''Darker'' is a

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...

futuristic

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

published by

Psygnosis Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Elli ...

in 1995 for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...

. The player assumes the role of Tolly, a civilian shuttle pilot in the city of Delphi, the only city situated on the dark side of a planet in synchronous rotation around the local

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

. The player must defend Delphi from the Halons, inhabitants of the planet's light side, who are invading Delphi. The game takes place over a number of missions on the planet's surface and in tunnels. The game supports the VFX-1 virtual reality headset.

Plot

Darker's story is revealed over the course of the game as information gathered by

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

. The people of Delphi are not militarised, having never had reason for military action, and so technology for combating the Halon menace is developed over the course of the game. The Halon people are revealed to be invading in order to expand their cities away from the light side, which they have polluted beyond the point where it can sustain life. Eventually Tolly pilots a Halon craft to the light side of the planet, where he destroys the Halon

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to p ...

Gameplay

The bulk of the game is played piloting a Caero shuttle. Because of the scarcity of energy on the dark side of the planet, power to the shuttle is transmitted wirelessly through a network of pylons situated on a regular grid across the city.

References

1995 video games DOS games DOS-only games Space flight simulator games Psygnosis games Video games set on fictional planets Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom {{Simulation-videogame-stub