**Update**
If you’re too lazy to read the review, you can watch Yahtzee’s review right here.
**/Update**
About a week ago, I embarked on a multi-mission mission (lol x_x) to rid history of those who would see it changed, and recently, during a spate of free time, I gained the opportunity to see this quest to its completion. Therefore, I now present to you my review of the latest game to be completed by me, Darkest of Days.
The premise of Darkest of Days is that a certain organisation with time-travelling abilities is trying to alter the course of history, notably by the elimination of certain historic personnel while they are fighting in certain wars in humanity’s tumultuous history. It is up to you, in the employ of another time-travel-capable organisation, to thwart the nefarious plans of these chrono-villians. Specifically, you are to travel incognito back in time to the American Civil War and World War 1 to ensure that the aforementioned people survive the wars despite interference from pesky interlopers. So, just how good is this game actually?
Good Points
+ Large Battles – Unlike modern warfare, where a few people shoot each other from 500 miles away, battles of 19th century are typically up-close and personal, and involve up to tens of thousands of people dying left and right. This experience has been recreated in Darkest of Days, allowing you to feel like you are taking part in a large battle.
+ Futuristic Advantages – During particular sequences, you will be presented with futuristic weaponry with which you can unleash futuristic hell upon the unsuspecting primitives of the 19th and 20th century. For example, you get to wield fully automatic rifles with in-built auto-aim feature against Union soldiers using single-shot muskets. In another instance, you get to use a sniper rifle with automatic trajectory calculation to slaughter German hordes at extreme distances. These sections provide a very satisfying experience.
+ Clear Objectives – Most of the time, objectives are clearly marked out on your map, so you will rarely get lost. Furthermore, enemies and allies are marked on your map too, allowing you to pick your targets with extreme prejudice.
+ Amazing Plot Device – A particular plot device near the end of the game was so amazing that I was bowled over by its ingenuity. I will not describe this plot device because that would be revealing a spoiler. However, suffice to say that it’s not everyday that you see time travel being used in the way it was used.
Neutral Points
= Zombie Hordes – Although I have described the size of battles in this game as a good point, the participants of the battles are reminiscent of zombie hordes in Left 4 Dead. Sure, they do not shamble around the battlefield, and they are capable of using their firearms, but their AI is not very advanced, and they’re not fantastic at using cover. During a part in the game, I was able to witness a horde of about 50 German soldiers flood out of a warehouse through a narrow door. Similarities can be drawn to Left 4 Dead, where zombies sometimes spawn in the room beside you during a panic event and rush out en masse to be cut down by a hail of bullets. If you like killing zombies, you would find this to be utterly enjoyable, but otherwise, you might become disgusted at their rudimentary AI instead.
= Smoke – There’s a lot of smoke in this game, and I think the smoke is quite realistic. Every shot you make from your musket makes a small smoke puff, and this smoke puff does sometimes obscure your view. It’s a contrived mechanic to keep you moving in the face of enemies firing at you, to be sure, but moving around is a good thing when enemies are firing at you. If you like to hunker down behind sandbags and take pot shots at the enemy, you would find this annoying, but if you’re a gun-and-run type of person, this is not that much of an issue, and it’s more likely that you will appreciate the smoky environs.
= Upgrades – Who doesn’t love upgrades? There’s even a flash game dedicated to upgrading! There’s quite a bit of upgrades you can buy in Darkest of Days, but there’s also one entire page of useless upgrades, so I’m not too sure if having upgrades at all is that good of an idea.
Bad Points
- Quick-time Reload – They had this stupid system in Gears of War where you press the reload button to start the reload process, then time the second press to gain a reload bonus. An absolutely retarded system, in my opinions, and one I hoped I would not have to see again. Guess what, I’m wrong! This imbecilic mechanic shows its ugly countenance in Darkest of Days too! Hopefully you got enough practice in Gears of War, because you’ll be needing it when using that single-shot musket which
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requires you to reload after every shot.
- Aimbotting enemies – I’m sure you have had your share of games where enemies fire through shrubbery with pinpoint accuracy even though your view of them is completely obscured. Many VALVe games, most notably Left 4 Dead, are guilty of this. It is exceedingly annoying when apparent concealment is entirely ineffective at providing said function. That most of the game takes place in forested areas does not help matters at all.
Well, it would seem that Darkest of Days is not a terribly outstanding shooting game, other than the fact that it allows you to go on a rampage with overpowered weapons. Most of the things you find here can be found in other better games, of course. However, the basic gameplay is done pretty well here, so the game is not unplayable. If you have a few hours to spare and would like to decimate an invading army with a multiple-launching mini-missile device, you should definitely give this game a try.
