Dark Earth

Dark Earth (1997)

by Kalisto Entertainment
Genres:Adventure, Puzzle, Fighting
Themes:Action, Fantasy, Historical, Science fiction
Game modes:Single player
Story:Dark Earth is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure game for the PC. Dark Earth takes place several centuries in the future, when a meteor collision with Earth tossed up great clouds of dust that blocked out the sun. Earth's remaining survivors began to seek refuge beneath small openings in the clouds, the few places light could be found. Those that remained in the 'dark earth' were hunted by strange creatures, infected with the darkness. To shelter themselves from the dangerous 'dark earth', the people began to form cities beneath the light called 'Stallites'. At the time of the game, most of the citizens of the stallite have forgotten their history and now worship the light as a god. The stalites are run by 'Sun Priests', who maintain order and prevent the creatures of darkness from harming the city. The game follows the story of Arkhan, a "guardian of fire", protector of the stallite 'Sparta' and the Sun Priests. After an attack on the sun priests, Arkhan has a poison thrown into his face that begins to infect him with the dark sickness. He begins to mutate into a creature of the dark and has to find a cure before his transformation is complete. Along the way, he is treated as an enemy by most of his former friends while he struggles to uncover the conspiracy behind the attack.Show more
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Stories about this game (24)
What’s your memory of Dark Earth?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
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user avatar@pabbsteruser avatar@pabbster
January 29, 2025
I've only ever played the French demo that came with those PC magazines back in the day, almost 30 years ago, but I think about this game every few months. You never really got to get out of the first area in the demo, which I guess is a post-apocalyptic bunker or something, and move with tank controls. You can practice melee against your redhead squad leader, and there seemed to be quite some depth to it, with parries and different attacks and whatnot. You also get to choose if you're "sunny" or "dark" at the press of a button, and your guy with act like a d*ck to everyone if you choose "dark", which is pretty funny. There were also consequences for attempting to strike NPCs, and a little scene would play out, different for each instance, where you'd get arrested/killed for your efforts. There's also a guy who tells you dozens of times to leave if you keep talking to him and eventually he attacks you for real if you keep pushing. You gather stuff to have a functioning gun, and set out for your adventure, and the demo cuts out. It plays this intense CG scene full of action and a tinge of horror, and you get booted back to your desktop. Wish I could see what happens next.
user avatar@Tarhieluser avatar@Tarhiel
January 29, 2025
This gem needs a remaster by NightDive. And then release by GOG :) One of the most unique French games from the 90´s. I hope more would get to know about this game.
user avatar@MarkAltairuser avatar@MarkAltair
January 29, 2025
PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE PLEASE PLEASE great game, great atmosphere, great soundtrack. so underrated, i really can't believe that it has so few votes!!!!!
user avatar@jrjusticiauser avatar@jrjusticia
January 29, 2025
This gem only needs the same treatment as Panzer Dragoon. Just remake the 3D graphics. Too bad we have some Kalisto titles in GOG but this one is missing. I remember it is a 2 CD and the game manual had some good artwork from the game.
user avatar@victorbmuser avatar@victorbm
January 31, 2025
This is such a wonderful game with lots of wonderful memories from my childhood. Truly is a masterpiece. This amazing game really deserves to be brought back to life and to be played and enjoyed by everybody on modern systems. The atmosphere, the story, the music, everything is top notch.
user avatar@Boucherrouser avatar@Boucherro
January 31, 2025
Over 20 years later after playing this game I still shout out Thanandar, such is it's impact has been on me. An absolute classic with lots of depth and wonderful story telling
user avatar@colei_cheuser avatar@colei_che
February 01, 2025
This game is beautiful, and has a beautiful story, so compelling and with beautiful characters! The "taint" on the main character provided the possibility of different approach to the gameplay, the dialogues were so well written... the lore they managed to create is still deeply carved in my mind. It definitely is in my top ten, of best games ever released! I still have the original and the box - but to have the possibility to play it on a modern machine would be great! Maybe with a teak to the end "boss" fight - it was randomized and so, so frustrating.
user avatar@nobody1999user avatar@nobody1999
January 29, 2025
I played that game when I was a teenager by a demo... an unforgettable experience... such an unique game that deserves more attention and credit. I really love to this hidden game at GOG platform.
It was one of the few original games found in magazines of the time that I really liked, back in high school. I would like to reinstall it and relive the 90s. ^.^
First played Dark Earth as a demo that i got on disc in a magazine back in the 90s, enjoyed the demo so much that eventually few months later i found it for sale at the local game store at the mall so i picked up a copy and it was by far worth every penny. has an amazing story line, nice graphics, amazing soundtrack, great game play mechanics, many choices to make with varying different outcomes, also uses an interesting light and dark mechanic for interacting with various NPCs in different ways. great cinematics, many great characters. i really hope that this game can someday get released once again so that i can enjoy this great story once more. such a rare find of a game as well and it would be such a shame if it was lost to time forever and not experianced more by others. please bring Dark Earth back GOG
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