Dark VOID

Brad Pitt, the world -famous Hollywood actor and defender of children from third world countries, acquired the rights to film adaptation Dark VOID long before the release of the game. A short -sighted step. Obviously, his attention was attracted by the words “parallel worlds”, “Nazis” and “Nikola Tesla”, which the developers persistently pushed into every fresh press release. If Pitt were more patient and waited for the release of the game, he might have changed his mind and hurriedly lost the right to some other caretaker for the future of African youth. For example, Bono.

Horizontal

Although at first Dark Void does not betray himself. It all starts with the fact that shortly before the Second World War, pilot William Gray suddenly meets his former lover at the airfield and does not come up with anything better than bringing her to the Bermuda triangle. There, a flying saucer unexpectedly cuts the plane there, which is why it stalls the engines and half the fuselage falls off with the signalman.

We have to make an emergency landing in the jungle, where strange people are already waiting for heroes in gas masks, a tribe of suspicious savages, Nikola Tesla and hordes of aggressive robots. Subsequently, it turns out that people in gas masks call themselves survivors and have been waging a war with observers for many years-a race of reasonable either lizards, or slugs, long ago exposed from the Earth, not in the extent of the delayed humanity. Observers want a revenge, but on the island where Willa's plane collapsed, there is a portal in a parallel world, an abyss, from where persistent aliens climb.

Dark Vood belongs to that category of games, the creators of which did not have enough experience and talent to discern an invisible line that separates stupidity from genius. Formally, with such a tie, it was possible to organize at least a high -quality action movie, and at the maximum – an epic blockbuster with healthy elements of a madhouse. But Airtight Games , Even without blinking with an eye, parallel worlds, ancient prophecies, flying saucers, intelligent lizards, fascists, prime minister of France and the unfortunate Tesla (who has nothing to do with) has nothing to do with it).

Moreover, they mixed in incorrect proportions: the most colorful heroes like Tesla and Nazis remain almost behind the scenes, the prophecies cause inappropriate associations with the “matrix”, and the focus is boring whispering observers, a vulgar love story, as well as a compulsory wise black college. So that with such initial data (jetpaks, fascists, flying saucers!) make such a boring story – we must try. Now all hope is perhaps on Brad Pitt.

Somewhere I already saw it

If you look closely, it will become clear that many ideas authors Dark Void borrowed from their much more experienced colleagues. Below are several characteristic examples

Vertical

If you discard the delusional plot, then Dark VOID can be divided into two parts: before an improved missile satchel falls into William's hands, and after. The part that “before” is best to slip with eyes closed, because everything that is in it has already seen about one hundred thousand times in other computer militants, and there https://sister-site.org/black-magic-casino/ it was realized at a much higher level.

While William runs on his two, he has to press his back to shelters and shoot cyborgs, which, it seems, forgot to update the software, they behave so stupidly. By the way, the promised “vertical gameplay” appears, which the developers were so proud of – it turns on in moments when the hero needs, for example, climb a steep rock. As it turned out, the vertical war from the horizontal differs only in that the dead enemies do not settle to the ground, but beautifully fly away somewhere behind the main character. In a word, this part of the game is ideally described by the phrase “action with shelters”, which recently, it seems, has become obscene.

Fortunately, foot episodes end about an hour after the start of the game. As soon as William receives Jetpak and goes to the abyss, Dark Vood sharply changes the pace and transforms before his eyes. Instead of stuffy Aztec catacombs – large open spaces, sluggish shooting from shelters is replaced by fierce air battles. Finally appears adrenaline, drive, dynamics-all that good modern action is impossible without. The impression spoils only the terrible flight control with the mouse (play with the gamepad if you want to save your nerves).

William's reactive engine can operate in two modes. The first allows, like an iron person, to rush at great speed and shoot lizards from a large -caliber machine gun (and a little later – missiles). The hero at the same time, spitting on overloads, can spin the barrel, leaving the enemy fire, or almost instantly turn around 180 degrees. In the second mode, Will slowly soars above the ground and shoots enemies from standard hand weapons. It is allowed to move from one state to another at any time, although the real need for this arises only a few times per game.

The hare above the abyss

During the passage, the idea was constantly pursued that the developers were not enough just a little so that Dark Void received a pass to the Premier League-as if they themselves could not decide what they wanted to see their game. Imagine how great it would be if the emphasis was to combine various operating modes of a rocket satchel! Imagining this is actually very easy, because there are such episodes in the game.

When they give us freedom of choice, the game blooms. You first repel the Air Air Air Air Force Air Forces; Then you rush to the other end of the card and majestically descend to the head of the enemy landing, pouring it with fire; You climb to the dominant height and destroy ground forces on the other side of the base with sniper shots; Then you accelerate and achieve the remnants of enemy aircraft. Here it is, a real vertical gameplay! It was him, and not climbing rocks from the first half of the game, it was necessary to flaunt. The problem is that there are exactly two such episodes, during the rest of the time you are either in the sky, where it makes no sense to fly slowly, either in catacombs and at enemy bases, where it is quickly dangerous to fly for health.

Or take the bosses. Bosses in good action should be large. And in Dark Void, this unwritten rule is diligently implemented. When the whole colony of the survivors swallows a giant worm, you expect at least a tense battle for freedom, but in fact a miserable creature cowardly spits out a rebellious dinner just a couple of minutes after the start of the fight.

There is an excellent mission in the protection of the same colony (this, if that, such a huge transport ship) that is fleeing from observers along some canyon. Attacks follow one after another, in the way, in addition to the enemy’s manpower, anti -aircraft guns and mines come across, the equipment in the walkie -talkie yell about the fire on board and the accelerators failed, the teeth reduces from stress – everything is as it should. At the climax from the bottom of the abyss, the hefty combat cruiser of the enemy pops up. And what do you think? It is worthwhile to steal four distribution shields with wires, as a terrible ship rolls to one side and falls where it flew a minute ago.

* * *

Dark Vood is the game of the second echelon, but despite a huge number of shortcomings, it is able to deliver a lot of positive emotions. It is felt that it was created by no means mediocre people who had at least a few interesting ideas in stock. Who or what prevented the developers from making a truly cool game-a separate question. Perhaps they were the Nazis. Or Nikola Tesla. Or Negro Coldun. Be that as it may, if you have several free hours in reserve – it is certainly worth playing in Dark VOID, especially since the game does not take a lot of time.

TRANSLATION: Recently, cases have become more frequent when phrases that should not be in it. Here, however, no one swore behind the scenes and does not confuse words, but still occasionally the heroes begin to speak in pure English, not embarrassed by the inscriptions “completely in Russian” in the box. Fortunately, this happens only a couple of times per game.

Otherwise, the localization turned out to be worthy: a competently translated menu, the normal selection of actors (William was especially successful) and the lack of critical errors will not allow you to feel a tangible difference between the English and Russian versions.

Reigracy – No

Cool plot – No

Originality – No

Easy to master – Yes

Evidence of expectations: 60%

Gameplay: 6

Graphics: 6

Sound and music: 7

Interface and management: 6

Waited? A game about flying on a reactive satchel and the struggle of earthlings with reasonable lizards from a parallel world. Sounds better than it looks.

Mania rating: 6.5

"Above the average"

Localization: 2/3