Born Into Darkness

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on August 17, 2011

As far as we're concerned, the mark of a good computer game is our inability to stop playing it even when we have other things we need to be doing. By that metric, Born Into Darkness is a very good game indeed. Although we've seen plenty of similar games, the mystery aspect of Born Into Darkness kept us engaged for much longer than we expected it to.

First things first: To download the game, you must download the Free Ride Player, a game manager that will then download Born Into Darkness. It will also download three other games without asking and put a couple of uninvited icons on your desktop. Combine that with the video advertising that must be endured before the game starts and the banner ads that surround the game during play, and playing Born Into Darkness is a bit of a pain. But if you can put up with all of that, you'll find an intriguing hidden-object adventure. The premise of the game is a bizarre mixture of vampirism and Christianity; Amber, who is the curator of a museum--and is also a vampire--sets out with an assistant curator to locate the Shroud of Lazarus, which can supposedly cure her vampirism. The game starts out in the museum, with players searching for pieces of a ladder so that they can reach a malfunctioning light in the storage room, and progresses to the Middle East, Europe, and beyond. The object searches and built-in puzzles are fun and challenging, and plenty of in-game guidance is provided for new players. Overall, we found Born Into Darkness to be quite enjoyable to play; we couldn't wait to see what would happen or where Amber and her assistant would end up next.

Born Into Darkness installs desktop icons without asking but uninstalls cleanly.

Publisher's Description

From Free Ride Games:

Venture into the twilight with Born into Darkness, a thrilling hidden object race to uncover the secrets of eternal life. Amber is a night curator and a vampire. One night, she finds the new assistant curator breaking into a museum exhibit who confronts her with a strange proposition - help him find the legendary Shroud of Lazarus, a relic said to cure any ill, including her vampirism. Agreeing, they set off but soon realize that it is a dangerous quest. Take this gripping journey to recover the Shroud. Visit dark and unwelcoming locations searching for its resting place. Unearth remnants once draped in conspiracy to pick up the trail. Solve baffling puzzles, fend off vampires, and piece together strange clues. Help Amber become human, or be doomed to her curse forever. * Take a shadowy journey through ancient conspiracies in this hidden object thriller. * Locate a miraculous Shroud said to cure any ill. Resolve a deadly past and confront an impending evil. * Solve baffling puzzles and fend off bloodthirsty vampires. * Lift the vampiric curse or be doomed forever.