Customer Reviews

Dark Arena

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Dark Arena is a fantastic game. I wanted a First Person Shooter that didn't require tons of thinking and puzzle solving. I just wanted something to relax with and have some fun with after a long day at work. This game accomplishes that. It has suprisingly crisp and colorful graphics. For those people that said the graphics stink, I think their expectations are too high. This is not on an X-Box or NGC. It's on a GBA with a tiny screen. I feel that the enemies have great looks to them and the weapons are fun and creative. The only reason that I have not given this game 5 stars is because there is not music during the game and I don't like writing down passwords. I wish it had a built in "Save" feature. Other than that, this game is awesome! All video games do not have to be extremely complex and difficult in order to be fun! Lots of games now are way too complex...So complex in fact that they aren't any fun if you just want to sit down and play for a little bit because it takes too much time and effort to get into them. Don't get me wrong, I like many of those games too, but that's not what this game's about. Purchase this game if you want a fun, medium involved, stress relieving game!

This game is -hands down- the worst FPS I have ever played. It's BackTrack all over again. The animation is choppy, the enemies are extremely easy to beat, and the pixely graphics are very uninspiring. If you sit down and play it, you can beat the whole game in under 2 hours. There is no challenge, even in hard mode. If you want a good FPS definately get Ecks vs. Sever.

Dark Arena is the worst GameBoy Advanced game I've ever played. It's graphics are sorta okay for a first person GameBoy Advanced game, but the AI Script is terrible. The monsters don't chase you! Some parts are very confusing because of the graphics. Where the monsters are placed is really horrible, like they were firing something right in front of them when they try firin at you. There's a better game than this... Doom. Get that if you really want a first person shooter for GBA. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS JUNK!

I had seen screens/previews of this game before the Game Boy Advance came out. The Advance came out, and it wasn't til about two years later that I actually got one. Soon enough I got this game. I was planning to get Duke Nukem Advance, but they didn't have it where I checked, and I ended up getting this one.

This game, supposedly, plays like Doom. I haven't played the classic Doom, but this game feels like an old school shooter nonetheless. And that's partly what I like about it, is the no-frills action of it. a pure and simple shooter, of sorts. It's a very different feel from a lot of the games nowadays that get bogged down in storylines you could care less about, games that have cutscenes, games where you have to manage inventories, games where... just, I don't know. This game is easy to go into and just play.
The difficulty begins to ramp up pretty quickly, around the fifth level.
I recommend this game to fans of shooters. I so far have enjoyed it.
The graphics disappointed me at first - the screenshots look better than the game does when playing, perhaps, because when it runs, some of the textures blur and become distorted. It runs fairly smoothly, though. I assume the graphics are still decent if not good for Game Boy Advance. However I haven't played any other first person shooters on the system.
My favorite level so far has been this one where you were in a sort of "arena" and there were these big monster.. things. It was fun strafing around firing rockets at them. yes, a rocket launcher. this game has some decent weapons. There are also some large robotic type enemies.
The only complaint I could have is that I don't like a few of the monsters - they occasionally seem generic or uninspired. then again, I think a lot of the enemies in id's games seem uninspired, too.
If only they would make a mech game for game boy advance...
p.s. the lack of an in game save is not a big deal to me. several game boy advance games use a password save, and to me it's not a big deal. it doesn't take long to input a password. plus you have the advantage of getting someone else's password to advance if you're stuck. :) not that I'd do that, of course. of course...

Was looking for a FPS for my new GBASP, and was given this. Very Doomlike, but what is missing is some music. Also, the enemies don't pursue you like they do in doom, but either way, it is a great little game. Not bad graphics either and pretty good texture for a handneld.

Dark Arena is, hands down, one of the most disappointing games I've bought for the GBA. It seems to me that whoever made this game honestly thought that the game would automatically be a success just because it's a first person shooter and thus never really bothered with such trivialities as gameplay. In all honesty, the only thing carrying this title beyond zero stars is the fact that it runs fairly smoothly. Otherwise, every other feature this game has ends up somehow disappointing. The environments are bland, the enemies look half-cartoonish, the weapons are nothing to write home about and the game's atmosphere is absolutely lacking. This title looks and feels exactly like the very first first person shooter for the GBA called Backtrack, and believe me when I say that this is not a very good thing. If you must have a first person shooter that you can play on the go, get either Doom or Ecks Vs. Sever. Dark Arena isn't worth even a quarter of what you'll be paying for it.

Dark Arena is the ninth best FPS for the GBA, the first announced, but the fourth released for the system. Dark Arena is pretty much a Doom clone. What's the difference between the two? Well, hmmm . . . Doom is a better game. Dark Arena features enemies with zero intelligence which make them a breeze to kill even on the hardest skill level. The graphics in Dark Arena seem a little more bright and sharper than Doom but Doom looks better all around and is simply more fun to play. Dark Arena does offer a good variety of weapons, some neat looking enemies, and some fun levels but all of this is sub-par to the Doom games. Dark Arena is definitly a fun and welcome entry in the growing library of GBA games under the FPS genre but definitly a weaker one.

I,too, love Wolfenstien, and Doom...that was what I was hopeing for!
Nope.
Forget it.
HAH!
As others have written, it freezes, they have the baddies WAAAAAAY more powerful than you, it's like fighting 100 guns with a teeny pocket knife!
I didn't put up with it long...saved the reciept, and took it BACK.
Now I have a game that works, at least.
do not waste your time or money on this game.

I bought this because I LOVE Doom, Wolfenstien, and other first person shooters...
At least those WORK.
I contacted the company when my guy froze, and got killed when he froze. They knew about it...couldn't fix it.
BAD graphics, even poorer sound! My sister, who can usually figure out a game tried this thing....no such luck, the game kept freezing.
There is no excuse for a game freeze, and al I can say is...
AVOID THIS GAME! GET DOOM! GET WOLFENSTIEN!
Now if only someone could put out Marathon for GBA!

This game, although it is fun, is not at all what you expect. I played it a little, and let me tell you, there are only 20 missions, like 6 weapons, and no rumble pak! I was considering buying this game, but don't do it! If you want the best FPS on GBA, definitely get Ecks vs. sever. It rocks.