Where flying’s the only thing that doesn’t suck
I remember years ago, wandering through GameStop at the mall with just $10 in my pocket. Scanning the shelves, I stumbled across a pre-owned copy of Dark Void for about six bucks. I’d never heard of it, but I was craving a no-frills, fun single-player action game – and it seemed like a decent gamble. The cover alone looked bland as shit, so I did a quick internet search on my phone and saw that the game had pretty polarizing reviews, but it was 6 bucks so I figured, what the hell? Dark Void is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Airtight Games and published by Capcom. Released in 2010, it follows the story of a pilot, Will Graham, played by Nolan North, during that era of gaming where he was playing every lead protagonist in video games; also with every character he plays sporting that same 5 o-clock shadow. Will crash-lands in a mysterious parallel dimension called “The Void.” In this alternate world, Will encounters strange alien creatures and a faction of resistance fighters fighting against an oppressive force called the “Watchers.” The story revolves around Will’s attempt to escape the Void while uncovering secrets about the Watchers and their plans. How brain-meltingly original…
What actually stands out in this game is how fluid the jetpack mechanics are. The jetpack is surprisingly really fun! Instead of just being a gimmick, it becomes an essential part of the gameplay. It gives you the freedom to navigate both the ground and sky, giving you a constant sense of momentum, preventing the feeling of being bogged down by the usual cover-based shooting mechanics that dominate many third-person shooters, especially at the time. The jetpack makes you feel like a badass pilot in a never-ending airshow; it’s worth the price of admission just for that alone.
If it weren’t for the jetpack, Dark Void would just be another guy with a gun running around on the ground – basically the video game equivalent of a soggy sandwich with no filling. The story is extremely fucking generic. It’s standard sci-fi adventure stuff- A pilot stuck in a mysterious world fighting aliens with a resistance group. It’s predictable as clockwork, with familiar tropes and not much depth, so it doesn’t do anything to stand out in the crowded world of sci-fi games. Nolan North is basically playing another standard Nolan North character… William is a much less cool Nathan Drake. He’s nerfed Drake with a jetpack, except instead of cracking jokes and finding treasure, he’s stuck fighting aliens and being less charming.
The game is a mix of foot and aerial combat, but the aerial is far more superior. Any time you’re on foot, it’s pretty run-of-the-mill. Luckily, you can pretty much utilize the jetpack for the entire game once you get it. I was shocked at how much fun I had with Dark Void, probably because I wasn’t expecting much at all. The jetpack combat is surprisingly fun, and it turns every fight into an airborne circus. Sure, the story is as basic as they come, but flying around and blasting aliens is enough to make you forget about it. I mean the game really isn’t all that long anyway… It’s like a guilty pleasure you didn’t realize you were signing up for.
Gotta blast!
Mikhail
Verdict: 7/10