Dark Eyes - Super Soldier
- TheAwakening
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Overview
Dark Eyes (Vs) Super Soldier is the last installment from the creator of the comics Dark Eyes, where we control a lone super soldier with a few weapons at hand against waves of aliens in this side-scroller action shooter. Our objective is simple: blast away thousands of hostiles with everything we’ve got. Action is straightforward and easy; it should take a couple of hours or three to finish the campaign.
Story
In response to the increasing threat of the Delta, known as the Dark Eyes, Commander Max Stone has finished his last batch of Super Soldiers: enhanced marines with a lack of fear and tough as nails, capable of following orders till their demise. We control super soldier number 127. After our first mission where mass casualties have taken place, we are now the sole super soldier of the squad. Our next assignment: sabotage the Delta’s comms and destroy their commander.
(More lore can be found in logs, which can be found in the main base shortly after the tutorial.)
Gameplay
Everything is explained in the tutorial and further across our missions. We have four weapons available: a sidearm with extreme accuracy and an infinite clip, but the only weapon that must be manually recharged; an assault rifle with a larger clip but moderate accuracy; a shotgun with slower firing speed but devastating shots; and finally, a grenade launcher with limited ammunition. We can also carry five grenades. In every mission there will be ammo and health boxes, both replenishing half of our resources. These are used automatically when touched, which annoyed me a lot, as I like to have them for later use. This is possible by jumping above them to advance in the mission, then backtracking when needed.
With jumping and ducking, we can dodge grenades and shots coming at us, respectively, though we can also “push” enemy grenades simply by moving towards them, then moving backwards. Typically aliens will shoot and throw grenades on every occasion; it is important to dodge so as to save our health. As we progress in the game, more and tougher aliens will come, some shooting bigger shots that must be jumped. They will also carry shields, which will tank a lot of damage, so a grenade must be lobbed for faster disposal. Saving our ammunition for difficult encounters is highly recommended, where the sidearm will come in handy.
Every mission is more or less the same, where we must shoot our way across endless waves of hostiles. But we’re not alone for the majority of the mission; several marines will fight alongside us until their demise. This is where I like to use them as shields, as they’re incapable of ducking incoming shots or avoiding grenades, but they will take those shots for us so we don’t have to duck all the time. We can't properly fire back when ducking or jumping, as our shots are straight. I’ve noticed enemies flinch when taking damage, lowering accuracy extremely. In later stages some allies will act as health or ammo dispensers of one use only, if they’re alive.
The final push in a mission involves a boss fight, for example, a tank that will fire shots that must be ducked. Here is where we have to use everything we’ve got, as our weapons won't be carried towards the next mission, unfortunately. And because resources are limited, we also have to avoid taking a lot of damage. Other missions are packed with a few surprises as well, nothing you can't handle. There are only three classic difficulties to choose from; this review was written in a Hard playthrough. A higher difficulty will increase damage taken and how many shots are needed to take down a single alien, among other things. Checkpoints are placed throughout the level, but on specific fights we have to start from scratch if we fail.
Bugs Found
· The keybindings menu is blurred for some reason.
· A rare instance has happened where I died using the sidearm, and when I respawned on the checkpoint, I was unable to use it anymore. Restarting the game fixed the problem.
Audio & Graphics
Graphics kept the same graphic style of the comics, as everything has been hand-drawn. The cinematics have the classical Flash animation I’m familiar with. Expect good voice acting from a single person. The music nailed it with the experience as well. The only issue was the volume from voices, as it was a bit lower than sound effects and music.
Pros & Cons
Pros-
Classic side-scroller shooter, easy to play.
Can pretty much run on any PC.
Good music, good voice acting.
Cons-
Some instances on Hard are very difficult to beat in a single life.
Rating: 7/10
Good thing those aliens didn’t have any Headcrabs.
