Creating a compelling stealth based gaming experience is a delicate thing. Notable experiences such as Dishonored and Assassin’s Creed may come to mind when one thinks of good stealth experiences. Robust gameplay is a cornerstone of the stealth game style genre and has evolved a good deal since games such as Metal Gear on the NES. A Church in the Darkness on the Nintendo Switch is not an example of these principals. In fact, this title suffers a bit too much from its retro style feel and minimalist approach to gameplay.
A Church in the Darkness is a game that focuses on a family member led astray by a God-fearing, socialist society in the 1970s. You are sent a postcard that compels you to find Alex, an impressionable young man. Armed with the skills to liberate him, you set off to Cuba where his cult has relocated and quickly find out what his new life is all about. The game makes a great first impression and immediately sucks you in with a narration of the postcard to inspire your quest.
What A Church in the Darkness gets right is aesthetic and atmosphere. The natural sounds of the jungle create a nice backdrop to the separatist propaganda blaring over the loudspeakers in the town set in the Cuban jungles and beaches. The dialogue does a great job of setting a mood of uneasy comfort when taken in. The emotion behind them is palpable and the dialogue exchanges with the friendly townsfolk adds to the charm and atmosphere. You are also allowed to switch up your loadout each playthrough for a good amount of variety.
Unfortunately, A Church in the Darkness is a clunky experience at best and often a frustrating one. The controller layout works against the player, with only the stealth and sprint being swappable on the Switch. The takedown button is also the same that throws a rock go distract enemies, so one wrong tap will instantly break your cover. Shooting a gun is also awkward, holding ZL to enter an aiming mode then using the right stick to aim. Finally, ZR fires the weapon according to a lock on system. The enemies move quick and fire relentlessly when you are in their sights.
Even after mastery of the weapon systems, lethal combat is completely fruitless. In some cases, character storylines are interrupted and they become hostile. While full of personality and voice acted, the character stories boil down to simple fetch quests in white chapels across the map. This is where the second main draw of A Church in the Darkness comes into play; replayability and randomization.
Your character has 3 lives, which is to say you can get gunned down 3 times before you are forced to restart. This is encouraged, as you are allowed to randomize the map and personalities of the preachers each play-through. You can also restart with the same exact settings as before if you want another clean shot. Unfortunately the poor controls and clunky game-play undermine this entire concept. It is truly a shame because it brings the excellent story and atmosphere down with it.
A Church in the Darkness on the Nintendo Switch is a disappointing experience. While you are able to more readily experience the narrative on the easiest difficulty the controls may still hinder you. The characters are interesting and the voice actors add a ton of charm but boil down to boring fetch quests. It’s unfortunate to see an interesting narrative be undermined by so many fundamental flaws that make a game fun. There is something here for those who can get passed this, but it is only for the truly interested. You might want to wait for a demo or rent the game first.
A review code for Nintendo Switch was provided by Evolve
