Darkest of Days Review

There are not many games out there that have the “WOW! Must buy” factor for me these days, I’m not one to rush out and spend £50 (or up to $60 if you’re in the US) and even though games have come a long way since Pong, it takes a lot to get me hyped up.

However, after getting my hands on a copy, the realism of what Darkest of Days is all about began to sink in, and it wasn’t the new engine that caught my eye. The whole premise of Darkest of Days is that Time Travel has finally been achieved and history is being turned upside down by people dying before they are supposed to. This means you, the player, get thrown into some of the bloodiest battles of history and that’s where the problem is.

How many times must we go back and kill Indians? How many times must we re-live the World Wars? True, the game does focus on more than just the battles but even some of the gaming experiences are shocking to the new generation of players. Take the beginning level at the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Indians are racially insulted and you can shoot the horses they ride. While this may seem harsh and cruel, it gives a scope of how realistic the game developers wanted Darkest of Days to feel.

It may not be politically correct now to say those things, or shoot innocent animals, but it brings a level of realism that some games lacked. There’s also a matter of the language, when you get introduced to your buddy, the character that’s going to show you the ropes and guide you through the game, he verbally abuses you. Now I know that sounds harsh and to be honest I can’t repeat the words said, but it does put the game in the mature category. The ESRB rating classes it to have excessive blood, strong language and violence.

This brings me onto the point of who will be playing this game, certainly no children under the age of 17 should be allowed to purchase it and I would strongly advise any parent to play the demo before considering the full game.

That’s not to say the game hasn’t been thought out or that every aspect hasn’t been thoroughly considered and the right authorities been consulted. Quite the opposite, 8Monkey Labs have gone to great lengths to get everything as authentic as possible; the terms the characters use and the way they fight in each time period is spot on. But when has a game not raised an eyebrow, or seem to go one step too far - the Grand Theft Auto series has constantly got abuse from parental bodies over its storylines and use of violence to complete the game and it’s more popular now than when it was first launched.

What has to be considered is that 8Monkey Labs didn’t intentionally create a game with this in mind but it came out of the accuracy and reenactment of the past and has more to do with yesterday’s society and the way we perceive it today than anything else.

Now I’m not trying to discourage you from trying the game for yourself, far from it. In fact I encourage you to download the demo (free of course) and trying out Darkest of Days for yourself. It gives a very accurate picture of what the game is all about.

Now with all that said and done, we can have a closer look at the game itself.

The first good thing comes at you within seconds of the beginning level loading; you’re shown soldiers riding horses into battle, arrow’s flying left and right, a lone solder running by foot and then the scene expands, hundreds of solder’s on horseback all going to one large battle. And what’s so amazing you ask? This is in game footage!!

You then jump right into the thick of it, having to cross enemy territory just to get to General Custer and defend the attack. You’ve been put into the battle of Little Big Horn! Hundreds of Native Americans are attacking from all sides, riding around the hill on horseback, firing from the surrounding hills and your men are going down quicker than a Louisiana BBQ.

Now I’m not going to give everything away, where would the fun be in that. What I will tell you is you get a great sense of being in the thick of the action, after only playing through the first few levels I came over a hill, and out before me were at least 50 solder’s, all mixed and all trying to dodge and hide behind the scenery and each trying to kill the opposition.

The new Marmoset engine really works well as the AI is realistic, crafty at times and will work around situations. The scenery is realistic, trees all move with the wind and the terrain is fitting to the locations. The only thing it lacks is being able to interact with doors, carts and other items in the world.

Now with me being one of the first generation FPS players, I’m used to a mouse and keyboard. But as I’m willing to try new things I chose to get this on the XBox 360, and I have to say it’s rather hard going to get used to. After playing the demo on the PC, I was used to how the game felt and reacted, but playing on the Xbox 360 is a new experience.

At time it was confusing to fight and navigate especially when you’re face to face with the opposition who’s trying to charge at you. The jump from the walkthrough to actual battle was rather short, no real learning curve to speak of but sometimes that’s the best way. Loading times were quick and the auto saves every checkpoint didn’t slow down the game in any way.

So far Darkest of Days has impressed me a lot, there are a few down sides like the language and lack of learning curve but overall it’s a great game and I’m sure after a little practice I’ll have the hang of the controls.

Personally I feel it’s up there with the latest offering from the big gaming companies with regards to the storyline, engine physics and AI ability. Some down sides are the syncing of the audio with mouth movements of the players and even the subtitles, along with the ‘Tongue in Cheek’ plotline and content. Overall a good first offering and I look forward to more offerings.