The Bermuda Triangle is a famed location with a dark past. Legends claim that this vast portion of the ocean is prone to paranormal activity, and will send people into early retirement or, to be straightforward, to their deaths. This is something Dark Void protagonist and cargo pilot Will should have known before taking his slight detour through the mystic area. Instead of delivering his goods ahead of schedule, Will is transported to an alien dimension where a war is brewing between the Survivors (Will’s kind) and the Watchers, a group of technologically advanced aliens. Thankfully for Will, Nikola Tesla, another Survivor, has been busy these last few years creating weaponry in order to take the war to the Watchers. Once Will finds out that the aliens are planning to come through the rift to wage war with mankind, he takes up arms with Tesla’s protective suit, jet pack, and unrivaled arsenal of high-tech weaponry.
Dark Void, developed by Airtight Games, was recently shown off as a playable PC demo with an Xbox 360 controller. While this is an odd configuration for the title, the Capcom representatives confirmed that you can expect both the 360 and PS3 versions of the title to be on equal footing, with the PC capable of just a bit more. The build that was on display was running at a buttery smooth 60 FPS, which was surprising considering how early on they are in development, though they did confirm that the console variations of the title would lose a bit of the fluidity in comparison to that of the PC build.
Dark Void features ground combat, in-air combat, and a fresh mechanic called vertical combat. One thing to remember is these are not level-specific scenarios, but generally every stage affairs. Dark Void is not going to be like other third person shooters where one level is designated around one type of gameplay alone; a mixture of combat styles keep things fresh and unique in Dark Void. The ground combat has drawn comparisons to Gears of War due to the cover system and easy control scheme. I can confirm that this isn’t a bad thing whatsoever, as the combat and movement feels quite good for how far along it is in development thus far. The flight controls are fairly user-friendly, though there will surely be a slight learning curve for most gamers. Still, Airtight has done a fantastic job creating a flight mechanic that casual gamers won’t feel frustrated with, yet hardcore gamers will feel satisfied with.
The last primary play style, vertical combat, should be the Dark Void’s selling point. It works equally well whether you’re scaling up or descending down structures. Gamers will use their jet-packs and agility to maneuver from platform to platform in order to climb buildings to reach weak points. This usually involves enemies coming from the opposite side of the structure giving you fits of frustration as you try to maneuver your way to the top/bottom. Amusingly enough, you can attempt to fly up through these closed-quartered shafts, but only the truly skilled will be able to do so. I attempted such a feat several times, but ended up blowing up into the side of the building over and over.
The weaponry within Dark Void is somewhat unique. You have your standard automatic weapons, but you also have pulse-style rifles, air guns and the Disintegrator gun, all of which are upgradeable. Of course, don’t expect massive changes through upgrades each time; they usually include the addition of a secondary fire or a subtle change within the piece of machinery you’re using to take down the alien scum before you. However, Capcom did confirm that some changes can change the weapons altogether, which is something we’re excited to see.
Airtight Games and Capcom have a diamond in the rough in the works when it comes to Dark Void. It’s a third-person shooter with ample unique qualities, which are often suspiciously absent in post-Gears third person shooters. Dark Void has the potential to be something special. Whether this continues to be the case as development pushes forward is yet to be seen, but we’re not going to be surprised if Dark Void turns out to be a sweet sleeper hit that catches gamers off guard.