User Reviews (1 - 6 of 6)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

This game got on my nerves more and more...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: September 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

When the opening cinematic and first scene of Darkened Skye played, I was really impressed. It's a good-looking game, and from the first scene on the game appears to be made by people who know how to write a script and tell a story through its cinematic sequences, rather than arrays of camera trickery (eg. Max Payne). The voice work is especially terrific, delivering the script's zingy one-liners with aplomb.

Unfortunately, after playing a reasonably enjoyable first level, my experience began more and more to resemble trudging through a rain-soaked construction site.

Seems like they got the visuals so right but the mechanics so wrong. Many players have complained about the bugs, and I don't think I've ever encountered a game with so many loopholes as this one. Literally. You can be running through solid ground, then all of a sudden you'd slip *through* the ground and fall to your death. Or, a patch of black in front of you is actually not the path you've been walking, but a puddle you can drown in. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault's little visual flaws are nothing compared to the number of times I've died here because of poor design. And the lighting...most of the levels are so dark your eyes will gel up trying to navigate through them, yet the game doesn't provide the crucial option of adjusting brightness levels. Hello? When I play a game, I'd like to actually *see* what's going on!

The combat system is passable; while Skye's response to your commands is not great, it's not terrible either. However, the enemy design was certainly ill-fitted to the limited control you have over your character. As early as Level 1, you will encounter fluttery enemies that move three times as fast as you while spitting fireballs onto your behind all the way. In subsequent levels this problem escalates, with lightning-fast enemies knocking you off rocks into the water, three tentacled monsters attacking you from all sides and chewing up 75% of your life in a matter of seconds, and so on. No good game should force the player to consciously quicksave every couple of seconds, but this one definitely does.

Finally, the "puzzles" of this game are really not puzzles; they're an array of objects requiring that you run around in the level trying out every item until you hit upon a solution. In Level 3, for example, you're supposed to collect some kind of fish, a seashell, and a singing bug. Too bad the game never bothers to tell you what they're for, so you're not using your brain to figure out a "puzzle", but using your fingers ad nauseam in hope that you'll stumble upon the right place at the right time with the right equipment.

I progressively lost patience with this game to the point where even the spunky voice work and colourful visuals were totally moot for me. To say nothing of the blatant product placement, bordering on overkill. Allied Assault may have pitted you against 50 snipers in one level, and Syphon Filter may have you fighting enemies that can kill you with one shot, but none of them had me quite so lost as Darkened Skye. And considering the expectations raised by the great visuals and aesthetics of the game, the poor gameplay is especially disappointing.

Taste the Rainbow - A game about Skittles?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: February 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Who would have thought game based on commercials for a candy would actually be any good? Well trust me it is. I've had my eye on this game for about a year, and am very pleased with the final product. I could rave about the graphics...Beautiful. I could rave about the gameplay...Kings Quest meets Tomb Raider. I could rave about the stability...Never Crashed Once. I could kinda rave about the controls...Never REALLY a problem. But I give three cheers to the story...RAH RAH RAH.
The story has both a quirky sense of humor and a meaningfulness that doesn't come very often, and to be honest surprised me. Some of the one liners had me on the floor, and Skye's search for her mother touched my heart. All of this wrapped up with some decent fighting and magic, and some real braintwisting puzzles. It's as good as a Buffy episode.

A Skittles Game? They could have warned us ...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

It's not often that I burst out laughing in the middle of a game because of a magic item. This game definitely deserved it.

I got this game because it had a young woman on its cover, and talked about roleplaying, magic, puzzles and witty humor. I thought this was definitely the kind of game to review for a woman's site! The beginning of the game was encouraging - nice graphics, great humor, sort of a Longest Journey explore-and-learn game.

Then, you run across a strange item. It's a small oval colored object with a S on it. "Jeez, it looks like a Skittle" I said to myself, laughing. You go further, fighting monsters, doing some hop-hop-hop arcade sorts of things. Then you reach the Old Woman. And she gasps when she sees what you have. "What you have there," she says in astonishment, "is ... a Skittle!"

That was just too much for me, I was rolling on the floor. A game whose purpose it is to sell you candy? As if most game players need any enticement! They definitely don't mention this anywhere on the box.

There are some annoying aspects to the game (besides the blatant pushing of small colorful candies). The movement is a little flaky. The video playing is also flaky - you can go through the same scene twice and one time it'll show you a video and the next time you play that scene (with a new character) it won't. But the humor is great, and the graphics are nice. You might even call it ... eye candy.

Recommended if you enjoy RPGs with a sense of humor.

Candy? Who cares...it's great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Finally...a game I'm hooked on! One that's not too easy and not too hard (still, I could use a hint book). I have been playing this game for about a week and absolutely love it! After a hard day at work on a computer, this game makes me look forward to coming home and getting back on the computer (this is a rare occurrence). The graphics are fantastic and the cut scenes in the story make the game unique and keep it from becoming monotonous. I find myself just wandering in too many games, not knowing what to do next, getting stuck, getting bored, and finally just giving up. There is plenty to do in this game...never a dull moment! When I got the game home and first realized it was about Skittles, I knew I had been duped...I was wrong! The Skittles in this game are so understated that the whole concept of them just disappears during game play. You will be too busy to think about candy...still, maybe I'll pick up some Skittles on my next trip to the store.

Buy this game, I don't see how you could possibly be disappointed.

Pleasant Surprise

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Another reviewer called this Kings Quest meets Tomb Raider, and I think its accurate for this game. The puzzles are more of get-an-item-and-shove-it-in-this-situation, although the game developers simplify it by ensuring all the items are used up in a given level. (ever hang on to a weird looking rock from your first save point, taking up an entire inventory slot and never use it during the entire game?) The graphics are good. The story and interface are fair. I lucked out and picked this up for 4.99 on a discount rack, and for 5 bucks you really can't be too mad. The sounds (I have surround sound) had me going at certain parts. As mentioned by others, the humor is great and I appreciate the sarcasm Skye and Draak bring to the game. Yes, its about "Skittles" candy, and yes they bring in all the old "taste the rainbow" commercials into the game, but it wasn't so awful that I didn't want to play. I tell you what though, If it meant that companies who payed advertising dollars to software developers to put product placements and it resulted in a better game, I'd buy the game. I am not giving it a perfect score, because once in a while the interface or the game got a little hazy (not crashing, its rock solid) but a little glitchy.
If you can get it cheap, its worth your time for the jokes alone.

One of the best games I've ever played

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

While it doesn't boast 50,000,000 polygons, Darkened Skye is one of the best games I've ever played and THE best game I've played recently.

It can be frustrating at times, but with the "anywhere" type of saving the game has, it's not that bad. There is decent challenge, but not too much. It's all very evened out and quite enjoyable.

The game play is seriously enhanced by the nice story and the story is even further enhanced by the excellent dialogue and humor! I actually find myself caring about the characters. That's something I usually don't do unless I'm watching a TV show or movie.

It's a shame that so few people have ever heard of Darkened Skye. It really is one of the best. I've enjoyed it more than Half-Life 2 or Blood Rayne 2!

I had a copy on the Game Cube, but saving on a little memory card and using the controller was limiting and slow. Also, my PC video card beats the heck out of the GC's video, so I decided to buy this game for the PC. I'm glad I did!

Review Page: 1 

Actions