Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

After finishing the Darkest of Days demo, I was impressed with the premise of the game and the size and scope of the battlefields you encounter on your trip to the past.  That said, there is something that feels average about Darkest of Days that I cannot quite put my finger on as of yet.  It is a competent shooter, has fluid, if not great graphics, and a sense of historical accuracy to a degree, but nothing really raises up to the level of top shelf gaming here.

The demo that is presented in Darkest of Days, has you being rescued by a timecop, who is charged with pulling you out of what looked to be the last stand of General Custer.  Without too much explaination, you are told that you will help restore some events that have been changed by people that want to alter the future by making changes to the past.  After a quick tutorial that shows you some of the historical weapons you will encounter and how to use them, you are whisked off to part of the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War.  At this point, the history buff in me started to geek out as they really did work to get authentic weapons from the time periods you will visit.  After arriving, you meet up with your partner, who issues you a single fire rifle that takes some time to load, and this is where the demo really shines.

During the demo, you get your hands on at lest four different weapons, from handguns, to grenades, to rifles and even an automatic rifle, when you have to even up the odds a bit.  Each of the weapons really had great sound and I have to admit that I had fun with timing the speed loading, which shows a recticle on the screen and you have to press fire when it is in the green.  Miss it and you take an extra chunk of time un-jamming your weapon.

Technically, the demo was sound and stable, with no crashes, but there are elements that I really think need to be fixed, and I am not sure if there is time to do it at this point.  Movement just seems awkward at best.  It also sometimes wants to become a guided rail shooter for a short period of time in a cornfield while you do battle.  It was weird not to have any control of your shooter when you are on foot and advancing into a firefight.  Eventually it let you free from your chains, but it just did not feel right.  Also, the visuals do not really stand out at this point in time.  When you compare the look of this game to others coming out this fall in the FPS genre, it will get lost in the crowd with the average visuals.

I recommend giving the demo a shot, as I feel reaction to it will be mixed.  It is not that Darkest of Days isn’t looking good.  Its just releasing at a time of hot competition, and I think that people may think twice after playing this demo.