The Church in the Darkness Reviews

The Church in the Darkness is ranked in the 17th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10.0
Aug 1, 2019

The Church in the Darkness is a thought-provoking experience that should absolutely be on everybody’s to-play list

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7 / 10.0
Aug 1, 2019

In a time when marketers are tripping over themselves to distance their games from the overt politics they draw upon, The Church in the Darkness unapologetically runs in the opposite direction. Freedom Town isn’t just a facsimile of a political movement, it’s a borderline reenactment that asks players to take its world, and history, seriously.

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7 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

The Church In the Darkness offers a neat concept with some solid gameplay quirks albeit a little sloppy in execution at times. Fans of stealth will enjoy what’s on offer here and those with an interest in finding out various fates of the cult will have fun replaying to see all endings (which are text and song based rather than cut-scenes). It’s a nice game and worthy of a look in despite its relative simplicity. By the end of it though Issac and Rebecca’s chilling words might get the better of you.

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7.1 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

One of the things that can make indie games interesting and exciting is their ability to do things that are unexpected...

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5 / 10
Aug 2, 2019

The Church in the Darkness has some good ideas, but they're not properly realised. Gameplay never ventures out of its basic boundaries, while the narrative doesn't offer up enough variety or compelling subplots to engage with. The Church in the Darkness is competent for a couple of playthroughs, but it's an experience that you'll quickly forget about.

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4.5 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

The Church in the Darkness is full of bold narrative topics, but the gameplay and presentation fail to match, making it quite difficult to experience the message.

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5 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

The Church in the Darkness tells an engrossing and chilling tale, but it's technical problems will suck you right out of the experience.

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5 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

Procedural generation does little to bolster the one-dimensional gameplay and lack of a compelling narrative

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8 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

Discovering the secrets of the Freedom Town cult, who has power and influence where, as well as the inner workings of the leadership are the best parts of The Church In The Darkness. That combines with excellent stealth gameplay, a dynamic and engaging scenario-based narrative, and some excellent characters with great voice acting to create a memorable and unique experience. An experience that is only held back by a few technical issues and some missing quality of life features.

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Aug 2, 2019

The Church in the Darkness is an ambitious game and delivers on its premise almost all the way. It's worth sipping this Kool-Aid.

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GameSpace
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Aug 2, 2019

The Church in the Darkness send you creeping into the heart of the South American jungle to uncover the mysteries of a cult, the lure of their message, and the status of your nephew. Will they welcome you with the love of Jesus or is God the only one in this camp who will have mercy on your wretched soul?

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3 / 10
Aug 2, 2019

There are some intriguing ideas at play here. Decent stealth mechanics and a captivating cultist backdrop will reel you in though there just isn't enough substance to make The Church in the Darkness a lasting, worthwhile experience.

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4 / 10
Aug 2, 2019

Aside from the vastly eclectic endings, the gameplay just isn’t enough to sustain it through several attempts to find them all. The gameplay never deviates from avoiding vision cones and knocking some people out if necessary. And as the game is encouraging you to experience it over and over again, it really needed a compelling reason to work your way to another ending. The premise and the endings are the clear standouts. It’s the bit in-between that makes it feel like The Church in The Darkness is a squandered opportunity.

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6.5 / 10.0
Aug 4, 2019

The Church in the Darkness has created a story that makes you question the cult's motives with every playthrough. No game is the same, but even though their are some neat ideas, the technical issues can really hamper your enjoyment.

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D
Aug 4, 2019

The numerous issues with The Church in the Darkness aren’t gamebreaking, but given how plentiful the problems are, you’ll struggle to extract any fun from the experience.

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7.5 / 10.0
Aug 4, 2019

You won’t find many games like this. The mirroring of reality and history, the pensive and sober presentation (unlike the over-the-top Far Cry 5) puts you in a different headspace as a gamer if you’re earnest about the experience from the moment you step into the jungle. If you want to experience something that is distinctive, a far cry from what you might be used to, The Church in the Darkness will give your conscience a workout. The weighty subject matter is not for everyone, however.

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Aug 5, 2019

The Church in the Darkness seems to have an interesting concept, but the reality is that infiltrating a 1970s cult isn't as much fun as it might seem.

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6 / 10.0
Aug 5, 2019

The Church in the Darkness is an okay stealth roguelike that shows humanity can twist religion into a dark monster.

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Aug 6, 2019

While I can't call The Church in the Darkness bad, it's a disappointingly limited experience. Once the excellent setting and the randomization wear off you're left with a clunky top-down stealth game.

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7.5 / 10.0
Aug 6, 2019

That said, The Church in the Darkness is a smart stealth game that impressively warps to reflect your actions. It lets you get in and break out as you see fit. While failure still feels like failure, success is sweet and varied. Once it gets a hold of you, you may not want to break out, at all.

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