The game starts off recounting a test flight of an experimental jetpack. A tutorial teaches you the ins and outs of the jet-pack usage, but the true test starts when ring-like aerial vehicles ambush you and your wing-men. A tragic turn of events leads to an early retirement of the jet-pack and a fast forward to our hero Will’s introduction. Immediately after crash landing in the Void, he is soon running for his life as freaky robotic soldiers and slug-like alien foes try to keep you from discovering the secrets of the Void.

Dark Void’s storytelling is more than a little vague. Forced segments of story leads to Will and Ava discovering a tribe of natives eerily similar to Aztecs that want little to do with them. This encounter leads to an introduction to a key figure from the history books – Serbian inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla. Journal entries are littered throughout the world that help to reveal exactly who and what you’re dealing with. Some of these are even accounts of Amelia Earhart’s survival records from her disappearance over the Bermuda Triangle. It should be noted that the games cut-scenes leave some holes in the overall story of Dark Void. Tesla’s introduction is one major example of this as the game never truly reveals that you are dealing with the renowned inventor.

Once all the introductions are made, Will finally gets use of the jetpack and Dark Void really takes off. A brief tutorial reacquaints you with the jetpack controls and you’re on your way. At first, using the jet-pack feels like walking on a sheet of ice. You’ll find yourself clumsily trying to keep your flight path stable but it doesn’t take long to become pro at it. Airtight Games put a lot of depth in both the flight controls and the actual aerial combat and once you have the hang of it all, it’s just like riding a bike. Though the aerial sequences are the game’s strong suit, there are times when even that seems like a chore with balance issues between flight and hover control.

Ground combat comes easily in Dark Void as you get your hands on a decent arsenal of pistols, assault rifles and particle projectile cannons. The cover system in Dark Void is reminiscent of Gears of War (yet another similarity with that game is that Dark Void is powered by the Unreal Engine) or Uncharted, but the somewhat clunky controls take a toll on being truly effective with both cover and combat. When guns don’t do the trick, Will can use a close combat system that leads to some pretty brutal take-downs.

You’ll find yourself easily turned around in Dark Void as most of the scenery looks almost exactly the same. Exploration is greatly hindered as the game’s graphics lack a lot of texture. Whether it’s a tropical jungle, vast and towering ruins, or cavernous valleys, Dark Void’s scenery seems to be almost static and lacking any real depth.

To the keen ear, you’ll notice that Will sounds like another reckless hero that’s recently passed the gaming world’s way… Nolan North (Uncharted Drake’s Fortune, Prince of Persia, Army of Two: The 40th Day) heads up the cast of characters in Dark Void. Paul Eiding (Metal Gear Solid series) and Polly Walker (HBO’s Rome) lend their voices as well to the cast and Airtight Games also recruited the musical talent of Bear McCreary (SyFy Channel’s Battlestar Galactica) to compose the soundtrack for Dark Void.

With all of the talent used for Dark Void, it’s quite surprising that the game itself misses the mark on some key elements that would make it a truly memorable ride. Lackluster storytelling along with frustrating controls that result in numerous continues being used just to survive the simplest of scenarios are two prevalent issues that really prevent this title from being better than generic. Though it was pushed back from 2009 until 2010, this one seems like it could’ve used a little bit more time and polish. Worth a play if you just HAVE to have something new to play, but a game your library won’t notice the absence of.

Releasing in just a couple short weeks on January 19, the demo will give gamers a test drive of Dark Void’s unique mix of gameplay action. Combining jet pack aerial dog-fights, on-foot action and both traditional and vertical based cover, Dark Void should provide gamers with a way to jump-start their January gaming.

The Dark Void demo hits Xbox Live on January 6 and PSN on January 7.

This latest video highlights the environments to be found in the alternate universe of Dark Void. Then again, the only reason you’re reading this is to get a glimpse of the areas that might make it into the Brad Pitt movie, right? Of course!

Details on the contest and prizes after the jump. Go Capcom!

From the Press Release:

To enter the sweepstakes, visit the official site Dark Void site at http://www.darkvoidgame.com/tesla/ to sign up for a chance to win. Five lucky winners will get a free trip to Las Vegas this January during the Consumer Electronics Show to test drive the Tesla Roadster with the Dark Void development team. In February, one very lucky winner will win the grand prize — their very own Tesla Roadster. Gamers who enter before Dec. 7 are eligible for the Test Drive Event and the grand prize. Those who enter after Dec. 7 will be eligible for the grand prize only. By signing up for the sweepstakes, fans will also be entered into the Dark Void community to stay up to date with game news, new assets and announcements. The winner of the Tesla Roadster will be announced in February 2010.

“Nikola Tesla obsessed over building the perfect machine — just like Tesla Motors. Until the parallel-universe jet pack becomes a reality, there’s always the Roadster,” said Ricardo Reyes, vice president, communications, Tesla Motors. “It’s only fitting that we partner with Capcom, another cutting-edge company, to honor a revolutionary genius.”

Dark Void is an upcoming third person shooter from Capcom. Developed by Airtight Games, the title at first glance seems to resemble Gears of War with a jetpack. Featuring the signature stop and pop gameplay the aforementioned series is known for, the controls felt very familiar right away.

The level we played featured a variety of things to do and modes to play. The beginning of the level introduced a jetpack equipped commando entering the battlefield with his fellow soldiers. The enemies encountered were all robotic in nature with seemingly no signs of organic life. The majority of this portion of the game involved taking cover behind barrels, boxes, walls and other level objects while lining up shots on the adversaries when the opportunity arised. Standard assault rifles, grenades and good old fashioned one hit melee kills are what were at our disposal here.

Where things started to change up a bit was a little later on when the platforming elements came into play. The player is able to grab onto ledges to scale up to higher places, but the camera switches to a view behind the player facing up towards the sky. The player then has to navigate past enemies trying to shoot at him, while taking shots of his own and leaping to adjacent ledges to avoid damage. With the aid of the jetpack at times, it’s possible to vault up to even higher ledges on the way to the top. If ammo is completely exhausted, or if getting up close and personal is the preferred method of disposal, the one hit melee attacks work here as well. While the melee maneuvers on the ground are effective enough, reaching at an enemy from below and tossing him off a cliff is much more satisfying.

Upon reaching the top of the compound, we were treated to our first taste at flight in the game. Feeling a little bit clumsy at first to simulate the initial velocity of the rocket’s propulsion, we quickly felt at home with these controls as well. At this point, we were tasked with taking out all the gunner ships. Considering that we didn’t have any weapon to use during flight, this initially posed a little bit of a problem.

Things took a turn for the better, however, when we realized that we could hijack any of the ships. You start the hijacking process by pressing one button when within range of a ship, but it’s much more involved than that. After a little automated scene of your player grabbing onto the little ship, a mini game starts up. The ship was pretty much a flying disc with a rotating cannon in the middle. The rotating cannon turns to face your direction before charging up a blast to kill you. You can avoid the cannon blasts by circling around the ship to make it difficult for it to line up a shot on you. The main thing you want to do at this point, is to pull up a panel and rip out one of the main components from inside the ship. The trickery comes into play as to do this, you have to stay stationary for awhile so that you can hold down a button to completely pull the panel off.

Once you’ve done this successfully, you’ll be able to enact a quick time event to rip the pilot out of his cockpit and control the gunship yourself. After taking out all the ships, a brief cut scene played and the demo was over.

Dark Void plays and feels really good right now. Though the build was early, there is quite a bit of time left before the 2009 release date. We’ll be keeping our eyes open on this one.