nencumbered by any extensive plot or storyline, Darklight
Conflict pits humans against the alien Ovons in flight
simulator-style spaceship dogfights. The game view is the
cockpit of a single-person fighter with pretty simple controls:
number keys to set speed, joystick or mouse for direction, and arrows
for rolling and afterburners. And of course a trigger for firing
weapons. The weapons available are, for the most part,
variations on the familiar laser gun, with a few interesting
twists such as the fragmentation cannon, which fires rounds that
explode like fireworks at a certain distance. In the cockpit
view, the heads up display shows the location of all ships and
other objects (hyperspace portals, asteroids) in the area, as
well as weapon, shield and energy status.
In single-player mode there are 50 missions to play against
increasingly difficult opponents. Enemy ships range from
fighters to bombers and capital ships, all rendered in 3-D with
multiple light sources. Some missions are non-combat-oriented,
such as clearing a path through an asteroid field. There is also
a multiplayer mode, where up to six players can dogfight over a
LAN or IPX network. Unfortunately there's no Internet play at
this time. As noted, there's no real story that drives these
interstellar brawls: furious combat is this game's sole raison
d'etre.
Not too challenging, but plenty of fun
For hard-core space flight simulation fans, the ships in
Darklight may seem rather simplistic, but for players who
enjoy a fast shooter -- where action takes precedence over realism --
this game will provide plenty of fun. Flying is easy to learn
thanks to well-thought-out interface designs such as holding down
the trigger to activate shields, and the numerically controlled
throttle, which allows an exact speed to be selected with a
single keystroke.
The main thing that sets this game above others in the genre
is just how gorgeous it is to look at. Colorful light sources
create sparkling lens flares across the cockpit window, and
explosions are slow, rippling eruptions with plenty of shrapnel
and debris. The display is an absolute dream, with a tiny 3-D map of
the area around the ship and rotating arrows that point to
various targets.
It would be nice if there were more multiplayer options such
as team play and of course play over the Internet. Another
disappointment is that the game is letterboxed, so the view out
the cockpit window is rather small. The game's setting isn't
particularly original either, but in terms of looks and
playability, it's one of the best offerings of its type.
