The Charge:
The Battle For Our World Begins!

Opening Statement:
Capcom’s Rocket-man adventure has finally hit the skies. Developer Airtight Games, formerly the Microsoft studio that brought us Crimson Skies (and I’ll forgive them for Shadowrun) has once again taken to the air to provide us with some old school dogfighting mixed with new school action-adventure. Is Dark Void a flight worth taking?

Facts of the Case:
It’s the late 1930’s, and the world is on the brink of war with “the facists”. Ex-military man and crack pilot Will Grey has been tasked with carting a mysterious package along a dangerous route, along for the ride is ex-flame and still military woman Ava. Somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle things go pear-shaped, and Will finds himself in The Void, a sort of alternate dimension, where UFO’s soar the skies and a race of evil beings known as The Watchers work towards again breaching the borders of the Void and toppling humanity. In their way stand The Survivors, wayward travelers who have somehow found themselves trapped in the void as well. With an experimental rocket-pack created by none other than legendary Soviet inventor Nikola Tesla, Will takes to the air, and takes the war to the The Watchers.

"I'm a ROCKETMAN!"

The Evidence:
Dark Void, at its core, is a straight up 3rd person action adventure title. The devs at Airtight have obviously played Sony’s Uncharted a few times through, and have definitely cribbed a few ideas here and there. The mechanics are all familiar, you enter an area, snap to some cover, and proceed to blow the bajeezuz out of whatever bad guys are foolish enough to get between your bullets and their destination. Dark Void really doesn’t do anything new with that particular formula, the controls are smooth and responsive, and generally feel a lot like Uncharted did. The first chunk of game isn’t something that I’d call boring or dull, but there’s definitely a feeling of déjà vu that permeates the whole affair. Then you get your rocket pack at the hour (or so) mark, and everything changes. Dark Void becomes a clever mix of ground and air combat. The rocket pack’s maneuverability makes dogfighting fun, and it won’t take long before nuking UFO’s becomes second nature. When it comes to nuking said UFO’s, you can use your trusty built in .45 calibre machine guns, or if you prefer you can jack the bastards and turn their own weapons against their buddies. The UFO-jack minigame is a little drawn out, but it isn’t a necessity, and it adds a little variety to the flying affair. You can also grab friendly aircraft and rattle a few robots with some powerful on board machine guns and rockets.

Meanwhile on the ground, the wide open stages allow for some quick repositioning and “death from above” style attacks on ground based foes. Punching your jets and boosting to a higher vantage point to snipe is also an option. The controls are pretty effortless in this regard, and the boosting mechanics feel natural and intuitive in the 3rd person shooter shell. Certain parts of the game take the action vertical, where you cling to platforms and cliff ledges while shooting upward or downward at the baddies. It’s a neat idea, and it works pretty well, but it’s definitely disorienting the first few times out. Mission objectives do have a slightly ‘old-school’ feel to them, particularly the flying levels, where you’re given weak points to hit to knock out shields or disable larger foes, and there’s an escort mission here and there where you’re stuck protecting friendlies. It all adds to the retro vibe though, and I for one welcome the variety – it’s a hell of a lot better than simply throwing lead at wave after wave of baddie only to rinse and repeat in a room-by-room fashion.

All of this action is backed by a pretty solid story that piles the pulp on and does a solid job of establishing who’s who in the void. There was definitely some effort put into the storytelling, and it’s great to see an action game where the plot doesn’t exist solely as an afterthought. The Watchers make for some solid, if slightly enigmatic villains and you come across a healthy variety of ground and air troops as the game progresses, including a few nasty boss fights that are suitably epic.

El-Goddamn-Dorado? What? Never heard of it.

Technically, Dark Void definitely scores points for some original art design that I can only call Tesla-punk. The game has a pretty imaginative look that sets it apart from its peers. The texture work is top notch, and while there are times where environments look a little plain, for the most part the games stylish lighting and unique setting go a long way toward satisfying the eye-candy quotient (the blue flash of Watcher lasers looks nice too). The character animations are smooth and convincing, even if a little repetitive at times, and the framerate stays consistent. At first glance, Dark Void isn’t a visual stunner, but it’s definitely got a subtle beauty that appeals to me, and it’s well executed.

The audio package is one area where the game truly shines. The voice acting is solid all around, with rising star and video game mainstay Nolan North voicing our heroic lead, and weapon effects thunder and zoom appropriately. Of extra special mention is the fantastic score by composer Bear McCreary (of Battlestar Galactica fame), Bear’s score brings the action to life in a huge way. The driving percussion combined with otherworldly sounds and cinematic overtures is just flat out awesome. It’s not often that a video game score really grabs you and immerses you further into the experience beyond providing a little atmosphere, but the first time I went airborne and heard Will’s heroic overture blare from my speakers (in DTS no less) I had a huge stupid grin on my face, this is one score that ranks with the very best of them.

Rebuttal Witness:
Yes, I love Dark Void’s plot, but the characterization is about as cliché as it gets in video games. Will Grey is your stereotypical square-jawed real American hero, which certainly fits with the pulpy tone, but there’s nothing there that really endears him as a character. Nolan “Drake” North basically phones in a Nathan Drake-lite performance, which in and of itself more than gets the job done (we’re talking about one of the best ‘rising stars’ in the voice over racket here) but Grey just has nothing unique to set him apart from his more contemporary counterpart. Beyond that, Nikola Tesla’s appearance feels like the video game equivalent of stunt casting, and Grey’s love interest is anything but interesting. The character bits at the beginning really slow down what becomes a very entertaining and fast moving story. Ultimately story wins out over character, but the issue is certainly there.

It needs to be said, if you’re one of these “sea of brown” detractors who’s been bitching about color schemes in your next-gen games since 2005, look away from Dark Void. All of the great textures, beautiful lighting and wonderful particle effects do appear in a pretty dingy, well-worn environment. So yes, there’s much in the way of earth tones.

Eat Knuckle Sandwich Naz... er Robot... dude!

I’ve also encountered quite a few glitches during gameplay – most notably a loss of sound effects, and while Bear McCreary’s score is totally awesome and all, the game feels a little dead without any other kind of audio playing. It’s nothing that a patch wouldn’t iron out, but the glitches are there.

Finally, I wouldn’t call this a flaw per-se, but like many other games of the same cloth, Dark Void isn’t really the longest in length, and could probably be tucked away in a day or two, and with no multiplayer options, the replayability is sparse. I’ll pull it out every now and again like I do Heavenly Sword, using it as the video game equivalent of an awesome Sunday movie, but for those who don’t take joy in revisiting something you’ve already plowed through, you may want to forgo a purchase and give Dark Void a rent.

"We aren't the bad guys... honest!"

Closing Comments:
In truth, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dark Void in spite of a few complaints, the narrative overcomes a slow start to become a strong experience that really propels you forward, even if every character is a simple yawn-inducing cliche. There’s a great mix of air and ground action, equally well implemented, and the visuals are great looking, even if they’re not cutting edge. If you’re looking for a solid single player action-adventure title now that you’ve finished Uncharted 2 for the 11th time, you could do a lot worse than Dark Void

The Verdict:

Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft Xbox360 (PS3 version reviewed)
Developer: Airtight Games
Publisher: Capcom
Release Date: January 19th, 2010
Rated: T (13+) for Teen