Dark Void Review

Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by Freak_c in Games, News, Reviews

Dark Void is suppose to bring us an epic action adventure 3rd person game with some flying aspect thrown in the mix and an all new vertical style of gameplay. This all sounds very appealing and after watching the trailer it seems that the game will deliver. But what Dark Void actually brings us is frustration, anger, irritation with little pleasure and enjoyment.

First let me explain the story and then I will get into the why the game may cause you frustration. The game is set sometime after World War 2 and you play as Will, a pilot who was in the service but got dishonorably discharged and is now running courier missions. A gal named Ava shows up for one of these missions, and it turns out you have a history with her. During the flight through the Bermuda Triangle, you crash and are suddenly in another dimension filled with tribal people and robotic aliens known as The Watchers. You soon find out that they are up to no good and have been enslaving the tribal humans. With the help of Nikolia Tesla who gives you your Jetpacks, you set out to save yourself and the tribal people.

Ground combat in bland environment

Gameplay
This is where the game starts to show off its flaws. Firstly if you have played Uncharted before then this game is going to ring a lot of bells like, hey-I-have-done-this-in-Uncharted-before. This is because the main character is voiced by the same guy and even looks like a younger Nathan Drake. The combat and cover system is hugely influenced from the Uncharted games, this is fine but the problem with this is that it doesn’t work as well. I found myself not being able to take cover, or when I did take cover it would do so in the wrong place. Running out of cover is even worse as there were times where I kept running into other enemies or not being able to navigate through the room as it was too small and confining. This really takes you out of the game and has you swearing at the TV!

Vertical gameplay that gets old

Once you are introduced to the Jetpack, things become interesting as you start feeling as though you are The Rocketeer. But this comes with a price of finicky flight controls that can and most probably will cause aggravation and irritation. The Jetpack introduces you to the new innovation that has been added to the game, vertical gameplay. This is basically taking the normal run on the ground cover-to-cover system, and placing it up or down a mountain side. Sounds interesting an cool yet after the first few that you experience it basically becomes a jump from platform to platform gimmick, which is used too often and gets old very quickly.

Graphics and Sound
The graphics are sub par for this HD generation of gaming. The characters seem lifeless and you have a hard time connecting with any of them. The environments are plan and very bland through out the entire game. Don’t even get me started on the menus, these are revolting and look like they are from a PSone game. As for the sound it is fairly standard, you will notice some the Lip syncing is off at parts and the only note worthy voice acting is from Drake, ah Will, voiced by Nolan North. You won’t have to crank the sound for this game.

Flying

Conclusion
The game sounds great on paper, has some very innovative ideas, but is executed poorly. The game does have some great parts and can be fun but they are slightly out weighed by the frustration that it causes. When you are playing the game you will have a constant feeling that it is trying to be something that it can never be.

Story – 5 A weak story with uninteresting characters.
Gameplay – 6 Fun but can cause irritation and has finicky flight controls.
Graphics – 6 Bland environments nothing to showcase here.
Sound – 6 Some lip syncing issues only solid performance from main character.

Overall – 6 / 10

Written by Claudio Cecchi (Freak_c)

A HUGE thank you to NuMetro for supplying the game for review.