Update 12 March 2017:
**Patches/State of the Game:
Well, despite Iggy's claims they're still supporting the game, the last patch notes are from 2015( see these two images- iggy claiming it's still supported, but latest patch notes being from Nov 2015 http://imgur.com/gallery/TbIsG . Check the discussion boards if you don't believe me) and from all I can see it's still utterly broken. http://www.dreamatrix.net/news/wod_updates.html which is their official site for WoD updates reinforces this.
**Graphics:
Just..dont buy it. Please. For your own sanity. Look at this screensnip I just took. Marvelously detailed armour and then the actual character model... http://i.imgur.com/Zq0cmVR.png (note that's on the highest settings I could find, with a very recently built gaming rig, skylake processor, GTX1070 etc etc)
**Previous Titles:
Oh and a big hint that the game is just a pretty poor rework of LOD (Legends of Dawn), one of their previous, also negatively reviewed, games? The game executable itself is called game_lod.exe. That and a lot of the models, lore, etc are awfully similar.
**Bugs and misc:
Alt-tab still tends to hang the game to the point you have to Task-manager crash it out.
Still able to get stuck in far too many places- and there's no unstuck, so you have to go back to your previous save
Random crashes- no obvious source, seemingly purely random.
They don't appear to have spell-checked or grammar-checked a lot of the quest text/conversation text, glaring errors in most text that pops up.
As in original review, the inventory system is a crippled mess. you'll end up with 50 or so different kinds of materials and recipes that you can't craft for ages, weapons and armour you probably won't ever be able to use and everything else, and a confusing inventory upgrade system on top of it.


Original Review:
Still seems to be a broken, clunky mess...and the crafting is ridiculous- you'll find your inventory quickly filling up with a massive number of crafting materials and recipes, but none you can actually make because you're missing one or two bits (some of which show up on vendors, but they have randomised inventories, so..yeah..may not even have simple stuff, not to mention it's often pricey as hell).
Plus on the point of inventory, there's an odd system of bags..where you buy a bag and can upgrade it's size by adding more bags (up to a limit), which is a cool idea..except a) a lot of the bags look the same ( I don't mean similar, I mean the exact same icon), and they no longer show their name once you've equipped them so it gets confusing which is which. They also don't list anywhere on them the maximum number of upgrades (total slots) they can have, which can lead to you buying too many of a bag and essentially wasting gold.
Despite what seems like a massive world, the whole place really is rather linear, and still confusing at the same time.
A lot of the quest texts are unclearly written, which can lead you to attempt the wrong thing (or go the wrong place) which gets frustrating fast.
You don't really get many skills in the game, you (mostly) get Spells. Spells are odd too- you'll combine Runes (which, sadly enough is the name for both an item to unlock certain chests, and the items to make spells) to craft a spell, but that doesn't teach you the spell..you still have to carry the spell around in your bags, taking up inventory slots. Some spell combinations are ridiculous (both good and bad), and a lot of it really, really doesn't make sense.
Honestly, I wouldn't recommend getting this game unless you're prepared for a lot of frustration

I was super hyped for this game when I saw it on Kickstarter. I backed it up to the highest Digital Tier. I didn't have much money and felt skipping a meal or two would be worth it.

I waited patiently for it's release and then some to give the devs a chance to work out some bugs. I'm not big on early access and am happy to wait for something decent. I jumped in recently and after giving it a decent amount of in-game time(10+ hours) I can say I am thoroughly disappointed.

I was expecting something more from the previews and the amazing kickstarter video presented by what I thought was a solid and cool team of devs. They even had a cat people... A CAT!!!

Sadly it seems like just a cheap overlay of the Legends of Dawn game. I have both the original and remaster but neither delivered and sadly neither does this game. I am unsure what new tech innovations they dev team has added but I can find none. The interface is almost exactly the same and boy does that have a big let down... there are about 13 floating icons... talk about destroying any immersion. There is an icon for Inventory, Character sheet, map, options, which is fair but then there are about a half dozen more each with a HUGE explanation of what they do... Yes I get it.. it's the inventory... I store items there... no please don't have another huge paragraph for each one.

So onto the other fun stuff.... The loading times.

Loading times are abysmal!!! I had time to go make myself a sandwich and wax the car. I have a very decent PC build and can run anything new with high specs... the optimization of this game is horrid. But hey if the wait was worth it then I wouldn't mind... oh wait... it wasn't... le sigh

The tutorial island is a great idea but does not deliver in giving a meaningful tutorial, it instead just lets you wander giving you a few tips. You may as well just have throw the player into the deep end... but it seems to want to baby you at first but then in the way a parent would leave a child in the crib and go off to have a smoke... yeah.

