Dark Void is set to try and provide a diffrent shooting experiance for it’s players by giving the play a jetpack which enables combat to not only be performed on the ground,but in the air as well.

Players will take on the role ow Will Augustus Grey,a cargo pilot who crashes into the Bermuda Triangle and get’s transported to a parallel dimension,known as The Void.

It’s in the Void that you will meet the other humans,known as the Survivors.
Will and the Survivors must battle an alien enemy,known only as the Watchers.
The Watchers are a mysterious alien race who have enslaved the humans and the Watchers themselves are treated as gods.

Developed by Airtight Studio’s,a new group on the scene featuring team members from the Crimson Skies series of games,Dark Void is looking promising.

So far the ground based combat is looking solid,using a standard cover system akin to Gears of War,though not showing any signs of providing anything new to combat.
However it’s the Vertical Combat system that really catches the attention.
Using Will’s jetpack you can take to the sky where the combat get’s even more frantic as you dogfight through the air,turning,twisting and shooting.

It’s Dark Voides sheer size that will often take the breath away from you,as you stand on the ground many places will look unassuming and stadard,it’s not until you look up and see the vast caverns and spaces that you realise Dark Void wants you to think vertically,not just horizontally as in most shooters.

The strategic options that are opened up using Jetpacks is staggering,as you no longer plan your assaults to be just ground based,instead you also have to take into account attack from above and of course the flanking opportunitys it provides for you.

Other game features including hi-jacking UFO’s from the enemy,a feat accomplished by “boosting” toward the UFO and grabbing on,thus activating a mini-game to hi-jack the enemy ship,giving you access to more firepower and armour.

Most impressive from a technical view is how the game shifts from vertical to ground based combat without any problems or slow down,it’s a smoot and fluid transition.

Airtight are promising 12 large levels that will also encourage exploring to keep players busy.
Thrown in to the mix are 10 unique weapons split between the standard weapons and the ” Tesla Tech” based weaponary.
Downed enemeis will also drop “Tech Points” which are then used to upgrade your helmet,jet pack and weapons with each having there own unique upgrade tree.
Hopefully these diffrent upgrades will change game experiance giving Dark Void an extra bite of replayability.

Dark Void is looking good so far,the shooting mechanics are solid and the use of the Jetpack makes for some intresting gameplay idea’s.

Dark Void is released on the 22nd of January.