Gamers often complain that games drag on a bit too long or that some artificially lengthen the experience to such a point that the game is no longer being fun. It’s ironic, then, that while Airtight Games’s Dark Void is certainly guilty of stretching out the action, it does so via the worst possible method: Holding the game’s main hook–a jetpack–until a third of the way into the game. Although Airtight, a team comprised of developers from 2003’s Xbox dogfighting classic Crimson Skies, has an idea of how to soar through the clouds, Dark Void proves that the team has its work cut out when it comes to fun at lower altitudes.

Dark Void thrusts you into an alternate-reality Bermuda Triangle circa 1938 with all the genteel tact of baptizing an infant by casting it into the deep end of an Olympic diving pool. As Will, the square-jawed aviator, you’ll kick off the game mid-dogfight with a fully functioning jetpack, guns, and nary a clue how you’re supposed to take down the myriad of UFOs attempting to smite you. From there, you’ll spend a third of Dark Void wrestling with clunky cover-based shooting, misdirected melees, and bland locales before upgrading your jetpack and unleashing your main motive for playing the game.

The premise is simplistic, if not a patchwork of predictable sci-fi “hero’s journey” conventions: Will and former flame Ava are lost in the Bermuda Triangle, which has been overrun with waves of Watchers — an android race of aliens trying to enslave humanity. Will survives these encounters for a few chapters before running into Nikola Tesla, who sets him up with a neutered hoverpack around the third or fourth chapter.

When Will is grounded, the action is competent, but unexciting. The cover system pales in comparison to most contemporary action games and movement out of cover feels constricted. The mechanics of vertical cover-based shooting, where Will can hang from a cliff edge and shoot up at enemies using cover a la Gears of War, lacks pizzazz and ultimately feels like you’re just shooting further down a typical horizontal corridor. It’s nice in theory, but in execution it doesn’t work so wonderfully.

Stop Me If You’re Heard This Before

From here, you’re ready to kick ass, right? Wrong. You’ll spend some time hovering before you gain control of the full jetpack and by that time, you may already have grown quite weary of Dark Void’s shortcomings. The “You Are the Prophesized Savior” story, telegraphed with all of the subtlety of a Punch-Out!! boxer’s attacks, doesn’t help, nor does the presence of Nolan North as Will. He’s a terrific voice actor, but the familiarity of his voice hurts here — you’ll think of better games (Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia) featuring his dulcet tones.

When You’re a Jet…

In spite of the tired tropes of Dark Void’s story and the vanilla third-person shooting contained in the game, Airtight’s pedigree with aerial combat shines through, instilling an awesome sense of wonder as you loop the loop, rebound, and blast through legions of UFOs using your jetpack. It’s quite entertaining once you’re comfortable with the rhythm of aerial battles and how to perform certain maneuvers. And, in those moments, Dark Void cuts through its handicaps — bland visuals, boilerplate storytelling and clunky ground combat — to grab your attention. Add in Battlestar Galactica soundtrack composer Bear McCreary, and you’ve got a powerful score that intensifies these fights and set pieces.

Unfortunately, your flight only lasts for a few hours before you encounter a mission that takes away your pack, and you’re brought back down to Earth. Although you re-earn your jets to finish the fight quickly, the psychological damage is done, since you’ve grown accustomed to soaring dogfights. The sudden loss of the game’s best feature is a sore reminder of Dark Void’s weakest moments.

Not the Flyest

Dark Void could be more easily forgiven its trespasses if it tapped into more of its potential. Some visual flair or a more unique art style could have improved the game greatly as, at heart, it’s not very pretty. On the ground, Dark Void’s environments don’t feel so much lively as they do shooting galleries that you cruise through on your way to unlocking easy achievements and trophies. This lifelessness isn’t only relegated to its environments, but to its main villains, as well.

The Watchers are largely forgettable, especially when you think of other games like Resistance, Gears of War, or even the recent Bayonetta. All of those games have ugly, twisted enemies that motivate you to quash and destroy them. In Dark Void, you’ll certainly shoot at The Watchers, but that’s mainly because they shoot first. Their plot to subvert humanity isn’t exactly the stuff of fresh storytelling, either. You’ll likely have more emotional investment in padding your gamerscore than saving the world.

I can pinpoint the great moment where Dark Void succeeds, and honestly, had Airtight Games fleshed it out, it could have been a great experience. The aerial combat truly shows off the team’s stellar pedigree in creating tense dogfights. Unfortunately, its greatest moments are far too late in coming and are ultimately overshadowed by the lackluster shooting sections, drab art style, and boilerplate storytelling in the game. During one of Dark Void’s lengthy load screens, the onscreen text reads “if at first you don’t succeed, try a different method.” It makes me wish the team had taken its own advice. It’s sad to see such great potential buried under layers of mediocrity.\

Watch here for an extended review of Dark Void featuring Sterling McGarvey and Adam Sessler.

