Dark Void

February 2, 2010 - It’s not the farfetched story in Dark Void that bothers me, after all gaming plotlines tend to be rather bizarre at the best of time, no, what actually gets under my skin is it all feels like a gimmick.

The 71st version of Nolan North straps a jetpack to his back and attempts to save the day in a mish mash of flying levels and ground based shooting. Neither of which really have enough going for them to push the game forward.

Dark Void starts off with the tried and true, albeit ridiculously cliché, mechanic of giving you a glimpse of all of your powers before handing you an insipid and boring version of your character to begin the game.

While this approach works for many games, using this in a game that is primarily about a jetpack and then forcing you to play through an hour without it, is ludicrous. One of the many reasons that most people want to play this game is because we all, deep down, want to be the Rocketeer.

Unfortunately what awaits you is a rather dull and linear shooter, even when you finally get your hands on your jet pack you still have to wait until it’s at its best before it becomes fun to use. If only the same could be said about the actual progression in the game, as Dark Void never really becomes fun.

The ground based shooting is average at best due to an underwhelming feeling of power in the guns, even on casual the cookie cutter enemies take well over 60 bullets to dispatch them, and that’s with most of the bullets landing in their head.

But yet, run up to one of the same enemies and punch them in the face and watch them crumble, all of the combat lacks any balance. Luckily the air combat fairs a little better.

With guns built into your jetpack you can swoop in and out of canyons and enemy ships taking down the UFOs with ease and if the guns don’t work you can always hijack them. Although this brings us to another downside, the distinct lack of a variety of animations.

When hijacking a UFO you need to experience a Quick Time Event, this wouldn’t be an issue, if they weren’t all the same button presses resulting in the exact same animations every time. The actual animation itself is fluid and very well presented but when you’ve seen them a dozen times, you wish they would just end.

It’s all very lacklustre, the scenery tends to always look the same, each level is linear despite the verticality of some of them and the combat lacks any real charm. So much more could have been done with the use of the jetpack, punishing finisher moves, puzzle solving, anything would do instead of the mindless – go there, shoot that mechanic, found here.

Dark Void does have some upsides however, the voice acting is well directed, the story is entertaining despite being barking mad and the visuals are a treat. The latter particularly impresses as it takes on a pseudo cartoon feel to the character models which transports you further from reality and into the void.

It’s just a shame that so little was done with an obviously great feature. When flying the jetpack, at first it feels a little tricky to get the grips of it, but once you’ve found your wings, it’s quite enjoyable. Even this is mired in places however by the repetitive nature of the air based combat towards the end of the game.

This is a game that falls short of its own lofty goals and leaves you feeling a little sad at what could have been.

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