A Game Not to Remember
A Review of Darklight Conflict
Edmond Meinfelder
Darklight Conflict is a space combat game in the vein of X-Wing, Wing Commander, and Privateer. One look at this visual beauty and you'll reflexively reach for your joystick. Before you blast off, destroying alien menace, there's a few things you should know.
Before explanations and recriminations, we need an intro for the uninitiated. In the space combat genre, players fly space craft, resembling air craft from World War II to modern day, shooting things, often enemy craft, to advance levels. Level after level players advance until the dramatic conclusion. This is how I describe Darklight Conflict.
In Wing Commander, however, you feel like a pilot, not a player. After wondering through the carrier, picking up useful information from comrades, or just admiring your medals, pilots receive detailed briefings. Combat is a tricky matter of selecting the right load-out, directing wingmen and dogfighting your opponents. The enemy taunts, wingmen remarks, battle noises and fierce action focus your attention to one goal: completing the mission. The story and gameplay combine, making Wing Commander a game players get into rather than just play.
The difference between the two games is striking. If I'd spent only a few minutes with Darklight Conflict, I might make the mistake of saying, "Unlike Wing Commander, I just play Darklight Conflict." Unfortunately, due to control problems with the joystick (more later), even this statement is generous. But I'm ahead of myself; let's start at the beginning.
Starting with a movie, as most games do, Darklight Conflict opens with a "Top Gun" dogfight pitting F-14's against MIGs. MIGs explode with rendered elegance at the hands a skilled U.S. pilot. The scene zooms out, revealing a monitor under the watchful eye of aliens. Like the aliens of prime-time television, these ETs are into abduction. The movie clip ends with a strange energy beam enveloping the ship, transporting the pilot into the hands of the aliens. Even the creatively-challenged can complete the story. After being trained by the aliens in their latest fighting craft, the heroic pilot saves the day.
The opening movie is worth a second look, because its lack also underscores the consistent shortcoming of the game. Tough technically brilliant, the movie does not set the scene for a space fighter game, but instead might better serve as the opening for an X-Files adventure game. True, in the world which PC Game designers live, space combat parallels air-borne conflict. However, the movie shows F-14s when no such craft exist in the game.
The movie's problem is of detachment and poor set-up. You feel detached from the movie, because it is impersonal; players can not relate to anyone because no individuals exist in the short clip. The set-up tells a story, but a poorly told one; relating to events shown is difficult and have nothing to do with the game. The detachment persists throughout; Darklight Conflict is not a game players "climb into."
Upon the first mission, shooting a series of stationary drones, controlling the craft is tedious. The joystick movement translation to the rate of the ship's turn appears hosed. The center area of the joystick is extremely unresponsive, while the outside areas of the joystick are more responsive. The joystick's transition area, from unresponsive to responsive, is tedious to deal with, especially when targeting enemies. Darklight Conflict craft handle like Chevy Novas on ice. Give me TIE Fighters or Confederation Arrows any day.
Some missions, players do not fly about in space craft, but instead man turrets, blasting enemies from a stationary position. I first saw this feature in Star Quest I and failed to appreciate it in either game. Some might find fixed-position combat fun, but I felt frustration and tedium. Let me weave, roll and turn until I wind my way behind the cunning ship currently on my tail. Don't chain me to a stationary gun, please?
Darklight Conflict has what I call repeat mission syndrome, though others call it arcaditis. You know the problem; otherwise great games forcing good people to repeatedly replay scenarios until they get it right without allowing players to save at arbitrary points in the game. Usually this "feature" exists in the name of challenge, but I don't have the endless reserve of hours and determination I enjoyed in youth. Maybe, Darklight Conflict needs a warning label: Danger -- This game not designed for adults with busy lifestyles.
After the short comings, let the players eat candy; eye candy. Darklight Conflict is the prettiest space combat game yet. I enjoy flying towards the sun, seeing multiple lens flares cross the screen. Seeing the glow of my energy weapon outline the discharge is a thrill. The explosions, ships and game interface combine, making Darklight Conflict the most graphically stunning space combat game currently on the shelves.
Aside from the joystick snafu, Darklight Conflict's interface is elegant. Three 3-dimensional arrows at the upper left of the screen point out your wingmen, enemies, space portals and battleships. A thin, unobtrusive line extends out from the arrow to the screen location, giving those with poor situation awareness (me!), a helping hand. Firing, weapon control and camera views must be controlled from the keyboard -- there's only 2-button joystick support, alas.
The music is eerie, moody and settles into the game so well, you might easily forget it. This is the kind of music most games really need to enable players to feel a part of the action. Unfortunately, Darklight's world and story is too shallow for most to dive into. Very few games have music this good. Sadly, the quality is lost on Darklight Conflict because, as I keep saying, this is not a game players "get into."
The sound effects, as usual, don't grip and fail to command attention. A small claxon sounds when the ship is damaged, but more effective might be the sound of an electrical short. The ability to transport, using sounds, requires recognition. Some sounds, due to distinctive nature, like the grenades in Quake we learn to recognize and fear. Other sounds, like an electrical short, we immediately associate with mechanical failure. To make a long story short, none of Darklight Conflict's sound effects had any impact on me. They sounds worked, but did not pull me into the game. A common failing for most games, but perhaps too common a failing for Darklight Conflict.
Darklight Conflict ups the ante for graphical splendor and great music in the space combat genre, but falls far short in every other aspect. So far, in fact, dedicated gamers may wonder how Electronic Arts, the company responsible for Wing Commander and Privateer, could let this sorry excuse get out the door. As each year passes, I realize, with growing distress, once great companies now think the key to high profits is cutting corners in hard to see areas, like game design, while ensuring the graphics awe. These executives with more love of money than games think, "Dazzle 'em with graphics, make a quick sale and we're rich." I submit Darklight Conflict as proof to the near-sightedness of this logic. In a hit-driven industry where only the top 10 to 20 games reap justifiable profit, this game is an unlikely ladder-climber, turning players off with dull design.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: | Darklight Conflict |
| Company: | Electronics Arts |
| Cost: | $49.99 |
System Requirements:
60Mhz Pentium processor, 8 MB of RAM, p133 w/ 16 MB recommended, 4x CD ROM, DOS or Windows '95, 50 MB available hard disk space, Quad Speed (4x) CD-ROM drive, Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster/Pro/16/AWE 32 or 100% compatible Roland RAP-10 Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum or 100% compatible Gravis UltraSound New Media Corporation WaveJammer(TM) Digital Audio Ensoniq SoundScape(TM) Digital Audio ESS Technology ES688 Digital Audio, 640 x 480 display, Joystick, mouse and keyboard
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 1
Graphics 5
Sound 3
Interface 3
Replayability 2
Overall Score:
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