Dark Matter

Dark Matter usually means a sci-fi action or adventure game built around isolation, hostile spaces, and the uneasy business of getting through them alive. By our assessment, that setup is strongest when the game leans into isolation and resource pressure, because those are the ingredients that give the title its name real weight. The problem is that the name is also common enough that it can stand on atmosphere alone, and atmosphere is a thin base if the rest of the design is not equally sharp. In practice, games with this title tend to ask for cautious movement and attention to the surroundings rather than fast, loose combat. It sits in a crowded field of small-scale science-fiction games, and the title works best when the mechanics match the lonely tone instead of drifting into generic shooting.