Introduction

The turn of the millennium is coming and everyone is cowering in their bunkers fearful that computers will turn on their masters. But in Japan there are more pressing matters to fear; namely a mysterious doomsday cult gaining power, increasing disappearances all around Tokyo, and a hideous beast lurking in the underground. Are you going to be able to survive the night....or will you find yourself running out of time? Truly a terrifying story and one that we'll be investigating more deeply as we head into the overlooked PS1 horror title, Hellnight (or Dark Messiah as it was called originally in Japan, though neither title makes much sense for the game).

Now one might question why they had not previously heard of this game and that could be for any number of reasons. The game never saw an American release, it was released just a year before the PS2 (and thus would be overshadowed by the new hotness), it never got much commercial fanfare in the locales it was released, and most importantly of all...it doesn't really fit into a normal horror genre. While games like Resident Evil touted being survival horror, it still very much left the player an option to defend itself and fight off what lurks in the darkness. Hellnight decided to go a different direction with this and leaves the player in cramped locations, almost utterly defenseless except for the power to out think and out run the dangers that are set before them. And that, along with it's very deranged, albeit repetitive setting, probably greatly deterred most people from enjoying the game. But that's why I'm here to lead you through the danger and for us to hopefully escape the underground hell awaiting our protagonist.

Good Stuff found in the Mesh

Razzo by yokaiy