The success of Jonathan Boakes' independently published Dark Fall was one of the best stories of 2002 in the adventure gaming genre. Even on a low budget, the game was infused with a suspenseful atmosphere, and perfectly captured the dark moodiness of the best quasi-horror adventures.

Now, Boakes is preparing to release a sequel, entitled Dark Fall II: Lights Out. This time around, your character will be a young cartographer named Parker who has been sent to the harbour town of Trewarthan to map out the lethal rocks. Some of the locals appear to be rather hostile, and it becomes clear there are secrets beneath the surface. And why won't anyone talk about the large lighthouse on Fetch Rock?

Suddenly, the lighthouse is extinguished, and panic grips the townspeople. Your character sets out to the lighthouse to uncover the mystery, armed with his compass, charts, and wits!

The preview materials promise that there will be many similarities to the original Dark Fall: a spine-chilling ghost story, many pre-rendered locations, and plenty of atmospheric sound effects. The materials also promise that you will "explore the lighthouse in three different time settings." Perhaps this means the game will make use of some sort of flashback sequences?

In any case, the screen shots show the same attention to detail, and love of scenery that Boakes displayed in the production of the first game. With the same sort of spectral mystery elements in the story, it appears that lovers of ghost stories are going to have another excellent suspense adventure to play through. We continue to be thankful for independent adventure developers like Boakes, who give the genre the continued infusion of new blood that it needs.

Dark Fall II will be released later this year, and we'll have an early review for you shortly thereafter! Make sure to also read our review of Dark Fall, and our interview with Jonathan Boakes.