Darklight Conflict Review

Darklight Conflict presents good space combat with nice visuals.

Console systems have never truly done the mission-based space combat sim justice. Sure, the Super Nintendo and the 3DO had versions of Wing Commander, and the PlayStation has Wing Commander IV, but they all seem to fall a little flat when put up against their PC counterparts. EA's Darklight Conflict also began life as a PC title, but it translates quite well to the PlayStation.

The plot of Darklight Conflict strays from what you'd expect. You are cast as Earth's greatest fighter pilot and are briefly shown doing your thing against enemy aircraft. But just as you've repelled this foreign threat, you're, well, abducted by aliens. I guess these aliens watched The Last Starfighter one too many times. Anyway, after beaming you up into outer space, the aliens (known as the Reptons) put you through a rigorous training program that makes up the first nine missions of the game. After nine missions of learning weapon techniques, blowing up drones, taking out mine fields, and the like, you're thrust into actual combat against Ovon forces.

Graphically, Darklight Conflict is very nice. There is a great deal of light sourcing throughout the game, and it gives everything a very realistic look. Also, the game maintains a fairly high frame rate. The sound department is fairly standard, but the voice that gives you your mission updates is totally amazing. He sounds a lot like the Master Control Program voice from Tron. I still mutter "Locate and enter hyperspace portal" on occasion.

All things considered, Darklight Conflict is a pretty good game. It strips away all the excess fluff found in games like Wing Commander IV, and simply presents good space combat with nice visuals and fairly decent control. If you've finished WC4, and you're still hungry for more, DC doesn't disappoint.

The Good

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The Bad

About the Author

Jeff Gerstmann has been professionally covering the video game industry since 1994.