Black Mirror Reboot – What Should We Expect?

To the surprise of fans of the series, THQ Nordic just announced a reboot of the famous Black Mirror point-and-click gothic horror adventure games. Although some fans were eagerly awaiting a fourth entry in the series, not all of them are disappointed by the prospect.

However, most comments on the teaser seem to be very confused, either expecting some kind of Lovecraftian horror shooter, or an adaptation of the dystopian horror TV show Black Mirror. Somewhat understandable, as the first game came out in 2003 and the last one came out in 2011, a lot of people don’t know about the series, especially not if point-and-click isn’t their cup of tea. So for those who don’t know, what exactly is the Black Mirror, and what should be expected from the reboot?

 

The originals

Released almost fifteen years ago, the first Black Mirror (originally named “Death’s Messenger” in the Czech Republic) game was a point-and-click adventure game was released by the Czech development team Future Games. This five man team created the gothic horror story of Samuel Gordon and his family’s legacy. The game’s carefully hand-drawn backgrounds, realistic animation for the time, and extremely fitting music and overall minutious control of the ambiance clashed with the quality of the English voiceovers, leading to the mixed reception of the game.

The first game followed Samuel Gordon as he searched for the truth behind the alleged suicide of his grandfather, William Gordon, not knowing the dark secrets of Black Mirror Castle. While investigating, he finds out that William had been studying the mystery of the Gordon family’s curse, and was very interested in the arcane. Reading what his grandfather wrote before his death, Samuel discovers that Mordred, one of the first two brothers of the Gordon family line, opened a dark portal known as the Black Mirror underneath the current location of the manor. The other brother, Marcus, fought and killed his brother to contain the Black Mirror, but was never able to close it. Mordred then cursed the family to eternal damnation until the evil of the mirror was unleashed again. One by one, people around the manor are killed, leaving Samuel to find the truth about the horrible happenings.

The second game released in 2009 was developed by a different studio, namely Cranberry Productions. It follows Darren Michaels as he tries to discover the truth behind the disappearance of the beautiful Angelina, while he is also haunted by torturous nightmares that make him question his own sanity. His search takes him through England and lands him at Black Mirror castle, where the mystery only grows. The game was visually a major upgrade from the first entry in the series and was generally well accepted by fans and critics alike.

The third and final game of the Black Mirror series was also developed by Cranberry Productions, and followed Darren Michaels directly after the end of the second game, as he is arrested for murder. However, he has gone fairly numb to the happenings around him and stays withdrawn despite extensive questioning. However, Darren is then released after just a few weeks of incarceration. Still tortured by visions and the mess that is his sanity, he sets off back to Black Mirror Castle to finally discover the truth behind his liberator, the crypt, and his nightmares.

 

The reboot

Unlike the other games in the series, which focussed on the Gordon family in the late 20th century and early 21st, the Black Mirror reboot follows David Gordon in 1926 as he visits his ancestral home for the first time. The point-and-click investigative gameplay of the original series has been kept, laying a foundation for the new focus on the close-up investigation not possible in the first game and interaction with the torturous nightmares that also came to plague Darren Michaels in the second and third games. It’s developed by KING Art, the team behind The Book of Unwritten Tales series and The Raven – Legacy of a Master Thief.

After the death of his father, David Gordon uses the settling of his heritage as an excuse to search Black Mirror Castle, suspicious about the circumstances. On the path that leads him into madness, David wishes to find out how his father really died.

 

What to expect

The Black Mirror reboot seems to be a mash-up of elements from all three games, with the teaser showing a woman that David cares for being swallowed by eldritch tendrils. The Steam description, however, describes the game’s premise as being much more like that of the first game, whereas the main character’s drift to insanity is also the focus of the third game.

It’s described as focussing on the horrors of the mind, in the style of Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft, which might lead to minor design changes of the horror elements, as while the influence of Edgar Allen Poe is definitely noticeable in the original trilogy, Lovecraftian elements like the tendrils in the trailer seem to be a newer addition, although a rather welcome one that fits the overall tone of the series.

Black Mirror is going to be released on November 28, 2017, and will have to live up to high expectations if they wish to continue the saga of the Gordon family.