I recently had the pleasure to play through the opening hours of There is No Light [Steam], a new game developed by Zelart and published by HypeTrain Digital. The September 19 release follows a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over double what the original goal was set for.
The single-player experience is set in a grim reality where humans are mutating due to the lack of sunlight and disease among other reasons. There was a big calamitous event (I’d say “no spoilers” here but I know I’ve just begun to scratch the surface myself!) and now everyone lives underground with all manor of mutated creatures that go bump in the night.
There is No Light comes with an ominous warning that the game is not easy and not meant for casual players. But I’m a baby and cranked the difficulty down as much as I could and I fared just fine against the beasts I went up against in the first few hours of the game.
My training-wheels-on gameplay experience was OK, nothing really jumped out at me for being unique or that interesting. The dodge-and-roll gameplay was fun, don’t get me wrong…but it’s the story and atmosphere that steals the show.
The sheer ominousness I felt as I trotted through the depths of humanity’s reduced existence was impressive. The ambience of the areas I explored and the tone of the writing (no voice acting, by the way) all combined to deliver an engaging narrative and explorative experience that kept me curious and coming back for more each evening I played.
Sure, hacking and slashing apart enemies is easy dopamine, but the carrot-on-the-stick wasn’t toning up my combat skills, it was learning about what the heck happened, who everyone is, and why we’re all underground.
If you appreciate dark, Elden Ring-type narratives (though MUCH easier to follow than Elden Ring), you owe it to yourself to try There is No Light. The game won’t hold your hand, but for me that’s part of the fun.
A retail copy of the game was provided for the purpose of this article.
