Editor’s note: I’ll be honest; I feel that Dark Void’s jet pack mechanic is more gimmick than innovative gameplay. But luckily for Bitmob, Roberto took one for the team and played the demo. What do you think of Dark Void thus far? -Rob
The playable demo for Airtight Games’ Dark Void hit Xbox Live and PSN this past week. With fond memories of watching The Rocketeer as a kid, I felt quite enthusiastic about the chance to fly around and dogfight using a retro-styled jet pack.
Dark Void’s demo starts off with little introduction; within minutes, you’re jumping off a mountain ledge and diving into a canyon while firing up the rockets strapped to your back. Sounds exciting, right?
But for a game where the main selling point is the ability to fly around and shoot enemies using a jet pack, Dark Void — as far as the demo goes — doesn’t make such enticing action the exhilarating experience I expected.
You’re given a few minutes to learn how to control your character while on flight. You’re taught the basics of boosting, slowing down, firing your weapons, and pulling off several useful maneuvers. Once this crash course is over, enemy ships show up and the dogfight begins.
This was where my initial excitement wore off pretty quickly — the air combat felt slow. While I was expecting to fly circles around enemy ships and take them down in one swift flyby, the dogfight presented in the demo felt as fast-and-furious as something out of Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Never did I feel like I was breaking the sound barrier — not even when boosting — or flying too fast to maintain control. The only moments when I actually perceived the game’s speed was when landing on a platform or accidentally setting off the jet pack mid-stride. Aside from those instances, I never felt an adrenaline rush.
I have some really pleasant memories of free flying in video games: the hang-gliding level on Pilotwings, flying around with Mario’s winged cap in Mario 64, or even as recent as roaming the city from high above as Alex Mercer in Prototype.
So far, Dark Void hasn’t sold me on the jet pack mechanic, but I think I’ll still rent the game. Maybe the demo level wasn’t representative of the air combat segments.
What about you guys? Have you played the demo yet? What are your best memories of free flight in video games? I’ve read that Leonardo da Vinci’s flying device in Assassin’s Creed 2 is pretty fun….