Try Dark Void when it comes to Games with Gold (Gaming)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, 08:36 (1121 days ago)

Starting tomorrow.

This game apparently got pretty bad reviews when it came out, but I didn't know any of that at the time. It was a random gift from a family member who doesn't game, so I had no information ahead of playing it, because I hadn't looked it up. And I remember really enjoying it at the time, mostly because of the interesting movement system. Part of it is a standard cover shooter in the style of Gears, but there's a jetpack that lets you hover and even free-fly (both in aerial combat scenarios AND just free-flying through the ground combat areas if you choose) later on. And once that comes into play, they start setting up cover-shooting environments on vertical surfaces, which work a little different depending on whether you're going up or down.

I remember it very fondly, but I'm not going to claim that it's GREAT, because I haven't played it in close to 10 years and there were probably reasons the reviewers hated it, but it did do some interesting things that I haven't seen replicated much since. One of the reasons I was initially interested in Anthem is that it seemed like it was going to revisit the sort of system Dark Void used, where you can freely transition from 3rd person ground combat to aerial at any time, although I don't think they used cover mechanics? Yahtzee even admitted there were glimmers of something special in it, even if he felt disappointed in the end result. So if, like me, you appreciate an interesting experience even if it isn't perfectly polished, it might be worth a look.

Apparently it was the first game scored by someone called Bear McCreary, whose name I didn't know until I started refreshing my memory on the game, but apparently I've heard some of his other work and you probably have, too.

Also Nikola Tesla is a character.

2 reviews, one positive from more recent times, and one negative from when it came out: