At a first glimpse, Dark Void immediately brought me back to the glory days of Rocketeer. This title, which is developed by Airtight Games, utilizes a jetpack to give gamers the ability to fight in ground and air. As Will Augustus Grey, a cargo pilot who is crashed into the Bermuda Triangle, gamers are warped into a parallel universe where human survivors are being terrorized by a group of aliens called the Watchers. I got a chance to sit with a developer from Airtight Games to play through the first mission that Will embarks on after he receives his jetpack.
From what we heard, Will is a no nonsense type of guy, which is shown by his urgency to get in the air once receiving the jetpack. The flying animations look fluid and lifelike as Will’s jetpack bursts and he struggles to gain control of human flight for the first time. The flying mechanics feel natural giving players the ability to do evasive barrel rolls, 180 degree turns and viewing surrounding areas with the directional pad. The jetpack is also equipped with a machine giving opportunities to take down enemy buildings and space craft during dogfights.
However, when locking on to enemy spacecrafts, the camera tends to give a straight line view from Will to the locked on enemy (i.e. if the spacecraft is on your left, the camera will turn showing the right side of Will’s body and the spacecraft behind him). Locking on isn’t necessary though, as it is easy to track down enemies in the air without it.
The game seamlessly transitions from flight to ground combat. After running through the tutorial for the jetpack, Will is told to land at a floating station in order to destroy a shield generator. At that point, players can tackle ground combat in various ways, either floating or spraying fire from above or landing and using available cover to defeat the Watchmen.
Another amazing variation that is brought to this action title is vertical combat. At one point in the demo, Will was told to climb to the interior of the building in order to destroy a module. As Will climbs from platform to platform, the Watchers duck for cover on the platforms as they shoot below in hopes of killing Will or knocking him off. If the Watcher is shot and killed as it is looking over the platform, the body will fall and possibly become a hazard for Will since the body can hit Will and cause him to lose his grip.
The gameplay mechanics in Dark Void work very well, pulling gamers away from the standard run and gun formula of action games. Airtight Games and Capcom are focused on polishing this title and giving a great experience to gamers on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Dark Void comes out on January 12, 2010.
Also, if you haven’t already, check out Gold4Jetpack for a hilarious commercial.
From what we heard, Will is a no nonsense type of guy, which is shown by his urgency to get in the air once receiving the jetpack. The flying animations look fluid and lifelike as Will’s jetpack bursts and he struggles to gain control of human flight for the first time. The flying mechanics feel natural giving players the ability to do evasive barrel rolls, 180 degree turns and viewing surrounding areas with the directional pad. The jetpack is also equipped with a machine giving opportunities to take down enemy buildings and space craft during dogfights.
However, when locking on to enemy spacecrafts, the camera tends to give a straight line view from Will to the locked on enemy (i.e. if the spacecraft is on your left, the camera will turn showing the right side of Will’s body and the spacecraft behind him). Locking on isn’t necessary though, as it is easy to track down enemies in the air without it.
The game seamlessly transitions from flight to ground combat. After running through the tutorial for the jetpack, Will is told to land at a floating station in order to destroy a shield generator. At that point, players can tackle ground combat in various ways, either floating or spraying fire from above or landing and using available cover to defeat the Watchmen.
Another amazing variation that is brought to this action title is vertical combat. At one point in the demo, Will was told to climb to the interior of the building in order to destroy a module. As Will climbs from platform to platform, the Watchers duck for cover on the platforms as they shoot below in hopes of killing Will or knocking him off. If the Watcher is shot and killed as it is looking over the platform, the body will fall and possibly become a hazard for Will since the body can hit Will and cause him to lose his grip.
The gameplay mechanics in Dark Void work very well, pulling gamers away from the standard run and gun formula of action games. Airtight Games and Capcom are focused on polishing this title and giving a great experience to gamers on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Dark Void comes out on January 12, 2010.
Also, if you haven’t already, check out Gold4Jetpack for a hilarious commercial.