To look at me you probably wouldn’t see the years.  I said goodbye to my 20′s just a few weeks ago but I am blessed (or cursed?) with a youthful exterior that belies my real age. That is if you don’t look at my eyes, or more specifically the darkness that frames them.  I have black under my eyes akin to a panda that has gone 12 rounds with a heavy weight champ.  I’ve had complete strangers ask me why I look so tired, or even recommend natural remedies to aid my obvious aversion to healthy sleep patterns.  In truth a large part of this condition can be linked to my obsession with games. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day for sleep and sufficient gaming, and my eyes tell you which way I sway on that particular debate.  Where am I going with this personal divulgence you might ask?  Well be for warned that this condition could befall you should you purchase Dark Souls, or worse still declare your desire to one day conquer it’s twisted madness.  Dark sleepless eyes for a dark relentless game.  Fitting really.

So, to give you some context Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to Demons Souls.  A critically acclaimed dungeon crawler that brought back the difficulty curb like we hadn’t seen since the arcade days.  Death meant a swift return not to a checkpoint some 30 seconds ago, but instead to the beginning of the level, and to rub extra salt in the wound, all the enemies re-spawned and all your currency was lost with your corpse!  This creates one of two reactions in most gamers; rage and an overly zealous pressing of the power button, or the definition of insanity in another attempt.  Dark Souls continues this tradition and in many ways replicates everything that Demons Souls did, just on a grander scale.  So 17 hours and 127 deaths later and I’m still making my way round the early parts of the game.  It’s at this point that I realise a full review in a timely manner is impossible if I wish to keep my day job, maintain a healthy relationship with my girlfriend, or sleep ever again!  So an impression of the game play and its (very) early levels and creatures you shall get instead.

Dark Souls again, much like Demons Souls, has no real story to speak of.  You are a voiceless undead destined for greatness according to a proficy that doesn’t really make sense.  This doesn’t hurt the game however, as there is a land overflowing with foul creatures, and as far as I could see, that is reason enough to get your slay face on!  Character creation is equally simplistic and you can tell little effort was put into it simply due to it’s lack of importance.  Giving your character a voice or charisma would detract away from the theme of hopelessness and ultimately split your focus.  Instead the minimalistic approach taken creates a game where the world and the challenge are bigger than you and the character you control.  This will annoy some people for sure, and I can understand why.  Without a compelling narrative, it’s difficult to find the desire to continue such a challenging quest, but Dark Souls knows this and creates a world and a wealth of opponents to keep things interesting,  And you’re always on your toes.  There’s no slouching with even the most basic of foes as any wrong move could be your last.  The creatures I’ve seen so far are mostly undead soldiers, knights and ghosts.  But I’ve also come across Dragons, massive Trolls and Gargoyles, not to mention 7 foot armour clad knights!  I’ve glimpsed at things to come with the art book I received with my Limited Edition, and the prospect of battling the creatures found within is truly terrifying!

On the subject of battle, combat is (on the surface anyway), decidedly simplistic in Dark Souls.  Each arm is controlled with a different trigger and a light or heavy attack are all you have to work with.  Complexity instead is developed through the different weapons (and there are many) and the animations/timing attached to each.  Every weapon has different range and motion attached to them, and some are more suited to certain opponents over others.  Simply brandishing one sword throughout won’t win the game, or will at the very least make the proceedings difficult indeed.  The monsters you face have an equally daunting array of attacks and weapons and usually it takes quite some time and many deaths to discover their weaknesses and exploit them.

On the subject of death, this is one constant you cannot avoid in Dark Souls.  Every death boots you back to a checkpoint rather than the start of the level as Demons Souls did, but don’t be fooled as this doesn’t make things any easier.  To counter the lesser threat made by including checkpoints the designers have deemed the likelihood of death almost certain.  They have done this by creating more traps and harder enemies, but more importantly they have limited your capacity for healing.  Previously in Demons Souls you could hoard items of healing so much so that you felt safe(ish).  Not so in Dark Souls as healing potions are limited and are only replenished at checkpoints, coincidently accessing these checkpoints also respawns all the bad guys too (except bosses thank god!)  This makes every swig of your precious (and finite) health potions one more step towards certain doom, and demands caution and patience to level navigation and combat unlike anything I’ve ever played.

I’ve only scratched the pitch black, demon-infested surface that is Dark Souls and I’m hooked.  It’s hard to recommend a game of such glaring non-conformity, that rather than embraces its player and encourages them towards victory, instead taunts them with ridiculous levels of difficulty, and ultimately nothing but the promise of certain death!  But it’s this  unique challenge that seems missing from gaming these days, coupled with the level of inspiration and care that the designers put into creating a terrifyingly grim world, begging to be explored that I do wholeheartedly recommend Dark Souls.  When people ask me now why I look so tired I simply reply with a grave smile, “Dark Souls.”  I either receive a knowing smirk and head bob or a puzzled concerned stare.  This I imagine, is the reaction most would have attempting to play such a gruelling game and it will split opinions over its merits.  I for one, love the prospect that it may take me months if not years to complete Dark Souls and the sense of achievement that will come with eventual completion.