Is Dark And Light, Worth Playing?

Dark and Light was a great idea in 2006 and a decent idea in 2017; however, in 2022, there is just too much competition in the genre for it ever to be anything more than near-complete failure.

The Lowdown.

Product Details
Genre: Survival
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Snail Games USA
Price: $17.99
Release Date: 30 April 2014
Supported Modes:
Disclosure: Review Copy This game was purchased with our own funds for review purposes, however this has no baring on our opinions.

Good Character Customisation.

Dark and Light has one of the best character creators in the genre, far surpassing even the impressive array of options available in Conan Exiles and Atlas.

Players are free to customise almost every aspect of their character, including race, with players being able to choose to play as Elves, Dwarves or Humans by default, while the editor offers enough leeway for players to role-play as Orcs, Hobbits and more.

I would easily put the Dark and Light character creator on par with any early 2010s Korean MMORPG, which makes sense when you consider that Dark and Light (2017) began life as an MMORPG (Dark and Light (2006)).

is-dark-and-light-worth-playing-in-2021

Image credit Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack - Published by Snail Games USA and developed by Ubisoft Montreal.

Races.

Players are free to choose from one of 3 starting races, each with its own unique building style; I am partially fond of how good the elf buildings look and would have loved to see how the system could have been expanded upon, introducing additional races and aesthetics such as Orc, Goblin and Hobbit.

Dark and Light (2006).

Dark and Light started life as an MMORPG whose servers were shut down in 2008 without informing the players, leaving them to find out the hard way that the game they had purchased was gone and wouldn’t be returning in any form for almost a decade.

Ark Survival Evolved.

Dark and Light(2017) is based upon a fork of Ark Survival Evolved from early 2016, which could explain why it suffered from performance-related issues that Ark Survival Evolved had long addressed by the time Dark and Light entered early access. 

is-dark-and-light-worth-playing-in-2021

Image credit Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack - Published by Snail Games USA and developed by Ubisoft Montreal.

Rivals.

Dark and Light and Citadel: Forged with Fire entered early access within seven days of each other back in July 2017, in a move many have deemed as “a rush to market”; unfortunately, both titles would struggle to attract an audience, resulting in many in the community believing them to have been abandoned by their developers.

Visuals.

Dark and Light looked stunning upon release in 2017 and still looks amazing in 2021; unfortunately, the price of this visual fidelity came at the cost of optimisation, and Dark and Light is unable to run at 1080p/fps at maxed settings even four years after release on all but the most powerful setups.

is-dark-and-light-worth-playing-in-2021

Image credit Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack - Published by Snail Games USA and developed by Ubisoft Montreal.

Dark And Light FAQ

Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack is a survival video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Snail Games USA, it was released on 30 April 2014 and retails for $17.99.

Platform Availability.

Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.

Are The Developers Active?

Dark And Light is no longer in active development, and the developers have moved on to other projects.

How Many People Play Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack?

As of December 2024, around 400 people play Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack on a fairly regular basis.

How Active Is The Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack Playerbase?

Child of Light: Dark Aurora Pack is essentially dead, and finding an active server is near impossible, and may require playing on a server with very high latency.

Is There Group Finding/Matchmaking Support?

Dark And Light offers the following matchmaking options:

  • Server Browser

What Peripherals Are Supported?

The following peripherals are officially supported:

  • PC - Mouse and Keyboard.

Is There Any Mature Content?

Dark And Light is unrated and contains:

  • Gore
  • Partial Nudity
  • Violence

Final Verdict.

I can only recommend Dark and Light to those who enjoy playing alone or who have a group of friends and the means to run their own server; for everyone else, there are far more accessible, popular and well-supported games to invest your time and money into, such as Ark Survival Evolved, Conan Exiles and to a much lesser extent Atlas, which continues to enjoy a thriving unofficial community despite its unimpressive player count.


Richard Robins

Richard Robins

As a follower of Jesus Christ, Richard believes that the message taught by Jesus is radically different from what is taught in churches today, and that the influence of his message can be felt across all creative mediums, including video games.

Richard has been passionate about gaming since 1992, when he received his first console, a Sega Master System II which included a built in copy of Sonic the Hedgehog.

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