Review by: Brian Rowe

Dark Void’s sci-fi story is rife with potential. Instead of an inter-galactic conquest or a tale of technology gone awry, Earth’s greatest threat is hidden behind a veil of conspiracies in the Bermuda Triangle. The infamous region is a gateway to The Void—a realm of mountainous spires and infinitely deep chasms. It was the inhabitants of The Void, the Watchers, who gave birth to human civilization, and now they want it back. In the turbulent time of 1938, Watchers have placed doppelgangers in positions of power and fed fascist governments with weapons to pave the way for a full-scale invasion. Will, an unwitting pilot stranded in The Void, may be the best hope for the future of humanity.

Will is the newest addition to a growing society of survivors in The Void. Most live in fear of the Watchers, but a few have taken up arms to fight. Among them is the famed physicist, Nikola Tesla, who provides Will with his signature jet-pack. The Void’s lush jungles and vertical horizons draw instant comparisons to the floating islands of Avatar. The prospect of streaming through clouds and careening through narrow canyons is inviting to say the least, but ultimately disappointing when you run into the invisible barriers containing the environments.

Airtight Games could have provided any number of feasible reasons to restrict your movements – a radioed warning followed by mission-failure, gravitational anomalies, dangerous creatures beyond the borders. Instead, Dark Void falls back on one of gaming’s most archaic devices. Outdated mechanics aren’t limited to airborne barriers. Before heading skyward, you must slog through the jungles and mountains while battling the cybernetic Watchers with a cover system that might have been adequate four years ago. Getting in and out of cover is sticky, inaccurate, and often disorienting as the camera whips into position. Even then, cover doesn’t always seem to register with enemy fire, but you won’t know it until you’re dead.

Dark Void does manage to make a conceptual advancement in the way of vertical cover. There are quite a few moments that will have you holding on to ledges and shooting your way up canyon walls, or battling vertigo as you work your way down. Vertical cover is a feature that I would love to see again, but only after an overhaul. Strangely, enemies are able to take more damage than usual when in vertical cover. Even worse is trying to turn around when an enemy gets behind you. Good luck and try not to fall.

Dark Void is an acquired taste, but not in the way you might describe a more eccentric game. The opening chapters (about three hours) are painfully simple, as evidenced by unstoppable torrents of repetitive tutorial-tips, but the game does assume the guise of a formidable action-game. Unlike the A.I. of most cover-based shooters, Watchers utilize every obstruction and the multiple stories of the terrain to out-flank you. Snipers fly into position overhead, drones strategically advance, and kamikaze Watchers run headlong before exploding to the sound of maniacal laughter.