I have never seen a game so brilliantly merge the jank of 2000s RPGs with the intense, nail-biting action of Dark And Darker Gold an extraction shooter as Dark And Darker. And it is an extraction shooter, except yoursquore wielding a spell book, a sword, or a crossbow instead of an automatic rifle. 

The game might look awkward to play if yoursquove just watched a few videos, but once yoursquore in those dark corridors, the heaviness of the weapons and the flickering torchlight are excellent for creating atmosphere and intense combat. 

Itrsquos also really, really hard. Irsquove successfully extracted three times in Dark And Darker, which requires you to reach one of the final rings (like a Battle Royale, which had Features Editor Eric Switzer calling the game a new type of innovative take on the genre) and pop yourself through a portal. 

These three extractions come from probably over fifty runs since the playtest started earlier this week. Thatrsquos not a great success rate, but I donrs care at all. The game is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, Dungeons or Dragons, or Arx Fatalis, that brilliant Arcane Studios game that was the forerunner of the modern ARPG.

Dark And Darker is hardcore. Escape From Tarkov is hardcore, too. Instead of getting one-shotted by a sniper in a tower you canrs even see in Tarkov, in Dark And Darker yoursquore being shanked in the back by Dark And Darker Gold Coins a sneaky Rogue, or turned into hot wax by a Wizardrsquos excellently placed fireball.