When Darknet came out last year, right when modern VR was just about to take off, it was met with positive reviews that praised it for its depth, immersion, and replayability. Now that the game is coming out on the PlayStation VR, its solo developer, E McNeill, talks about the secret to the game’s success in a new developer diary.
According to McNeill, many VR games offer novel experiences or exploit VR technology in cool ways, but holding a person’s attention and interest for an extended time required something more. He reveals that depth and secrecy were crucial to Darknet’s success. He goes on to explain that while Darknet’s controls and basic mechanics are simple, the game quickly grows into a challenging and immersive experience.
In addition to that, every network, level, and puzzle in the game is procedurally generated. This leaves players with a practically endless amount of content and challenges to go through.
But McNeill explains that the most interesting source of the game’s success is its plethora of secrets. He says that while many games have Easter eggs, Darknet’s secrets actually affect its gameplay. These secrets range from secret mechanics to secret content, some of which are apparently hiding in plain sight and have yet to be discovered. He shares that, in at least one instance, the game’s community came together to solve one of the game’s mysteries.
McNeill closes by saying that it is the game’s secrets that make finally releasing the game for the PSVR so exciting, as the game will be exposed to a new wave of players that may finally discover all of its secret.
Darknet for PSVR launches today on the PlayStation Store. Watch out for our review coming out soon.
