It had potential with the mysterious Bermuda Triangle setting, but like thousands of vessels, it got lost along the way
Graphics - 8.0
Sound - 5.0
Story - 7.0
Gameplay - 6.5
Initially considered one of the more anticipated releases of January 2010, Dark Void soon became universally derided by critics. How could a game with such potential, taking place in the Bermuda Triangle and giving the player access to a jet pack, fall so flat? Sadly, there are an abundance of reasons that it did so.
As far as the graphics go, Dark Void generally does a pretty good job. Some of the animations don't always synch up correctly, especially when the player is in "vertical cover." It looks like the player slams enemies head into the ever dangerous "invisible platform," which is a foot above the actual platform, but somehow infinitely more treacherous. The game runs on the Unreal Engine, and the programmers actually did a nice job on most of the cut scenes. Some reviewers claim that the game does a shoddy job of synching voices with lip movements, but it is not the worst job of synching ever done. Of course, it is no where near the best, either.
The sound, in stark contrast to the graphics, is atrocious many times. Why do programmers feel it is ESSENTIAL to have characters with the most terrible, cliched, stereotypical accents in history? Even some great games insist upon having characters with atrocious accents. And Dark Void, which is far from a great game, is no exception. All the cliches are there. Faux Eastern European, Latina, and of course British (although the British isn't really that bad). Even worse than the ear grinding accents is the fact that the sound effects completely disappear at times. No less than three times in the game did this happen. While playing through a section, the sound would complete disappear. Twice it was because I paused the game, and once it just happened on its own. This is completely unacceptable.
The story could have been infinitely better. It's a game about the Bermuda Triangle! Of course, that is what people were led to believe, but other than the beginning cutscene, the Triangle plays really no role in the game whatsoever. Apparently, the Triangle (and supposedly several other spots in the world, although those places are never identified) is a gateway into the "Void," a mysterious area in between the Earth and another dimension. The Void is inhabited by the Watchers, who are an alien race bent on world domination. I Storytelling is an essential part in video games, especially games that are not pure action like MW2, but Dark Void just falls short here. The developers never truly flech out the characters, the environment, or the overarching story itself. It's really just a hodgepodge of mediocrity.
Lastly, the gameplay is sorely lacking on many fronts. Many reviews critique the game for having subpar 3rd person shooter elements. I disagree with this. I thought, for the most part, it was a perfectly adequate 3rd person shooter. It was no Uncharted, but it was not too broken, either. Major problems arose, however, when too much stop was going on at the same time. The game has a gigantic problem with its framerate. And I mean absolutely GIGANTIC. Numerous times throughout the game, the framerate slowed. In Episode 2, Chapter 1, it actually slowed down so much that it looked like it was one of those old-timey flip books with a bunch of pictures in it where the stick figure dances or something like that. Wow, that was probably a horrid description, but I'm sure you get the picture (hah!). Now, back on track. In this specific instance, the framerate didn't just slow down for a few seconds. It was continuous for at least 30 seconds. Once again, completely unacceptable. This is just one of the many glitches within this game, and believe you me, there are a lot.
Overall, Dark Void was a game I really wanted to love, but it just left me depressed. Only buy it if you can find a good deal (I got it for $10 brand new).