When was the last time you laughed out loud while playing a single-player game? You will probably have to think for a moment. Unlike every other form of entertainment, “comedy” isn’t a valid genre for gaming, which is unfortunate for Darkened Skye, because it would fit right in.

This 3rd-person adventure is based upon Skittles, the candy; as amusing as that seems, the humor of the game has little to do with its unlikely choice of license. Possibly marketing feels that the association is more of a burden than a benefit, since there isn’t any Skittles branding on the game’s box. In theory, the game draws upon the “Taste the Rainbow” TV commercials. In practice, however, the role of Skittles in the game is pretty much interchangeable with runes, energon cubes or what-have-you.

The story goes that Skye, our heroine, is a shepherdess turned warrior-hero-adventurer-goddess. The change is triggered when she finds an “orange thingy,” with which she can unlock the powers of the rainbow; ie. magic. Once upon a time, such magic was freely available to all, as the rainbow would hail down Skittles like so much heavenly tooth decay. Evil Demonic Dark Lord comes along and seals up the rainbow, denying magic to the lands of the five worlds, and, of course, Skye is the heroine foretold to defeat him and restore the rainbow.

Sounds clichéd? It is, very. Like candy, you know exactly what it is you’re going to get, from the “Obligatory-Wise-One-Who-Knows-Everything character” to the Mysterious-Stranger-Romantic-Interest. What you don’t expect though, is how well scripted the game is. After all, both bad stories and good satire have clichéd plots; one just manages to get away with it. The game pokes fun at everything, including adventure games, in a light-hearted approach that comes particularly refreshing when the most hyped game of the moment is Grand Theft Auto 3, which most highlighted feature seems to be that you can do a hooker and then bash in her head to get your money back.

To push the candy metaphor, Skye herself is really the sweetest thing, from her 5th Element Leelo look to her honey sweet voice; played by Linda Larkin, who also did the vocals for Princess Jasmine in Disney’s animated Aladdin and its many spin-offs.

Which brings us to our final candy metaphor (the one you’ve been expecting): eye-candy. There isn’t much. The visuals are passable, with nothing either breathtakingly beautiful or technically inept, though one appreciates the natural character animations during the scripted sequences. Similarly, though the voice acting is truly outstanding, the aurals are average.

Darkened Skye’s levels are universally large, most of them taking ten minutes to run through; not a small amount of time when you are missing a piece of a puzzle and have no clue where it could be (or even if you already possess it). The puzzles are a plus or a minus depending on how much you appreciate a good challenge, since they could require items, spells, or just sheer patience as you try every possible combination of buttons. The in-game journal provides hints, while being yet another source of comic relief.

The spell system is rather singular. With each level, you gain the ability to cast more spells, having to “slot in” the Skittles you’ve collected in order to power them. The scarcity of the Skittles allows you to have only two or three spells ready at any one time, making for an uncluttered interface and preventing you from letting loose an entire barrage of firepower at the first sight of an enemy. Not a big setback, since your opponents lack any AI, though there are combats with too many too tough enemies, which can prove frustrating.

The greatest frustration, however, comes from the insane amount of jumping required. (What is it with these games and jumping around? Does anyone get any satisfaction after completing a ridiculous sequence of jumps?) A welcome reprieve comes from the quick-save-load feature, which is instantaneous, even on an average system.

Overall, the game is a marvellous example of taking a, well, silly license and making a good game out of it. Darkened Skye, without being innovative, is nonetheless entertaining, and, at the very least, refreshing in its humor.