Dark Void is a third person shooter set in the beautiful yet dangerous Void, a parallel world in the Earth’s atmosphere, filled with mysterious beings fighting for life. The Survivors are a group of humans trying to get home, fighting for their freedom from the Watchers – an alien race with superior technology, seeking to enslave humans.

In Airtight Games’ first release, you play Will Grey who arrives in the Void through mysterious circumstances (crashing in the Bermuda Triangle may have that effect). Befriending the survivors you will establish relationships with various characters including the eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla who reverse engineers the alien technology into weapons and transport including a very handy jetpack for your own personal use.

The in-air combat using the jetpack is the feature of the otherwise standard action/shooter game – it will be interesting to see how this is implemented across different situations and whether the developers can keep the game mechanic fresh and interesting.

For those not used to flying, mastering the jetpack can be difficult at first. I should know – I’ve crashed every PC helicopter I’ve flown! But with a few adjustments to the mouse settings, I was flying like a natural. The dogfight element is by far the most exciting feature of the game (once you lose all regard for gravity and be one with the sky). Interaction with the setting adds to the immersion, with objectives located within environmental features and the scenery testing the pilot’s flying skills – both player and enemy.

Back on solid ground the player is armed with standard weapons including rifles and grenades, and has the ability to pick up victims’ weapons as well as upgrade using a points system. The Watchers’ weapons are a better choice being of superior technology however I found the melee combat the most efficient way to take down an enemy – once you were close enough to do so without suffering serious health damage. I will admit the leaping creatures that were interested in my seemingly delicious jugular had me yelping and enduring flashbacks from the famous Call of Duty 4 dogs.

The third-person shooter angle is great for the ground combat elements, allowing character to duck and shoot from behind cover. This will allow you to fire strategically and get in close for hand-to-hand combat. However the game, which was built on the Unreal Tournament 3 graphics engine, left me feeling nauseated after only a few action sequences. The UT3 engine like many third-person view engines is notorious for its rolling and blurring momentum as the camera adjusts to follow the player’s actions. My advice? Take regular breaks.

The difficulty weighting seems uneven, with ground combat being very easy compared to drawn-out air combat sequences, requiring precise actions to unlock goals. The console to PC port is apparent here; I’d imagine these scenes would be much easier with a stick controller and lock-on targets given the tendency to oversteer using a mouse.

The rousing music score, composed by none other than Battlestar Galactica’s Bear McCreary tended to be somewhat distracting at times, rising and cutting suddenly between sequences. However McCreary’s credentials pave the way for my high hopes for the game’s official release.

Dark Void’s in-air combat element may be enough to establish its name in the market however it does not make up for the generic combat sequences which are done better in other games. Something tells me this might be a rental game.
Dark Void is available now on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

–Check back with GamingAngels.com soon when we’ll have a full review of the PS3 version of Dark Void.–