Darkside Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: December 30, 2007 I'll put this in simple terms, not because I think you couldn't handle something complicated, but because the quicker I finish writing this review, the sooner I can get back to playing the game: Darkside from Pie Eye Games rocks. If you like arcade action, skip the rest of this article, clear your schedule, download the demo, install it and begin playing. For those of you still reading, I'll give you a rundown of the gameplay. Have you played Asteroids? Then you know what Darkside is all about. You control a small spaceship that stays in the middle of your screen and must shoot any space rocks and enemies you see. If you slam into too many rocks or let your enemies get the better of you, you're dust. It's as clear-cut as that. That said, Darkside is what every other knockoff of Asteroids should've been. The game world is three dimensional, so as you pilot your ship around a small 3D planet, it looks as though the planet itself is rotating. Remember the first time you played Wolfenstein 3D and went, "Cool!" Chances are, you'll say that the first time you play Darkside, too. Also, instead of battling an endless procession of asteroids and enemies, you complete missions. There are 100 in all, some of which include protecting several power stations for a certain amount of time, destroying all of the asteroids on the screen, vaporizing all of the enemies and safeguarding the supply crates on the surface of the planet. The 3D graphics and visuals effects in Darkside are superb and the audio will make excellent use of your subwoofer. Even better, the controls are butter smooth and the gameplay is as addictive as any arcade game I've played. Download it. Play it. Then email me and say thank you. Scoring (out of five stars): Graphics: Ease of use: Gameplay: Challenge: Sound effects: Music: Final analysis: Click here to download the free trial version of Darkside.