You'll spend the vast majority of your time looking through drawers and examining countless trinkets and doodads sprinkled around the mansion. You navigate the landscape in first-person using your keyboard and mouse (or a gamepad), with additional keys reserved for interacting with objects, picking up the occasional item, and running. If doled out in smaller doses, these images may have had more of an impact. On the contrary, it just gets boring and predictable by the time you've seen every hideous thing on display. In fact, the game seems to think that coasting by on the sexual deviancy of its generic cult will serve as full-blown horror for the duration of the adventure. Visually, the game delivers plenty of horrific sights, though they soon lose their luster even gratuitous sexual violence can only shock a person for so long. There, the cult's insatiable sexual desires become even more graphic, complete with rooms full of bloody orgies, mutilated bodies in the throes of ecstasy, and what appears to be penis-centric art installations. Not surprisingly, this isn't the sort of game you'll want to play around children or those who are easily offended by such things, especially once the game sends poor Jonathan into another dimension called Lusst’ghaa, which he enters through glowing… er, vaginas. The majority of Lust for Darkness takes place inside the cult leader's sprawling manor, a place filled with obscene sculptures, unsettling masks, and a wide assortment of self-pleasure devices from the days of old.

Since Jonathan recognizes his wife's handwriting, he assumes the letter is the real deal and sets out to stage a daring one-man rescue operation, but he soon discovers that something much more twisted – and unnerving – is taking place at that mansion. Instead, she gives him instructions on how to sneak inside the estate during what appears to be a meeting of a secretive cult. From the tone of the letter, it's clear that she's in grave danger, though she doesn't offer her husband any specifics. Amanda claims she’s been locked away inside a creepy Victorian mansion owned by a sinister man named Willard Yelverton. While wandering through his home late one night, a mysterious envelope arrives completely out of the blue – from his missing wife, no less. Although a year has gone by without a single clue, he hasn't given up hope of her return, despite the toll it's taken on his life. Players assume the role of Jonathan Moon, whose wife Amanda disappeared without a trace.

But alas, a horror title simply cannot exist on penis sculptures and vaginal portals alone. Which is a shame, really, considering the game's presentation (minus some wonky voice acting) occasionally comes together to create a truly disturbing experience. Sure, the game also tosses in Lovecraftian monsters, otherworldly locales, and a few well-timed jump scares, but the story isn't nearly as shocking as it wants to be. Such is the case of Movie Games Lunarium's erotic thriller Lust for Darkness, a short descent into sexual depravity that doesn't quite understand that perversion in and of itself isn't wholly terrifying. When you throw sex into the mix, that challenge increases, particularly when delving into taboo subject matter. There's a very fine line between horror and schlock, and sometimes even the most gifted writers can't manage this delicate balancing act.

Lust for adventure game