The jet pack gimmick doesn't last too long once the real meat of this game is unveiled.
Dark Void is a third-person-shooter where you play as Will (no last name?) who is a pilot (during which period, I'm not sure) whose plane crashes during a storm, due to a hit from an alien ship, and goes down in a mysterious land. As you explore this land you uncover that it is inhabited by people who fear these creatures call Watchers, and after a period of time you'll enter "The Void" and uncover the history of The Watchers and their plan to end humanity.
That's the thing that really bothers me. In my reviews I try to be as accurate as possible. Remember the characters names, the plot, and the fauna of whatever area the game takes place. This game however failed to inspire even the slightest bit of interest for me to even be able to hardly remember the main characters name. The characters are forgettable and not very deep. The story of Will is briefly described in flashbacks only about twice throughout t he game. The other characters are never really focused on, but the story proceeds as if you're suppose to have a deep emotional connection with the characters. The plot is never fully explained. Even after beating the game there are still various gray areas in the plot that make the story even that more forgettable.
Around 80 percent of the game is played while controlling Will on his jet pack. The jet pack missions are rather fun, since there is a vast area that can be flown across with no limits. You are able to fly to anything and stand/ run around on any cliff, building or obstacle you see fit. This is, however, ruined by the difficulty in controlling the jet pack. It is simply controlled by the left thumb stick which seems simple but it controls movement as well as the camera, enabling a mixture that can easily throw you off course, confuse you and cause your demise.
It's very easy to die also. There is no health bar, and I never really saw any indication to let me know my health was low (i.e. screen getting red, etc.). So there's no way to tell until Will's body just goes limp and he falls to the floor or from the sky. If you crash a alien ship into a wall or another ship, you die. If you fail to respond correctly to the button-sensitive action sequence, you die. Jump down to far, you die. And the problem with dying is that you have to restart the mission all over. Some missions provide checkpoints, but that is only some.
The other 20 percent is played on foot, which is by far the most annoying part of the game. When there is too much action on foot the game starts to choke up and lag almost. The frame rate goes way down. I also noticed that the sound seemed to putter, as if someone was pressing the "mute" button multiple times (also noticed this while flying). There are only, literally, about 4-5 different types of enemies, and the excitement that comes from shooting them quickly dissipates because of this. There are also only about 4-5 different guns that you are able to upgrade via "tech points" that are obtained through killing Watchers and finding throughout the levels. There only real upgrade is essentially just firepower and ability to make enemies explode after they die. The game didn't really focus on weapon customization and since there are only 4-5 enemies that are introduced about an hour into the game, upgrades don't seem necessary since the enemies don't get strong, let alone change. The foot missions are separated into basically three different forms. Exploration, vertical battles and escort missions. Exploration is what i just described. Vertical battles are where Will uses his jet pack to grab up or down from ledge to ledge, looking up or down, while moving and fighting enemies. This is a cool idea and in a way fun to play until you realize that instead of shooting the Watchers it's much easier to just go up to them and melee them (instant kill). Then comes the escort missions. This is probably the most annoying part of the game. There are escort missions in the air that aren't bad, but there are two escort missions that take place on foot that made me want to pull my hair out. The people you escort seems to blindly run into the middle of several enemies and if you happen to get to a point where there is an enemy on a turret then it's basically restart times. The escortee will just stand there and get pummeled by bullets until they are dead. After a while all these types of game play elements are intertwined to create a sandwich of aggravation.
The game doesn't last long, about five hours, and the flying missions are fun, but the choppy graphics, hard controls, emotionless story, difficulty and repetitiveness ruin the game. There were multiple times where I just wanted to stop playing, but only continued for the sake of this review.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend this game at all. The jet pack is the only really gimmick this game has, and other than that it's very forgettable and disappointing. If you are bored and just want to play it then go for it, but if you are looking for an in-depth story to dive into, then find another game.