The Dark Rites of Arkham – The Swearing Detective [Review]

The Dark Rites of Arkham could exist in the same world as Dreams in the Witch House, going by the visual style and gameplay. However, the one thing that crashes the illusion is that the story of Walter Gilman and the Witch is in The Dark Rites of Arkham. Don’t worry, this is not a best-of-Lovecraft kind of tale, even if most games that tackle the cosmic horrors of H. P. Lovecraft, end up becoming just that. There are many clear references, though, but the location and setting explain that to a degree—shielding itself from most of the been-there-done-that type of feeling.

Arkham detective
In The Dark Rites of Arkham, you play as the Arkham Police Detective Jack Foster, an officer of the law who suffers from psychological issues after going through a tough ordeal. Now, being reinstated, he is met with disdain by some of his colleagues, as the event ended with one of them dead, under very mysterious circumstances. In other words: a perfect protagonist for an adventure in the world of Lovecraft. Not too sane, and not too crazy, balancing that fine line between reality and the strange and occult. 

What is interesting here is that you also get a partner to investigate the latest case of a headless corpse. This fella, going by the name of Harvey Whitman, is much more accepting of the supernatural, which would make you think these two will complement each other, or just cause outright friction and drama. But as this tale is written, both of these two soon end up on the same side of the coin—meaning there will be a minimum of conflict. It’s somewhat odd narratively, yet, at the same time, refreshing. However, it does end up with the strange becoming mundane, as neither has much of a reaction to the absolutely bonkers stuff they witness. There might be an “Oh God” uttered from time to time, but most of the time, our protagonists will just go along with it.

What seems to make the two detectives more upset is all the racism in Arkham, which frankly becomes tiresome fast and actually ruins the flow of the story in parts. Modern politics inserted into a horror adventure game that takes place in the 1930s never becomes a swell time. At one point, I thought the writing would go down the road of making the hideous people from Innsmouth into victims of racism, just like how things played out in The Sunken City. I’m glad to say it was never taken to that extreme, but it has moments that are eye-rolling. 

Tales of Lovecraft
As mentioned in the intro, the tales of Lovecraft are part of the game, but what makes The Dark Rites of Arkham more than a rehashed greatest hits is that these stories happened in-world (part of the history of Arkham). This means that you get to see what happened to Gillman, for example, after his torment with the witch. It doesn’t match up perfectly with Lovecraft’s stories, but they present here nonetheless. What makes it work is that The Dark Rites of Arkham has its own story, with these segments woven into its plot. The focus is the murder tale, which is fairly interesting. At times, it does drift into a bit of a Lovecraft theme park to propel the narrative forward, but it never slips into outright retelling.

Overall, though, I enjoyed it. Jack Foster and Harvey Whitman are a charming pair, and the pacing holds up well. There was even one part where I got chills down my spine, so it has a level of eeriness to it. I’m also glad to say that The Dark Rites of Arkham has a real, solid ending, instead of the bait and switch that is common enough in Lovecraft-inspired tales of cosmic horror.

Clicking & puzzles
The gameplay is as standard as it comes, going by point & click adventure gaming. You click, match, and hope the logic apparatus upstairs has figured out what is needed for that sweet dopamine reward. There are plenty of puzzles to be solved, but I wouldn’t say they are hard. On the adventure scale, they land on the easier side. Regardless, satisfaction will be found, with the pacing keeping it snappy, as you won’t get stuck for long on the puzzles. No real knowledge of the occult is required to finish the game, which can come as a disappointment to some (me).

Pixel look
The Dark Rites of Arkham looks great in its pixel art glory. The thing that stood out to me was the amount of detail in the environments. The backgrounds feel very alive too, with much going on to give it a realistic city feel. You have people milling about, trains speeding by and leaves dancing in the wind—each screen constructed to be a pleasure for the eyes. The same goes for the music and sound. The songs fit all the different scenarios, with my favorite being the jazzy film noir tune. It really sets the mood for spending time investigating the horrific, unnatural murder. What the game doesn’t have though is voice acting, none at all in fact. I found it missing occasionally for this kind of title, but at least I didn’t have to wait for spoken lines to finish in frustration, because I read the subtitles faster. 

Conclusion
The Dark Rites of Arkham is a fine game set in the Lovecraft mythos, if you ever feel like a cozy mystery on a slow Sunday. However, what drags it down a bit is the focus on “racism” at certain segments of the story, since it has almost zero plot relevance. And this kind of trite messaging can be found in every other game nowadays, so it’s getting old (as the old ones). Other than that, the story was entertaining, but perhaps not something super memorable, especially if you have played other games set in Arkham. Yet, as I said, if you want a somewhat spooky adventure mystery, you can’t go wrong here, so I recommend it on that basis.

Thanks for reading.

– Thomas