Posts Tagged ‘Dark Void’

Sometimes you need to reset the bar. As an informed gamer I find more and more that my definition of what constitutes average is slowly creeping upwards. Then Capcom’s Dark Void was thrust into my lap, and I found my equilibrium.

Conceptually Dark Void looked like a solid game. It threw me into a dramatic story, set in a beautiful world with interesting opponents. Add to this cover based combat with the ability to take flight at any time, courtesy of a jetpack, and developer Airtight Games should have been on to a winner. But these elements all combined to make and experience that define the term pedestrian.

See it looks fun, but the soul is missing.

Strangely nothing in the execution of Dark Void is wrong. There are no technical problems, mechanically or graphically, but it contains none of the magic that I seem to have begun taking for granted in my games.

I look to games with similar third person combat, such as Gears of War, and feel none of the spark that made them special. Like a gifted young musician copying their idol, the performance of Dark Void is solid in its execution, but lacks any of the soul that makes the original feel special.

Dark Void looked so promising in previews, but all the final product did for me was establish that good games really do possess a spark that raise them above the masses; a spark that no amount of technical talent or focus testing can substitute for.

Read more about Dark Void here.

We are coming in to May, which here in Japan means Golden Week. A magical time of strained family relationships and unspoken expectations that can only result in disappointment. Fortunately if you are I, and thus only involved in these festivities by the loosest of connections, it is possible to sit back and observe during your three extra days off, dodging the barbed comments and drinking beer. Plus as an extra bonus I get to finally try and finish Dragon Age on my laptop.

Unfortunately the downside to my upcoming situation is that I will have no Internet during the five-day visit to my other halves family abode. Thus unless I manage to get my planed post finished in my remaining time in Osaka, April is going to look like a pretty Spartan month for DoFuss. Not to worry really, my time has been fairly well spent, indulging in games (for edification and review) and writing for other sites. I have little to complain about but would like to have managed to get at least one of my two articles in progress up on the site before I left.

There is still a small chance I will manage to complete one of the unfinished projects that sit on my desktop before tomorrow morning when I have to leave. Just in case I don’t however here are some links to my other writings for the month of April on the wonderful Game People and Play Devil. Please visit them and remember to check back here next week for when I get back to civilization to post these articles, and maybe even do a podcast.

Line Rider 2 (Wii), Dark Void (PS3), Greed Corp (360), Lumines (PSP), Heavy Rain (PS3).

Heavy Rain (PS3), Silent Hill – Shattered Memories (Wii), An Open Letter To Fanboys (Feature).

Recently the show has been in a state of flux. Regulars will no doubt have noticed, and any newer listeners who have heard more than two episodes will probably have been confused, by the total shifts in tone between shows. So to try and inject some stability to proceedings Darren and I have made a commitment to get back to the usual fortnightly format with just the two of us. Our theory is if we can’t provide quality we should at least aim for consistency.

With such a long break since Darren’s last outing we spend a little time getting reacquainted then it’s down to the game discussion. Having played plenty of games we handout some off the cuff opinions and then hit up the last months big news stories giving our own views, suggestions and fabrications (well factual errors to be more accurate). After that it is on to a quick featurette in which we discus the trails of localising with regards to Sega’s Western release of Yakuza 3. Finally we round it off with the long awaited return of Darren’s Old Games, which this time is Street Fighter The Movie (The Game).

Enjoy the show, and be sure to check back in two weeks to see if Darren and I can make good on our new commitment.

The DoFuss Show – Back to Basics. [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I know it is late, with all of the Tokyo Game Show write-ups, reviews and articles that I had to get posted things have been hectic. But it is here now and stuffed to bursting point with previews, discussion and interviews from the show!

To give you that nice cozy and familiar feeling we kick off with just me and Darren for our usual banter but then Darren is out and we switch over to Daniel Feit, another writer and resident of Japan who also attended TGS. Dan and I get down in to it for almost two hours talking about the games of on show and our experiences there. Just be happy we at least break it up for with an interview with The Behemoth (kicking off around the 1h 49m mark), creators of Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers and the upcoming Game 3.

Have a listen and please leave feedback in the comments or on iTunes. Also remember to keep an eye on DoFuss over the next three weeks for some extra audio/visual stuff in the next few weeks as Darren hits Japan.

For my TGS coverage check…
here for Playdevil.
here for Go Gaming Giant!
and be sure to visit DoFuss for my final show wrap-up post later this week.

For Dan’s coverage and all his other articles look here…
to see Game Life.
to see Feitclub, Dan’s home page.

The DoFuss Show – TGS Special. [ 2:16:38 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download