A flurry of new titles have already raised the bar in 2010 and have set the precedent for what’s yet to come this year. Capcom’s latest rocket-powered offering brings high hopes and even higher expectations from fans, but can Dark Void boost itself into the hearts and minds of gamers?
Set in 1939, Dark Void kicks off with Will; A pilot who crashes soon after he enters the Bermuda Triangle. There he learns of a resistance who are in the same predicament as him, and are fighting an unknown force in an attempt to escape the void and return home. The premise doesn’t sound all that awe-inspiring, but as it develops, it becomes an incredibly intriguing and extremely engaging sci-fi story that extends into a parallel universe of our very own.
At the core of Dark Void is a third-person shooter. There is a pretty flexible cover system and the shooting feels solid. Weapon upgrades are available at certain points in the game thanks to an easy-to-use upgrade system, allowing players to increase damage and range of their human and alien weaponry. It starts off a little slow, but as soon as a jetpack is strapped to your back, things really begin to heat up.
However, you first acquire the hover-pack, which allows the player to get a brief boost, in order to gain an elevated vantage point in a firefight. It also allows for vertical combat, which is one of the strong elements of the game. Players can enter cover on a vertical plane, such as a wall or a cliff, and boost their way up to the next piece of cover as they fight off enemies. It’s a great new and exciting element to the game and it’s definitely pushing the conventions of the genre.
Although the vertical combat is a strong highlight of the game, the main mechanic of Dark Void is essentially the jetpack. It’s done very well and the flight controls hit a perfect mix between dogfight maneuverability and aerial acrobatics, while upgrades for the jetpack also become available, whereby players can increase the damage and round size of the jetpack machine-guns. Using the jetpack is as awesome as it looks and sounds, although there is a lot more fun to be had as players can also mount turrets, use some badass melee attacks and hijack alien aircrafts during combat, which spurs some impressive variety to the gameplay.
The visuals within Dark Void have their slight faults, but on the whole it’s a very good looking game. Some NPC and enemy animations appear a little stiff, although the absolutely gorgeous vistas, large open environments and exceptional detail given to William and the jetpack more than make up for it.
A creepy, yet epic science-fiction score also sets the tone for the game and highlights a lot of the action, while Nolan North (Uncharted) voices William excellently, and even though his persona is uncannily like Drakes, you don’t mind because he’s so damn likable.
Dark Void is one of those games that starts off a little slow and just gets better and better. It’s got all the high-adrenaline action and phenomenal storytelling to rope in fans and newcomers to the genre, and while the game is showing it’s potential in terms of the vertical combat and jetpack mechanics, it’s no doubt we’ll see a lot more of Dark Void in the very near future.
[starreviewmulti id=1 tpl=20]
