graphics. The preview on the Steam Store page does look like an older title but at least the graphics are sharp. Running Part 1 on my machine’s GTX 970, I was reminded of iOS-to-PC port Decay – The Mare, which looks like it has Skyrim’s drunk filter permanently applied. The title screen was like watching old-style 3D rendering without the glasses, and the opening cut-scene so blurry and pixelated it was hard to make out. I spent a good 20 minutes trying the various options to fix this without any noticeable improvement.

This is a shame, because persevering past this false-start reveals a game of some excellent qualities. Part 1 is traditional point-and-click from a first-person view. Rather than WASD control, a free look allows movement to fixed locations, or closer examination of points in the environment, initiated through left-click on the mouse. Each environment is contained, and mostly internal to a specific location such as the protagonist’s apartment, an office, or a house. Movement between these locations is effected by clicking on a map, with additional locations becoming available as the story unfolds.

It’s simple but effective, as it focuses the game on the locations which matter to the story. These are well conceived in terms of design, and then realised beautifully in terms of graphical presentation, in peculiar and stark contrast to the title and opening. Considering that poor start, I was taken aback by the power of parts of the game. The protagonist’s apartment is realistic yet ominous. There is call to visit a mansion, yet this is not pulp-horror mansion territory. The context within the story is believable, and its presentation likewise, being of credible dimension, and it is again rendered in a way which makes it quite sinister.

So then to the story. Detective Howard E. Loreid, the protagonist and potential anagram, is assigned to investigate a murder. He is surprised when respected private detective Darth Vader – I mean, Loath Nolder – emerges as prime suspect. Nolder had been away for five years on international and apparently esoteric study, returned, and then disappeared again just as quickly. Loreid quickly finds himself exploring locations and reading plenty of material to investigate further.

Further story details shall be avoided to avoid spoilers. However, I was impressed by two gameplay mechanics Zoetrope have implemented to further story exposition. First, when reading documents, the player can underline certain passages and have Loreid think upon them, which causes him to deduce further information or make links back to other information uncovered elsewhere. There are also ‘secret’ clues which are not immediately enumerated nor can they be uncovered with the automatic clue detection on the easier difficulty levels.

The second mechanic is Loreid’s ‘deduce’ function. Right clicking on the mouse brings up the inventory, which allows collected items to be combined in traditional point-and-click puzzle solving manner. However, there is also the ability to combine information, clues, and insights. Some of this is required to proceed, other insights are optional and provide more depth, and satisfaction, to the game.

Both of these are welcome additions to the genre as a whole, but considering that in Lovecraft’s literature, protagonist’s stories were furthered by their ability to deduce on the work and analysis of others, this is particularly fitting. I was also intrigued by one puzzle which requires analysis of audio recordings and comparison back to (separately located) written records, very novel considering the 2007 release of the first part. The audio overall is very well done, with some atmospheric music and unpredictably unsettling background noises, which are particularly effective during the exploration of the initial mansion and a later isolated cabin location.

Niggles in the first part are minor. Murder reports are referred to as “homicide reports,” American spelling and phraseology is used throughout, and there are references to “settling of areas” which sounds like American historical development, despite the books, accents, and length of history involved requiring at least European and probably British setting. I understand the Turkish developers may not understand these differences but it jarred me a little. But as I note, these are minor niggles. Perhaps I’m just annoyed that it took me a while to figure out a puzzle related to specific dates was using the American Month-Day-Year format, rather than the Day-Month-Year format that sane, normal and logical people use.

Other than that it’s impressive. The game does not hold your hand. I like that there are many details which can be missed, which, if missed, don’t spoil the game, but provoke a lot of additional thought if uncovered. And I like that these details are in everyday places, like your answerphone. When Loreid starts losing time, his apartment changes from a safe haven to yet another unsettling, threatening environment emphasising he is on a limb and on his own. And there is also a set piece in Loreid’s apartment I did not think could be done as an interactive sequence outside of a horror film.

The second part unfortunately doesn’t work quite so well. The hideousness of the title screen is the same, and while the opening sequence does not use pre-rendered graphics but instead the in-game engine, it is inexplicably out-of-focus, so the opening exposition is as painful as in Part 1. However, where the first game then settled in an attractively presented and deeply written adventure, Part 2 doesn’t quite hit any stride.

WASD controls are implemented in 3D environments, reflecting developments in the 3 years between Parts 1 and 2. However, despite the attempts to therefore expand the environment available to the player and implement greater freedom, somehow it loses intensity and focus on the game.

There are dream sequences, but they feel like a convenience of narrative exposition, whereas in the first there was a direct impact on the sanity of the protagonist in addition to cleverly taking the story forward. For some reason, multiple locations allow me to collect a flashlight (which results in a Steam achievement I am not sure isn’t a way to cover an odd design oversight). There’s pointless narrative: a character says he is a prisoner, then turns out to have a key he hands over without qualm. A bookkeeper requires time to conduct research, yet provides the results immediately. Hints seem badly paced, telling me to do something completely disconnected from what I know, which then makes sense only with subsequent books and documents found.

Finally, and most fatally, the information uncovered through research in Part 2 feels like simple background information, whereas in the first it felt very immediate, another crumb in explaining what had happened to you. In Part 1, you’re a desperate victim piecing together clues to terrible forces acting on you. In Part 2, you’re a librarian, cataloguing for interest.

According to Wikipedia (and yes, I know that doesn’t count as research), this was intended to be a 3 game series, although that statement has no supporting source. In Pursuit of Loath Nolder is a rare example of Lovecraftian mythology and games done well. If there was a third game coming, I would say it’s worth getting through the inferior Dark Lineage just to be up-to-date for the final outing. However, while it is development of their new title Mountains of Madness that has caused Zoetrope to re-release these games on Steam, the in-development title appears at least to be unconnected so far.

That would be a shame. Titles like Amnesia: The Dark Descent have shown that what Dark Lineage tried to do and failed in 2010 can actually be done well, and the atmosphere and story generated in In Pursuit of Loath Nolder do actually deserve another outing.