Bummer: Dark Void Reviews Hint at a Flop
Chalk it up to the preview effect, but I had high hopes for Dark Void, out today for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. When checking the game out at a media day in Los Angeles and talking to executive producer Morgan Gray, there seemed to be great potential in combining the bygone era of aerial dogfighting with the Gears of War-style duck-and-cover combat that everyone wants a piece of these days. Alas, Dark Void’s jetpack-enabled adventure isn’t getting the love from critics. Almost uniformly, they acknowledge a good seed of an idea is dragged down by derivative design, a confusing plot the glaring omission of multiplayer.
IGN UK’s Kristan Reed says we’ve seen this all before:
From the easygoing quip-laden banter between the accidental action hero and his former love interest, to the cover-based combat (in the jungle, no less), and the introduction of platforming elements, Airtight Games’ love-affair with Naughty Dog’s superb series couldn’t be more apparent. It’s an approach that backfires immediately, with bizarre, stilted animations and clumsy attempts at lip-synching giving the impression of a project which has struggled at the most basic level to match-up to the standards you expect from a modern action game.
MTV Multiplayer’s Jason Cipriano spoils the whole darned plot, not that you care:
At the end of the game the story becomes so convoluted with flashbacks and predictable plot twists that you’re likely to not care … but it doesn’t stop there. The game then goes on to directly tie the Watchers to the Fascist uprising of World War II. That’s right, the Nazis were getting help from a banished ancient civilization in a parallel universe.
VideoGamer’s Wesley Lin-Poole hits it on the head:
We can’t think of another cover-based third-person shooter that allows you to fly away when the going gets tough. Dark Void is a new concept at a time when sequels are the norm – and that should be applauded. It’s a shame, then, that things haven’t quite worked out as they might have done.
Despite the bad rap, I’m hoping Dark Void gets a second chance. Capcom seems behind the franchise, with the retro Dark Void Zero, and even flawed original IP can come back to achieve brilliance (see Assassin’s Creed). Don’t count out the jetpack just yet.