Tuesday 19 January 2010

Dark Void



Dark Void spins a derring-doer of Bermuda Triangle reality slips, and Rocketeer accessorising. It's a deeply artless affair, grasping for Uncharted coin and staged with all the propulsion of a postcard. An identikit nobody finds himself stranded in a plush otherworld besieged by lanky automatons. Players must juggle cover and hover concerns as they mope through another bare hero narrative. Best not to spend too much time kicking this about, instead let's focus on a couple of specific anti-fun shortcomings! Firstly grenade cook and toss is hampered by a ruinously extended animation sequence. Press and hold, the countdown begins, but don't forget to allow for a leisurely yawn of throw frames. Players trained to expect an immediate hurl on release will end up with a face full of shrapnel. Secondly, your jet pack avatar has a dispiritingly flexible fragility. Flying about, you can boost yourself full pelt into a mountain and suffer only a dismissive shock. On foot, try and plunge a depth of anything over your character's height, and your figure will flail about in a death spasm. Lastly, melee combat suffers from poor implementation. Classed as context sensitive, rather than another move set aspect, players may find themselves jabbing wildly at activation buttons with little actual result. Windows of opportunity are vague, you'll just as often find yourself manhandled for attempting the thump conversation. Even if you do manage to get your blow out, expect to sponge enemy panic fire - like grenade tosses, melee sequences tumble out without expedience, making you very vulnerable indeed.

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