Developer Twisted Pixel made a bit of a name for itself thanks to their first Xbox Live Arcade title The Maw. That game featured a quirky sense of humor and quality gameplay, and the same can be said about the team’s sophomore effort, the 2.5-D platformer ‘Splosion Man. If you’re looking for the bastard child of Psychonauts, Portal, LittleBigPlanet and Earthworm Jim, you’ve come to right place.

‘Splosion Man/’Splosion’ Man/Blowing Up/Because He Can

As the title suggests, this game is all about one man, one ‘Splosion Man, who, after getting loose from his confinement area, wreaks havoc in an underground research facility, and encounters an ever increasing number of challenging puzzles and deadly enemies. Sadly, that’s the extent of the story. No set up as to who the guy is or what the research facility is up to. Nothing. And while it doesn’t necessarily take away from the overall experience, a solid little story would have taken the game from good to unbelievable.

Fortunately, the game sports an incredibly quirky sense of humor that spills over into everything from the character designs, enemies and even deaths (when you destroy the countless evil scientists throughout the game, they explode in a flurry of various meat products). And be sure to watch the entire credit sequence. Utter absurdity to the max.

Funny Man Go Boom

The game mechanics honestly couldn’t be any simpler. Every face button causes your combustible character to explode and, as physics would predict, jump. You only have three jumps before you have to recharge yourself, which you can do by simply running a few feet or sliding down a wall for a certain distance. You’ll come across exploding barrels and fire spouts that can be used to instantly recharge yourself, giving you the ability to clear large gaps and pull ridiculously long combos off walls, across vats of acid, spike pits and other nasty deathtraps.

The platforming can be a bit slippery at times, and it takes some time to get used to the varying distances that each explosion propels you. But once you get a hang of it, you’ll be flying around levels with relative ease. Don’t think this will be some casual platforming jaunt, though. ‘Splosion Man features some very dastardly puzzles, but they’re compelling enough to keep you from throwing in the towel. Some of the sections are more frustrating than enjoyably challenging, but for the most part, the puzzles are well balanced.

The only other major issue is the camera, mainly when the perspective either shifts to the side or when the camera pulls back to show more of a particular section of a level. Both of these instances screw up your depth perception, and often result in pointless deaths.

“The Splode Beneath My Splosion”

The five-to-six-hour single-player mode features 50 levels, each of which can be replayed, giving you the chance to beat your best score. The game also includes 50 co-op multiplayer levels that can be played with up to four players locally or over Xbox Live. The multiplayer is especially enjoyable because of the various co-op mechanics that let players pull off ridiculous combos, and just have an all-around blast.

The Proof is in the ‘Splosion

‘Splosion Man is a quirky, challenging, stylish platformer with tons of replayability that every Xbox 360 owner should check out. There are few minor issues here and there, but overall, it’s an absolute blast. Microsoft’s ’09 edition of “Summer of Arcade” is off to a very good start.

Source:g4tv.com

Last week, X-Play and G4tv.com traveled to Cary, North Carolina to visit the offices of Epic Games, developer of Gears of War 2. During our visit, we got our hands on the upcoming downloadable content pack for Gears 2 called “Dark Corners,” which consists of seven new multiplayer maps and the deleted scene “Road to Ruin.” For more on that, read our hands-on preview here.

We also got to sit down and talk with three of Epic’s major players: company founder and CEO Tim Sweeney, design director Cliff Bleszinski, and Gears 2 executive producer Rod Fergusson. Topics included the new content, as well as thoughts on the direction of the industry, motion control, digital distribution, and much more.

Also, be sure to check out today’s episode of X-Play for more, airing (of course) only on G4.

Source:game4tv.com

Instead of just choosing your next fight like in Fight Night Round 3 followed by one training minigame, the career in Round 4 follows a calendar. You’ll have to account for things like recovery time and training days before each fight. Do you cram in as many fights as possible without fitting in a lot of training or do you hit the gym and build your stats for a few big fights?

Additionally, Round 4’s Legacy Mode is built around the fact that all boxers must retire. The question is, what will your boxer’s record and standing be when age finally gets the best of him?

First 15: Fight Night Round 4 Legacy Mode

Also, be sure to read my hands-on preview for Fight Night Round 4.

Source:g4tv.com