Part 1

So I read Innovatius' Clock Tower Let's Play thread - just in time for Halloween - and I think about scary games I played. I also think about Vlaphor's amazing "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" LP thread, and how it reminded me of a game made by the same company...

Cyberdreams, who made "I Have No Mouth..." poured a lot of money into their adventure games. Besides getting Harland Ellison to write the aforementioned game, they sunk about 600k into their first game - Darkseed - by hiring H.R. Giger to do some of the artwork. I decide to do an LP on Darkseed, and remember why I disliked it - though found it creepy - as a kid. And now, I'm doing one for the sequel - Darkseed 2!

For those of you just joining us, Darkseed 1 puts you in the role of a writer named Mike Dawson, who has just a bought a new house. Unfortunately, his house contained a portal to an alternate alien dimension and the aliens implant an embryo in Mike's brain. With the help of The Keeper of The Scrolls - a female helper from the Dark World, Mike manages to send away the evil Ancients' (the aliens) spaceship - the source of their power - and destroy the portal to the Dark World. And also, he gets pills that cure him of the embryo.

Darkseed 2 takes place one year later...

Props to Vlaphor for helping me with some of the technical details (namely, why my cutscenes weren't rendering.)

So let's play Darkseed 2 while we wait for our Harvester torrents!

[cracks neck]

As before, Darkseed 2 begins with a nightmare...

Video

In case you don't want to watch the video, though... (but for hilarity's sake, I suggest you do.)

We're running in first person down alien hallways.


"Rita? Where are you?"
"Help me, Mike."

A woman's disembodied head floats in front of us...

As its eyeballs and tongue extend downward, meltily.

We see Mike Dawson running down the hallway, as he looks behind him and gasps... something is chasing him!

For the record, this is not exactly full motion video - Mike is running with like 3 or 4 frames of animation, tops.

A mirror - if we remember Darkseed 1, then those things are bad news.

Mike screams!

And morphs into this as I cringe at the bad 90's morphing effect.

And we're not done as our crappy porn-star looking protagonist with his wimpy voice awakens...

Video

It's the same dream. Night after night. I'm searching for Rita in the Dark World, but something unspeakable starts chasing me. I never make it back through the portal in time. It's been more than a year since I foiled the Ancients' plans to grow an alien embryo in my brain and still the Dark World haunts me. Rita's murder is just a reminder that no place is safe from the darkness...


And the title sequence:

Video

Not even my home town...

Enough intro. Let's start the show!

Our game starts as someone knocks on Mike's bedroom door.

It's the sheriff with some questions for Mike! Just to warn you now, a lot of the conversation trees in the beginning of the game aren't very important - meaning there are no wrong answers. Right now, our only objective is information gathering.


Mike: Am I a suspect, Sheriff?
Sheriff: We have to look at everyone, Dawson. Especially everyone that was close to Rita.
Mike: Rita and I really didn't see each other much since I moved back home.
Sheriff: Just how much contact did you have with her?
Mike: Look, we only saw each other a few times.
Sheriff: I see. Were you having a relationship?
Mike: We weren't intimate, if that's what you're getting at!
Sheriff: I see.

Er, not the world's greatest alibi...


Sheriff: Is that so? People said they heard you two arguing outside the school building.
Mike: Well, I sorta wanted a relationship, but Rita didn't.
Sheriff: And that's why you killed her.
Mike: I didn't kill her!
Sheriff: If you didn't kill her, Dawson, why are you getting so upset?
Mike: Look, Sheriff. I cared about Rita. I want to find out who killed her as much as you do.
Sheriff: Just how much did you care for Rita?

Headaches again. Never a good sign.


Sheriff: All right, Dawson, but stick around town. The Feds will want to talk with you when they get here.
Mike: Feds? You mean the FBI?
Sheriff: That's right. I don't much like the idea of them trampling over my turf, but the Mayor wants me to bring them in.
Mike: What is Mayor Fleming's interest in Rita's murder?
Sheriff: He wants this case solved quickly with the election coming up and all. It seems he has some friends at the Bureau and, believe me, they won't go easy on you!
Mike: I wish I had something to tell you, Sheriff. I really do.

Great, the game just started and Mike's a prime suspect for murder. Head out the door to find out something shocking...

Mike still lives at home with his mom!

Alright, that's enough Darkseed 2 update for right now. Coming up next... well, we'll meet Mike's mom!