Dark Side

Copyright : Incentive Software | Reviewed by : betpet

Dark Side was the second game released by Incentive Software that used their revolutionary \'Freescape\' 3D engine. Set 200 years after the events of Driller (the first \'Freescape\' game released), the Ketars have planned a nasty revenge. They have created a giant laser cannon called Zephyr One on the moon Tricuspid which is aimed at Evath and will wipe out everyone unless something is done about it.

Although the cannon itself is ready, it is being powered by the sun and ECDs are absorbing the suns rays and converting it into energy. The cannon is charging and the counter is rapidly flying up toward maximum where the cannon will fire. Your job is to stop that happening. The only way it can be realistically done is by someone going up to Tricuspid and destroying the ECDs before the cannon is fully charged. The Ketars had the foresight to make traps and keep access to the cannon restricted by erecting a force field.

The only way you can destroy an ECD is to shoot it while it has only one connection to the network. More than one connection and the system can plug the gap and regenerate the ECD. Naturally, if you destroy an ECD the timer slows down. Can you save Evath in time?

The graphics are spectacular. There are definite performance increases since the original release of Driller. The colours are bold and bright and the 3D is breathtaking considering it is running on a 4 MHz machine.

The sound effects are minimal and are limited to bumping, laser shots, etc. Then again, with the 3D engine and the large map involved, I doubt there was much memory left for much more than that.

There is plenty to do in this game. You have ECD destruction, puzzle solving and lots of exploring a rich and detailed environment to get on with. The puzzles are generally fair (although the 4th teleporter Crystal is an evil one to solve and probably a little unfair but once solved, is easy to accomplish) and make good use of the engine without relying solely on 3D puzzles. The controls are quite responsive but it is quite easy to lose your orientation if you accidentally press the wrong button but there are instruments that will help you rectify that.

Dark Side is a slightly overlooked gem as it is the second of a series of games that didn\'t get as much recognition as it\'s younger siblings \'Total Eclipse\' and \'Castle Master\'. It is certainly less repetitive and haphazard than \'Driller\' one one I played to death during my teens.