I was expecting an amazing story drive based game. Instead this is a single player MMO.
I was so frustrated by all I've mentioned and more than I couldn't care less about the story which sounds like it could have been an amazing one set in the backdrop of a war being waged.

I hope the devs see this feedback as constructive and that their next project is far more refined. If they ever need more beta testers or QA please let me know. I would have been willing to throw more of my hard earned money at the KS if it meant a better product.

Please avoid this game until a substantial update happens, if ever. I have a free copy that I won't give away because I honestly don't want to waste my friend's time.

Devs please feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to alpha test, QA and many other things for free including project management then if the game sucks you can just blame me ;)

After researching for weeks for a game I think I would really like I get to this. I played for an hour and requested a refund. The tutorial island is terrible, the 'helpful' messages get in the way of your view, all inventories are unintuitive, what is clickable on the screen is impossible to tell without mousing over it.

The very first quest had improper info. Talk to the quest giver then open a door elsewhere. Get to the door, says talk to the quest giver. Go to quest giver, says open the door. Have to Google to find out there was a key in a box that I didn't click on. No need to talk to quest giver. This is the opening tutorial. If these mistakes are here, who knows what else is wrong.

On the opening island there is only 1 enemy. So far the game seemed to be trying to explain how things work, but no tutorial for fighting. So I figure out how to draw my weapon and begin fighting...which involves holding down left click on the enemy. Seems fine, just like Diablo. Figure I will get more moves later. Nope, not fine. Enemy doesn't die. It's not like I have any skill I can use here, all I can do is melee at point blank range. Enemy kills me with 2/3rds of it's life. I respawn and attack again (Happily enemy doesn't go back to full HP). 2 more deaths and 5 mins later and it's dead.

Perhaps it had something to do with the Cursed Weapon I was holding. I found this weapon lying around, looked better than mine so I equiped it. It's the tutorial, so what could go wrong? Totally cursed. Can't un-equip. I couldn't even figure out why I couldn't un-equip until I saw a small icon in the top right of my screen saying I was holding a cursed item. It should have said something across my screen when I tried to switch it out.

Then looting is terrible. Want to mine? No animation. Just opens up a window with some ore. EVERYTHING is like this. Can't even shift click to put it in your inventory. Drag and drop. Or click a picture of a hand to get it all at once.

Map is fairly bad as well. It's huge, as advertised, but ugly and hard to understand. For instance, I wanted to un-curse my weapon. I had to look up what a Shrine looked like on the map since it's not listed under the rest of the large icons that signify areas of importance. Saw this complained about in another thread since I had to look this up to. Got to the Shrine that would supposedly uncurse my weapon, but I saw no option to do so. Accidently fell in the water next to it and died. Submitted a request for a refund.

I don't doubt that it gets better as I go, but I'm not going to waste time here. I found Dwarf Fortress to have a nicer UI.

For the amount of people complaining about this game on the forums, i don't understand. First off, yea, there is a couple of bugs, but there not game breaking. One is when you 1st load up the game, the game is unresponsive, but that is easy to fix, you close it, close it in the task manager, and start it up again. This fixes it. The other bug i found is some enemies teleport around. I actually thought it was a monster skill at 1st, but i guess it is a minor glitch. As far as im concerned, neither of these bugs break the game much. I am having fun with it. I just did enough quests to own my own house in the game..shame i only had enough money to buy rugs and tables.

AS far as the game, yea, it does not hold your hand. First off, the quests do not mark where you go. You must explore where to go to the next quest. Older rpg's were like this. In a way, this does not really bother me, as you explore alot of the world for looking for your quest goals.

The other thing people complain about is the lack of inventory space. This is not a Final Fantasy game where you can carry 99 of every item in your backpack. I feel this game is more realistic in the respect you can carry only limited supplies. Even diablo 1 and 2 was like this, get used to it or play an easier game. Yes, this game is hard. It does not babysit your character. In that respect, i actually find that quite fun and refreshing not to being handheld on what to do in the game. Sure, if i wanted to play an easy game, i might like that, but i find this way also fun. I recommend it if you can bypass the small bugs, and ignore the item limits you can hold. Don't let those turn you off the game. It has some strategy and fun aspects.

i got this free from a friend. So thank you friend. I am enjoying this game.

