Dark
Vengeance
PC Game
Review
Reviewed by: StormDaemon
The world of third person view action games has taken a
step up with the release of Dark Vengeance. Not only will fans
of game such as Tomb Raider and Heretic II be pleased, but
also anyone who likes a good blood fest will also be in for a
treat. With the 3D graphics and an advanced combat system,
Dark Vengeance is a cut above the rest.
Storyline: Dark Vengeance is set in a world, which
has been put under an eternal eclipse of the moon and over run
with hordes of evil Dark Elves. You'll choose your path as one
of three characters in their quest for blood and vengeance of
the wrongs that were done to them by the Dark Elves.
Features: The game offers a third person view of the
action with full 3D graphics and special effects that are all
done with an attitude toward action packed combat. Three
characters, lots of enemies, and lots of spells, weapons, and
magic items all pervade this game, making it on par with many
other popular titles. The multiplayer experience within the
game allows for up to 32 players at a time, and a newly
created Voyeur mode allows for up to 64 people, even though
the Voyeurs can only watch a specific person. Every other
option in the game is what a person would expect, and doesn't
get in the way of playing the game at all.
Gameplay: Dark Vengeance offers a different type of
third person gameplay with its ability to "chord" actions.
"Chording" is the game developers' term for using a specific
key for a general action, and hitting another key at the same
time for a specific application of that general action. For
instance, the attack main key is Ctrl, while if you want a
quick attack you then hit J, if you want a medium attack you'd
hit I, and a long attack is L. Ranged attack, dodging, and
jumping all work in the same manner. While this does allow for
a complex fighting style, though the simple fact that your
character is always in the way does detract from the overall
action. The designers did compensate by putting a dot on the
targeted enemy so that you could see it through your
character. In addition to the complex fighting style, there
were also many different weapons with different effects. Each
character also had special power ups at their disposal.
Overall, the gameplay was fun, but limited by the third person
view.
Graphics: The graphics were really nice to look at
and complemented the game very well, but even with a Voodoo2,
it was still choppy at times. In the options menu, many
different graphical options could be adjusted, but none of
them seemed to make a difference. Aside from the speed of the
graphics engine, everything was detailed and ornate, time
after time giving the feel of actually being in a fantasy
world. The characters and enemies were all well detailed, each
having their own look and feel. Another nice aspect about the
game was that the weapons all had some kind of special effect,
like the whizzing of a sword through the air would leave a
cutting path, kind of like the ones in anime films.
Sound FX: The sound effects were decent, but
average. While each creature made some kind of sound which
would be noticeable if you were nearby, none of the sounds
were breathtaking. They did their job and sounded like the
creatures they were. The levels themselves all had sounds for
specific things, like doors opening and such, and they all
sounded good. The background music wasn't too noticeable, but
like the rest of the sounds, it did its job.
Overall: Dark Vengeance was an above average game
because of its fun gameplay and nice graphics. While there
were specific things that did hinder play, like the 3rd person
view, everything was fun and enjoyable. While it probably
won't be voted best game of the year, it isn't a bad game at
all. The bottom line is that if you like Heretic II and Tomb
Raider, and you love medieval combat, then this is the game
for you.