Published by: Capcom
Developed by: Airtight Games
Release Date: January 19, 2010
Available on: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
INTRO: Strap on your rock-em-sock-em Jetpack and assume the role of William A. Grey, who is a pilot or something (IN THE FUTURE..err..1938) and his pal Ava as they get stuck in the Dark Void. Of course, it’s not that easy, because the Dark Void is a bad thing and serves as a gateway to some sort alternate world in the Bermuda Triangle. Now you’ve got to deal with aliens and the like as the fate of the world rests in your hands.
If that all sounds sort of dull, it’s because this game’s story is just plain played and there’s nothing really engrossing about it. This is only a single player game and a lot rests on the plot and characters and in this reviewer’s opinion, Dark Void fails to deliver. Again, this isn’t terrible but there’s just nothing engrossing about it. You’re up against shape shifting slugs called the Watchers in a convoluted version of Darwinism or something. But who cares really- just kill the bad guys and fly around, that’s all we’re here for.
GAMEPLAY:
Let’s talk some turkey here, shall we? The idea behind the main gameplay is pretty good in theory but not so much in practice. You’ll spend your time with a few main gameplay elements: cover shooting and flying. If you’ve played great cover shooters like Gears of War 2, you know what to expect here- the same system. You hide behind boxes and rocks and stuff, then you pop out and fire or blindly cover fire at your opponents. The shooting and killing element is really just sort of blah because there’s nothing to hook you in. it’s weird too because this game tries to have a ‘take cover anywhere’ system, but some of the places you find cover are just ridiculous (wooded mountains, for one). Sure, you can upgrade your weapons but they’re not that exciting even when maxed out. Aiming can be tough because your reticule will disappear in the game’s color palette. Even the enemies are sort of dull and don’t get that much different as the game goes on.
As for the flying, it doesn’t thrill like you might hope it would. I thought that this one really hinged on the whole jetpack thing and failed to really deliver. Targeting while you fly is a little wonky (very, very frustrating) and although there’s a host of acrobatic moves you can use to dodge, you don’t often have to do them. Be thankful though because if you couldn’t use your pack to fly around you’d go nuts from boredom. It’s a good thing that you can take off pretty much at will.
The level design is a big killer in Dark Void. Prepare to curse a lot when you fall off ledges that are invisible, and then be whisked back to an autosave that was 10 minutes ago. It’s a cool thing that you experience all kind of different gravity and weird positioning, but it’ll throw you off and when dudes really come after you you’ll be in some trouble. In fact, you’ll beg to die because this game is just ridden with bugs and one such bug is that when you are attacked, you can fall all the way down a terrain and have to climb all the way back up.
Let’s put it this way. Dark Void isn’t very hard except for the poor design flaws which make you stumble and curse. Playing Dark Void is doable for a one-off if you love it, and a 30 minute affair if you’re an average gamer. It’s not very long and won’t take too long to beat if you’re really hoping to do so.
Gameplay: 5.5/10
GRAPHICS:
The environments in this game are huge but pretty plain looking. As I mentioned before, the enemies are all really similar. Aliens or robots, aliens or robots. The cut-scenes can be hilarious as you progress, with the character models looking sometimes hilarious. Their eyes are the worst part, they look like goofy cartoon eyes. Don’t forget about glitches like floating characters, teleports out of nowhere and a stuttering frame rate!
Graphics: 5.5/10
AUDIO:
Hey hey! Something good about this game! The voice acting is pretty run of the mill but the score is great, and apparently it was composed by the guy who scored Battlestar Galactica. This is really the classiest part of the game that dresses it up pretty.
Audio: 7/10
FINAL VERDICT:
If you’re into video games, you probably know that this game was really hyped up and I had some hopes for it. Unfortunately though this game doesn’t feel finished and the bottom line is that this is an average game at best hampered by poor design and unforgivable bugs. My 360 even froze a couple of times while I played it. I can’t help but feel disappointed for what this game could have been.
Final Score: 6/10
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