UPDATED: Even after playing this game awhile, yes, i see more bugs, but nothing that i consider game breaking or that bad. The game is basically still fun to play and a ARPG basically. What bugs i found are some doors act weird when you open and close them on houses, some npc's get stuck on clipping issues, and other small things that are not that bad..

Just a suggestion, but i suggest buying it only on sale. Due to bugs it is not worth full price, but it is still a decent game for what it is.

Introduction
Wave of Darkness is an isometric action RPG title set in a common phantasy world with elves, undead and magic.

Gameplay & Story: 2/10
Absolutely unique story: Waves of monsters suddenly envade the land and people are in desperate search of a hero. You never had such story before yet, right? The gameplay lasted about an hour until I decided to uninstall. You run around almost aimlessly since the quests only provide you local tasks and no big picture. Once you are done with the quest it just disappears from the log and you dont even know who to talk to to finish the quest. The ingame systems are clunky and require a lot of time and patience just to get used to.

Combat & Challenge : 2/10
The combat I had for the first hour of the game consisted of holding the right mouse button down when you want to hit an enemy. Thats it. I would like to write more but there simply isnt.

Graphic & Interface : 3/10
The graphic is insanely bad for a 2015 title. Some games from 90s look better and more detailed than Wave of Darkness. The interface is clunky, loaded with tons of icons and the inventory management is one of the worst in an RPG game. Howering over a mouse makes your screen get covered in information about that item, however you dont find the needed or important information quick enough.

Progress & Mini-Games : 3/10
The progress I made in the first hour so far was to run around finishing the few quests I receive talking to random NPCs standing around and killing some monsters. I was tasked with warning the king and what not but did not really feel inclined to do so. The bad optimization and crashes did not really speed up my progress.

Audio & Immersion : 5/10
The audio was so far the only positive thing about the game. The smoothing music in the background made me last longer with this game while the battle sounds were not too disturbing or clunky as the rest of the game.

Side-Notes

• This game is single player only.
  
• This game is reported to last for around 20-30 hours story and quest gameplay time.
  
• This game contains steam achievements.
  
• This game offers bad optimization, possible crashes and performance issues.

Summary
There are not many games that I could not stick through, especially being RPGs or action games. Sadly, Wave of Darkness is one of them, so after playing a bit more than an hour it felt like an absolute waste of time to even try continueing in this game. I cant recommend Wave of Darkness to anyone, even hardcore RPG and oldschool action game fans should avoice it.


I hope this review helps you making the decision if its worth buying this game. Rate and leave a comment if you enjoyed reading it.
~ForestWolf

Wave of Darkness was something I wasn't expecting. I love all types of RPG games and Wave of Darkness is another one to add to the list.To me it came across of Diablo 2 mix with Sacred 2. For an early access title, there is plenty of game contents to keep you going for hours. At the time of writing this, I only put in almost 5 hours but had no major game crashes or game breaking bugs to warrant any reason to stop playing the game. With my GTX 960 I can run the game on max with some minor frame drop every now and then.

The combat can be a bit chunky but overall not to bad. The spell creating in great. After you created your spell, each time you cast it, it levels as well. There not to much in the way of skills as I can see yet but you do get attribute points in both character leveling and skills leaving. There are fast travel way points with in most locations. There are some areas in the game that look like it can be easily swim across but don't temp this, as your character can't swim and will die.

The Good : -

* Loot, loot and more loot
* Plenty of Bag space on your character
* Spell Creation - Create your own spell and level them
* Open World

The Bad : -

* Quests need to be easier to Identified in both receiving and handing in.
* Combat can be chunky
* Way to many keys
* Can't Swim

The Neutral : -

* Curse items

Overall a great game but can be a heavy in the pocket for the cost for early access game.

7/10 for me.

Personal Rating: 3 of 10

This game is a fine example of what happens when a developer has a huge ambition to create a game but disregard the design and needs from the players point of view; complete disaster.

The game started on a tutorial island and already you can see there are actually plenty of features and contents. The rune mechanic is also fresh as unlocking chests require some kind of puzzle. The weapon system goes so deep there are binded cursed weapons already in the tutorial.

However, this game lacks in presenting these features to the players and interaction between players and the game is kept at minimal. Example, I spent minutes looking for the captain as presented in the hint box but he was just right beside me where I started because hovering my mouse over NPCs does not glow nor have any hint that they can be interact with. The example is just a small insight of how vague the game can be.

