The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

 PC
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Checkpoint Gaming
    May 29, 2021
    90
    A ridiculous and funny point and click adventure that anyone can enjoy. The style of gameplay is simple, allowing you to enjoy the art, music and especially the writing even more. It will feed you that good mix of absurd and self-aware comedy that you didn’t even know you were hungry for. I really do encourage you to give it a go, especially if you’re on the fence about point and click adventures in general. It’s a game that doesn’t need a triple-A status or heavy content to be fantastic. Just a few sentient pixels, great writing and some paranormal cases to solve.
  2. Adventure Gamers
    May 3, 2021
    90
    With the same charming aesthetic and just as many laughs and quirky paranormal phenomena as the first season, The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is definitely worth playing for the comedically inclined.
  3. Ragequit.gr
    May 11, 2021
    85
    With substantial gameplay improvements but also some flaws compared to the first Darkside Detective, the second game in the series remains an adventure that would have made a splash if it had been released in 1994.
  5. GameGrin
    May 7, 2021
    85
    The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is a must play game for anyone who loves point-and-click adventure games, especially with a supernatural mystery theme. If you enjoyed the first game you obviously must play this title!
  6. RPG Fan
    May 11, 2021
    80
    A Fumble in the Dark may have lost sight of what made the first iteration great in some respects, but for those who want more of the charismatic duo and excellent observational humor, this is an admirable sequel. More is on the way, as well, so for those who worry we’ll be waiting another three or four years for Francis and Dooley to return, fear not. As for me, I’m okay with the break if it means an assurance of quality in the future.
  7. GameSpace
    Apr 20, 2021
    80
    A fantastic follow up to The Darkside Detective. A Fumble in the Dark is even more of the same irreverent action and spooktacular silliness from the best beat cops in Twin Lakes PD.
  8. The Indie Game Website
    Apr 19, 2021
    80
    The tale’s comedic tone and the dialogue are clever and snarky. Coupled with the supernatural shenanigans manifesting daily in the world of The Darkside Detective, these often lead to hilarious situations and reactions from the characters in them, among whom are skeptics to the authenticity of these happenings. Yet the jokes fall short at times due to unnecessarily exaggerated scenes, such as a squirrel planning a heist to a television station. Conversely, it is when The Darkside Detective takes itself a bit more seriously and embraces its deeper, darker roots, that the brilliance truly happens.
  9. Multiplayer.it
    Apr 13, 2021
    80
    The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark is an irreverent expression of the paranormal imagery that we usually find in today's TV series. The title's biggest flaw is its longevity, which we would have expected greater given its sequel nature.

Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Best PC Game of 2021

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
  1. chiphead
    Apr 26, 2021
    9
    McQueen and Dooley are back for the second installment of the Darkside Detective series, and it's every bit as funny as the first one. TheMcQueen and Dooley are back for the second installment of the Darkside Detective series, and it's every bit as funny as the first one. The pixelated graphics are endearing, but the writing (although sometimes not the spelling) is where this game shines.… Full Review »
  2. PublicNuisance
    May 7, 2021
    7
    I had really enjoyed season one of The Darkside Detective because, for the most part, the puzzles made sense and were logical. I found thatI had really enjoyed season one of The Darkside Detective because, for the most part, the puzzles made sense and were logical. I found that the sequel, A Fumble in the Dark, lacked that to a degree. Many times I found myself combining things for no logical reason, sometimes even with the main character commenting to this fact of how little sense it made. There were also other times where I knew what the game wanted me to do but until I did something specific like go to a certain room I couldn’t proceed. Overall though the cases are still enjoyable and the humour is still as great as ever. It is this that saves it in my eyes as I really do enjoy the characters; the humour and the world of the game. Hopefully they return to more sensible puzzles in future sequels. The art style is what it is, you’ll either enjoy pixel games or you won’t.

    I played A Fumble in the Dark on Linux. It never crashed on me and I didn’t notice any bugs. Alt-Tab didn’t work. I could manually save at any time (save for certain cut scenes) but there was just the one save file. There is still auto save for those who prefer that. The game ran great performance wise. There were no graphics options but this is a pixel game after all. The game did seem to use Vsync even if there was no option to toggle it.

    Game Engine: Unity
    Graphics API: OpenGL
    Save System: Manual and Auto
    Game Version Played: 0.10.202.67r

    GPU Usage: 0-70 %
    CPU Usage: 2-7 %
    VRAM Usage: 388-598 MB
    RAM Usage: 1.8-2.2 GB
    Frame Rate: 132-144 FPS

    Everything I loved about the original was still here, I just didn’t enjoy many of the puzzles as much. That being said the game still was enjoyable for me and probably will be for those who liked the first Darkside Detective as well. I would try out the demo if you’re on the fence. I paid $13.09 CAD for the game and finished it in 7 hours and 42 minutes which made it more than fair value wise for me.

    My Score: 7/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 21.0.3 | Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB | Manjaro 21.0.3 | Mate 1.24.1 | Kernel 5.12.1-2-MANJARO | AOC G2460P 1920*1080 @ 144hz    … Full Review »
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