Black Mirror Review for PlayStation 4.

Take a seat and get ready to play King Art Games Black Mirror on the PalyStation 4. Firstly you'll need a nice cup of tea, a large waterproof coat and most of all a note pad and pen, or pencil if you feel that rubbing things out is better rather than scribbling. It's been years, and I mean years since I've been playing a game and needed to write things down, cross things out then write things down again. Black Mirror takes you back to the good old days of puzzling in the vain of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and the like. Puzzles that will really get the old grey matter turning cogs that you'd put to sleep with the many 'hold your hand' games out there. DON'T go on the internet and find the answers, you'd be gutted. Once you crack the clue you'll be made up.

Grab your coat, we're off to bonny Scotland.

Bonny but not Sunny that's for sure. You play as David Gordan a middle aged man, depending on what you consider middle aged, an Innocent clean cut fella who's just inherited a small family castle to whom the inhabitants are not exactly welcoming. I have to be very careful and quite vague about the games story. The thing is Black Mirror is a 3rd person adventure thriller rather than horror with a very good story and to talk about any aspect of the story could lead to big fat spoilers. In parts of the game you will 'interact', that is all I'm going to say, and some of these 'interactions' can lead to a life or death situation that is very well done if not a little confusing when you first have to react.
In parts of the game you don't work alone, you're with another character following you lighting the way at night with a candle. A storm has hit the Scottish county side knocking out the power so in the night scenes your candle light dances off the walls leading your way in the hunt for clues.

This takes me to the graphics in Black mirror. The artwork in the mansion is brilliant, excellent texture work is complemented by the fantastic lighting engine. The light shines off every object casting pin sharp shadows that realistically move as you do. The woodwork that is virtually everywhere is carved to perfection. Flames lick at logs in the fire and moonlight pans through the windows as you walk by. What really impressed me most, that could as easily be overlooked was the rain running down the glass. Once I'd spotted it I couldn't help but stop every now and then to take another look. Anyone that has played the very first Resident Evil will smile when the game first starts inside. I hope you get the same 'deja vu' feeling that I had.
Outdoors is a mixed bag. While for the most part it's very plain you will be drawn to parts of it that will make you look twice. At night it can be very pretty.

Sound is done very well. Footsteps ring out in the silence of the castle as you wander about searching for clues, candles burn and fires crackle as you walk by. The Scottish tones are done well and people in the US needn't worry as everything is subtitled. Hearing the rain against the glass is brilliant in 5.1 surround as does the lake water lapping at the edge of the land.

Black Mirror is by no means a point-and-click game. In my opinion anyway. I'd say it's more of a interactive 3rd person action game. Sure you point and click in parts but for the most part it feels very 3rd person adventure so please don't be put off by the term 'Point and Click' that may come up in reviews as the game is far more than that.
Black Mirror is a back to the old school adventure that will have you hooked after the slow start but once things get going you'll want to solve the mystery of the Black Mirror.

Black Mirror is available now on PlayStation 4, the SRP is €29,99 // $29.99 // £34.99.

8/10

PS4 Pro Gameplay showing off the lighting