In the AI department, Dark Planet is consistently inconsistent. Some
times your units will keep such a tight formation when moving across the map
that it will be hard to distinguish individual units. At other times, half
of a squad will decide that they prefer to take the long way around and you will
find your force scattered around the map. On the attack, the computer will
sometimes send a steady stream of single units at your base making them easy
pickings, while at other times you won't hear anything out of the computer until
a large attack comes crashing down on your base.
Dark Planet's interface leaves a lot to be desired. Unit, research, and
structure icons are all quite small and hard to distinguish.
Unfortunately, there is also a dearth of shortcut keys for unit creation and
orders, so players will just have to get used to finding and clicking small
buttons. The default scrolling method is an odd and awkward affair - the
first thing players will want to do is go into the configuration menu and change
the scroll settings. Also, for some strange reason the game features two
mini-maps. One shows the location of the current screen in relation to the
entire map, but does not allow the player to click on it to move the
camera. The other shows a tiny portion of the overall map, but allows the
player to click on it to move the camera. Since the coverage of this
second mini-map is so limited, it quickly becomes obvious that it's a lot faster
to scroll to different location than to attempt to continually click on the
mini-map. This problem is magnified when using unit groups. Hitting
the number key corresponding to a group places that group in focus on the
screen. To move the group to the desired location requires scrolling all
the way back to it. Try to move two or more groups this way and the
problem is compounded even further. Players should be free to fight the
enemies in the game, not the game's interface.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 66%.
All in all, Dark Planet is a game that looks great and has some interesting
ideas, but for the most part it falls flat in several key areas. Strategy gaming fans might be interested in Dark Planet for some of its more
innovative features, but many gamers might find its shortcomings to prove to be
too frustrating.
System Requirements: Pentium III 450; 64 MB RAM; 16 MB
Video RAM; 8x CD-ROM; 220 MB Hard Drive
Space; Mouse.
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