Windows

Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis

I'll be blunt. I didn't like this game. It isn't horrible. It has a nice engine and enough variation of units to keep some gamers occupied for a while, but I just didn't care to be. It bored me a bit. Without any real history or story behind the factions fighting, I just felt kind of disjointed the entire time I was playing. This is not the world of one night stands, I need more than a pretty face and the standard features to keep me interested for longer. Speaking of which, I still can't believe that the campaigns are all the same. When you advertise three campaigns... they really should be different.

Zwar kann sich Dark Planet weder grafisch noch spielerisch gegen Genre-König Warcraft 3 durchsetzen. Aber für unterhaltsame Stunden ist trotzdem gesorgt. Die Schlachten sind nett anzusehen, die Steuerung leicht lernbar und die Missionen erfordern taktische und strategische Planung.

Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis is a typical RTS with some atypical races. It would be a nice introduction to the newcomer to the genre, and veterans of this mode or warfare will find it challenging.

Dark Planet has some neat ideas, a nice blend of races, and top-shelf graphics, but the interface is so counter-intuitive that it makes the game feel more like work than fun; in the most saturated market in the industry, that's reason enough to run for the uninstall button.

Mehrere Rassen in einem Echtzeit-Strategiespiel (hier: drei Stück) sind inzwischen ja schon Normalität geworden. Dark Planet geht einen kleinen Schritt weiter: High-Tech-Truppen führen Schlachten gegen Fantasy-Figuren und Aliens. Da kommt es zu Situationen, in denen Bogenschützen in Eidechsenform auf Roboter mit Laserwaffen schießen - und trotz der offensichtlich ungleichen Kräfteverhältnisse siegen.

Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis proves that pretty graphics don't make a good game. Despite the variety in game modes and occasional great sound, the fact that nothing new to the genre is added and several things are taken away make Dark Planet a difficult game to recommend. Sure it looks good, but it plays bad. They (you know who I mean: they) say that screenshots sell games, so it's my solemn duty to inform you, the gaming public, so just take the screenshots instead of the whole game in the case of Dark Planet: it's cheaper and a whole lot less painful.

Is it fun to play and worth the investment of time and effort to learn? Yes! Especially if you have not played some of the groundbreaking titles in the RTS world or are getting really tired of getting overrun by Zergs all the time. There are enough cool new twists in DarkPlanet to make it a worthwhile addition to any RTS gaming library.

Dark Planet ist für Liebhaber des Genres durchaus einen Blick wert. Es kann zwar nicht mit den ganz Großen konkurrieren, hat aber durchaus Aspekte die den Vorbildern überlegen sind (das Interface zum Beispiel). Die Story, von der man wenig merkt, und die, trotz schöner Landschaftsgrafik, eher uninspirierten Missionen verwehren dem Spiel einen Aufstieg in höhere Wertungsregionen. Persönlich würde ich eher zu C&C Generals greifen, da mir die actionreichere Spielweise dort deutlich eher zusagt.

Many of Dark Planet's problems have been solved in other real-time strategy games, so it's disappointing to find them marring what should have been a better game. With a more manageable interface and a more functional graphics engine, Dark Planet could have been a nice world to visit. At it is, it's just another arid moon in a galaxy of real-time strategy games.

Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of the RTS genre, and it's games like Dark Planet that have probably contributed to that indifference. With no story before, during, or after the game, I was never motivated to play through the campaign or even a single mission. There are some gorgeous visuals, but nothing that can negate the horrible interface and control system that will have you fighting the game more than the enemy. Try the demo if you must, but in my opinion Dark Planet will probably disappoint even the most devout RTS gamer.

Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis, from Scottish developer Creative Edge Software (aka “Edgies”), is one of those games that probably sounded good when it was on the drawing table. I mean, I can picture a project manager saying, “Hey, we’ll have these three races fighting for a planet, and we’ll do interesting things with the units and resources, and we’ll wrap it up with a snazzy 3D engine. What do you think?” And then the money person might have responded, “Sounds great! Go for it!” But then something went horribly, terribly wrong during production, and, as a result, Dark Planet is one of the worst real-time strategy games I’ve ever played.

Strategy games are a tricky business. Not many folks initially want to micromanage for two hours. Developers have to make gamers want to stick around. Several great, and oftentimes simple, formulas have led to such franchises as Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, and the beloved Warcraft series. Unfortunately, Dark Planet doesn't exhibit any of the draw that its competitors do. Being a mediocre game leaves way to much room for consideration of a game's shortcomings. I would like to end with some praise for this game, though. Dropping the price to a "bargain" level was a very smart decision. At $50 this game could not hope to compare, but at $10 it can provide a short distraction. Hey isn't Deus Ex only $10 too, though? Natrolis will have to wait.

Dark Planet is a prime example of how amazing graphics can't make up for lackluster gameplay. While Dark Planet's visuals are a joy to look at, it's a pain to play because the things the developers did right are buried six feet under the things they did poorly. The cumbersome interface and lack of varied missions for the different races drive the nail in the game's coffin. Only the staunchest of hardcore strategy fans will enjoy Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis. Nonetheless, with the stellar Battle Realms on shelves now and Heroes of Might and Magic IV just around the corner, I can't recommend anyone pick up Dark Planet.