Dark Wave for Android

Controls are slow to react and gameplay is not very fluid for its type.

Neat and got it for free, can’t complain

Boring app that I wouldn’t even consider as a game. Very frustrating and I definitely do not recommend. Deleted.

There’s little point to creating a game that causes constant frustration with random variables that only serves to prevent you from ever completing it. Dark Wave is well presented and has a very likable music soundtrack. But it is unfairly challenging after level 25 or so, which leads to boredom and, for many, simple abandonment. What’s the point of that? The ‘easy mode’ attempts to make things fairer but doesn’t quite succeed. There’s no easy mode on the Google TV version, nor any in-app purchase offering to acquire the endless mode if the player so chooses (they purchased the full game, right?). This is the first - and last - game I’ll get from Semidome. You blew it.

Nightgate may quite honestly be my favorite game of all time. I played the whole thing on Google TV, and it’s really a perfect storm of awesomeness with the lights off and the music cranked. As far as this game, it has that same aesthetic, but I don’t like the music quite as much. It’s also much much harder. Nightgate was more of a droney, zoned out experience, whereas this one is a lot more twitchy. I’ve discovered that you really need to get into a hyper focused zen state to even have a chance on some of the later levels, gaining some sort of a sixth sense on where things will go. That said, I feel like the developers do great work, though I would probably love this game a lot more if it was somewhat more forgiving. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to beat it, but I’m definitely going to keep plugging away. Update (8-7-18) This is going to be my final update. After playing more of Endless Mode than I would care to admit, I feel like I have a pretty solid sense of what this game is. First off, the music is fine and fits the game well. Second, I mentioned a Hyper Light Drifter esque sense of difficulty in my last review, which was way off. That game is a lot more strategic (and a totally different genre all together). Dark Wave in my mind is about two things: riding an ever changing wave, and learning how to stay calm during a subtle sense of escalating tension. Once you figure out how the pieces work, it’s more about being composed enough to make a quick decision in your head without thinking too much about it. I can’t think of any game since I was a kid to where I was determined to beat my high score. It became a personal obsession to do so, and now that I’ve done it I can rest easy. For all of these reasons, this game has earned my highest praises, and I can confidently give it 5 stars.