If you are a hardcore patient gamer who are really into RPG perhaps this would be nice. I don't know how the story goes but dialogue are voiced over so that is pretty awesome.

Every other things such as graphics, character creation and customization, inventory, minimap, camera controls and etc are mediocre. Nothing to shout about but its there, plain and simple and ready to be utilized.

Same as most reviewers have already reported plus a note of caution
for those interested in the level editor. It appears there is one but it's
linked to a scintilla.dll which is not there nor could I find one to make
the editor functional.

I'm more of a 'maybe' than a whole-hearted recommend, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I rather enjoyed my time with the game, but ultimately stopped playing because of the glitches. There's a good game trapped in here. If it was finished properly it could even be a great game. As is, it's interesting with hints of greatness mixed in a bag of random pain.

Unlike what others have said, this honestly has very little in common with Diablo, Gothic, or other RPGs. It's definitely a retro, no-hand-holding RPG, but it quite simply doesn't have the depth the other big names do.

Yes, there are significant issues. The game plays like an unfinished beta:
- certain mobs glitch
- the tutorial is unclear
- the camera is godawful and needs constant handholding
- locks are totally unused (after the tutorial), but you still find keys and runes everywhere
- the combat system is rudimentary (no skills, just stats and spells)
- performance is pretty bad
- achievements are a mess
- itemization is bland
- terrain can sometimes hang you up and you have not option but to reload
- the UI could really use some work.
- my character would get stuck running and only a full restart would fix it (this ultimately caused me to quit playing because it was way too annoying and frequent)

If you can ignore all that, the base game is completely playable and relatively fun.
+ The world is very large and there's lots to explore, with secret stashes hidden about liberally.
+ The spell system is unique.
+ Monster visual design is excellent.
+ The quests and world are interesting, if a bit barebones.
+ The voice acting is surprisingly good for such a low-budget game.
+ Music is quite good.

Unfortunately, it seems the dev team is no longer working on the project, and they have a shady past of 'updating' their games, so it seems this game will remain in the current unfinished state. As such, I can only recommend this if you're able to look past the large number of negatives and see the good parts forged by an indie developer with some unique vision. There's fun to be had, but, honestly, you're probably better off with other big name games. 5/10 ... without the bugs, would be 7/10.

https://youtu.be/S3ZJy1doOag

Wave of Darkness was developed and published by Dreamatrix and released on November 5th, 2015. The game was a Kickstarter campaign that successfully funded at over $20,000.

Dreamatrix provided a review copy to The Hidden Levels and we thank them greatly for that.

Ammendment: I have played through the fixed tutorial and learned how to craft spells and use runes for them. This aspect of the game is very unique and fun, crating spells using the faith can lead to some interesting combinations. I put together a ward with acid damage and armor reduction and enemies melted. I can see this having substantial potential but again certain aspects of the game simply need polish.

I am ammending my review from not recomennded to recommended for those who want a custom character and spell building game, which needs more work to be fully finished. I state again, I ONLY recommend this to players looking for something a bit more challenging than a run of the mill experience. Below is my Original review for the sake of fairness. 11/8/15


Original full review:
I was pretty hyped to start this game after watching the trailer and in game intro video. Then we got to the character creation and the graphics seemed to take a massive jump down in terms of quality. I had trouble with that but pressing on we made a character and ventured into the tutorial. The tutorial is bugged, and this is something that I'd suggest needs to be fixed immediately. Once you get to a certain point there is a door that will not open, and essentially the tutorial dies there.

Into the game I traveled into town and found a quest to go gather in a swamp. I finally found a small gap i a tree that was completely black, moused over it to see it light up, and it "zoned me" into a swamp area. I fought a few things and instantly noticed that some mobs appear and disappear, the aggro distance for each mob is tied to another, and that mobs could get stuck in the goemetry and become invincible. This all mkaes for a relatively difficult combat experience.

I tried my hardest to find some of the herbs or flowers from my 2 quests, but they seemed to not exist. Was the bug in the tutorial placed there to prepare me for the bugs in the game? I pressed on and killed mobs for another 20 minutes or so, and after a half hour of just swinging the sword I headed back to town.

The map displays a vast and huge world with loads to do, so if fixed I think this game has some serious potential. The amount of loot you get and the unique crafting system are hampered by the bugs but still set this apart from some other ARPG type games. I can't reccomend it in it's current state but would suggest that I update this review after some potential updates and polishing has been done. I think this game could be great, it's just not finished yet.

Thanks for reading and taking the time to like our review!