An incredibly young but promising branch of science has shown that jetpacks make everything better. It worked in Star Wars Bounty Hunter, Dead Space 2 and Ratchet & Clank, and who can honestly say Kratos wouldn't have been better off with one? If nothing else, Dark Void had the right idea when it began development: jetpack plus guns makes fun. Somewhere in Dark Void is the exact sort of diverse gameplay that shooters are crying out for. The ability to switch effortlessly between ground and air combat is, at its best, truly exhilarating and rife with creative approaches to otherwise linear confrontations. Unfortunately, it is a nigh-unplayable train-wreck at its worst. The game's physics engine takes an even more questionable approach to gravity than Inversion, alternating randomly between the surface of the sun and the far side of Pluto. The problem isn't helped by flight controls which can make gliding about feel like trying to staple water to a tree. At the very least, it can be fun to watch the game's wonky rag-doll physics take your airborne corpse for the ride of its not-life.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
