GamesRelay

Name: Dark Void

Dark Void is the brand spanking new game from developers Airtight Games and publishers CAPCOM, it's set on an alternate Earth way back in the midst of World War 2, and features a man with a rocket strapped to his back, sounds like CAPCOM could be on to a winner with this one.

For those of you old enough to remember the short lived eighties comic book series, The Rocketeer, then this game is going to seem like a dream come true, the game is even set in roughly the same time period as the comics and features the same pulp fiction style of writing. Pilot William Augustus Grey, a blue eyed, square jawed, slicked back hair cargo pilot in World War 2 is tricked into the mysterious Bermuda Triangle and is teleported to a place which they come to know as The Void. Confused and dazed William and his beautiful, buxom and raven haired co-pilot, Ava, struggle to work out where they've landed; unaware at first of there dimension hopping they wander the jungle in an effort to get their bearings. Pretty soon they come under attack from Aliens, it's then that they realise they're not in Kansas anymore, bit of an obvious clue... Pretty soon the pair comes across a band of humans led by Nikola Tesla and calling themselves The Survivors. As to why one of the most important people in bringing commercial electricity to the masses in the 19th and 20th century is fighting aliens in another dimension is never explained, but given the games tongue in cheek humour we'll ignore that and ask no questions. Nikola gives William a rocket pack which he can strap to his back and take to the air, at first this is in return for collecting a part he needs from the plane wreckage that is surrounding his base of operations, presumably from more victims of the Bermuda Triangle, William is allowed to collect the parts he needs to repair his plane at the same time, naturally the repair efforts are hampered by the aliens whom are known as Watchers and the battle ultimately commences between Will, Ava and the aliens in fine style. To help, Will is given another jetpack, a highly experimental version which offers weapons in the form of machine guns built into the pack and it's here that the game properly begins.

Will and Ava's adventures in the game are pure pulp fiction, when Will first flies the enhanced version of the rocket pack he's on a mission to take down shield generators which are keeping an alien base safe, he fires up the rocket and takes to the skies, first taking on a wave of UFO's that are despatched to thwart his efforts; once those are taken care of he must disable two shield generators which are floating in the skies. First of all Will must gain access to the power supply for the generators before he can disable them properly, to do this he must fly atop the first one and land on it before fighting his way inside. It's when you're doing this you begin to get a feel of what the game is all about and how much fun it could be, as you see the generator in the distance and make your way to it you realise just how big it is, flying up to the top and bringing yourself down for a landing you get an exhilarating buzz as the Watchers spot you and bring themselves to arms, you make your way in and destroy a control panel and then have to take off from the bottom of the platform and fly underneath it to gain proper access to the shield generator, once inside you make your way to the top again through a series of platforms, taking out hordes of Watchers on your way. Once you've made it to the generator you get to destroy this before making your escape through an exploding pylon, free falling to avoid the platforms and supports you've just made your way up, once outside you can reengage your rocket pack and fly off into the distance. All good stuff that wouldn't look out of place on a big screen as the finale to an epic film and this is just the beginning of the game.

The only problem with any of that is you'll come across several things you just won't like about the game in the process. You see, one of the main problems with Dark Void is the control method, it's not good. The game employs a cover and gun method similar to both the Gears of War and the Uncharted series of games for its ground based combat, which at first seems to work quite well, Will can duck behind various scenery and pop his gun out to take the aliens, but not only can this be a little hit and miss sometimes with having to wait for an onscreen prompt to tell you when this is possible, but the Watchers can sometimes still hit you in this position when you don't really know why, the camera isn't the best available for tracking the aliens position and you can soon become a bit lost as to where they are all coming from. Interestingly the game also employs a vertical covering element, when Will is climbing up or down rocks or platforms he can also take cover behind these giving an additional dimension to the gun play, but, again this is somewhat confusing to use, especially when you inadvertently land on a platform that is currently being defended by a Watcher and you're forced to shoot close to your own position, the camera can become disorientated really rather easily. Likewise the transition from the vertical cover positions that back onto flat landscape can become somewhat confusing, several times I jumped up onto a platform only to have one of my actions translated as I wanted to jump off the platform and back down, sometimes sending me to my undeserving death. It's a shame that this element of the game is executed so poorly as it is the staple of the game, it wouldn't be so bad if the system hadn't been employed so much better before but due to the nature of the game you can't help but think about the Gears of War and Uncharted games and realise that the whole thing has been done so much better before hand.