Darkest of Days
Encyclopedia
Darkest of Days is a first-person shooter
video game developed by 8monkey Labs and published by Phantom EFX
. It was released in North America on September 8, 2009 for Microsoft Windows
and the Xbox 360
. It is available in Europe via Steam.
On December 30, 2010, Virtual Programming published the Mac OS X version of the game.
in 1876 to fighting in Pompeii
as ash and fire rain down from an erupting Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Other locations include the battles of Antietam
and Tannenberg
, and the German World War II prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III
. There are different missions in every time period and the game takes about 5–9 hours to complete.
The game features various weapons, both from the time period in which a level takes place and from the future. In most cases, however, a player will not be using modern weapons unless they have been taken from killed Opposition agents. There are also brief segments where a player can take control of artillery or a cannon.
Players are required to save certain individuals who are important to the continuity of history. There are two types of characters who fall into this category. The first type is the individual who must be returned to the correct time locus; this type is highlighted by an orange aura. (Enemies, however, will not specifically target an orange aura character, and there is no special need to pay attention to them). The second type is a random character marked with a blue aura; such characters can be saved by being taken out of battle without being killed. (This can be done through the infliction of an arm or leg wound, or by the use of the "chasers" Stun weapon).
If three of the blue aura individuals are killed by the player, however, this can trigger a visit by the Opposition who use the disturbance caused by their deaths to track down and attempt to kill the player. Opposition agents tend to be heavily armed and shielded making many period weapons useless against their superior technology. They are not completely indestructible, however, and can be killed allowing the player the opportunity to seize their weapons. However, the downside of killing blue aura individuals to trigger opposition agents is the forfeit of any weapon upgrade points.
's battalion during the Battle of Little Big Horn at the beginning of the game. After Custer is killed and Morris is wounded he is suddenly rescued by a man in futuristic armor and taken through a strange portal. Morris then awakens in the headquarters of Kronotek, an organization that has managed to develop time travel technology and is apparently dedicated to researching and protecting history. A Kronotek higher-up known as "Mother" tells Morris that Doctor Koell, the organization's founder, has gone missing and disturbances have started appearing through history, causing individuals that have played key roles in history to be placed in danger, and tasks Morris with helping Kronotek restore history.
Agent Morris then begins his combat training. As he is from the 1800s, he requires a crash course in "modern" weaponry (ranging from World War I to the late 22nd century). Upon completion of his training Mother tasks Morris and his new partner Agent Dexter (another MIA from history who is implied to have gone missing on 9/11) with tracking down two individuals who are not where they are supposed to be: one Corporal Welsh from the Union Army in the American Civil War
at the Battle of Antietam
, and a Russian Army Officer named Petrovich in World War I at the Battle of Tannenberg
.
However, completion of both of these tasks is blocked by a mysterious group known only as the Opposition, which also has time-travel technology. Over the course of the game, Morris and Dexter have to fight through both the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Tannenberg, which involve massive cornfield battles, the dynamiting of a train bridge, and the hijacking of a zeppelin
. Although Agents Morris and Dexter manage to secure and reintegrate Welsh and his twin brother into the proper timeframe, Petrovich is labeled a traitor for abandoning his post. This causes his son, who was originally going to become a scientist, to enlist in the Russian Army during the Second World War, leading to his capture by the Wehrmacht
. When Agents Morris and Dexter try to rescue him before he reaches a POW camp, Morris is also captured and sent to the camp.
After spending some time in the camp, Petrovich is sentenced to death because of an escape attempt, but right before his execution, an explosion goes off outside the camp. Agent Dexter appears and assists Morris, Petrovich and the other inmates in escaping. Once Petrovich reaches safety, Dexter informs Morris that Morris was the one who set the explosive, allowing Dexter to infiltrate the camp. So Morris goes back, fights his way through a Nazi facility, and sets the explosive that triggers his own release.
After rescuing Petrovich, Morris and Dexter find out that Koell is at Pompeii
, on August 25, 79 AD, the day Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the Roman town. Agents Morris and Dexter and a tech specialist named Bob fight through hordes of Opposition agents to find Koell, who is in the town's arena. Koell then nonchalantly accompanies Morris and Dexter back to the 22nd century.
Upon arriving in the 22nd century, a strange man appears, claiming to be the head of the Opposition. (It later transpires that the Opposition is a future version of Kronotek). The man asks Koell if it is wrong to change terrible events that already happened, to which Koell answers yes, because "dark days teach valuable lessons and define who we are". The Man then shoots Koell twice, once in the chest and once in the head. When confronted by Morris and Dexter, he explains that the Welshes and Petrovich were ancestors of scientists who invented a DNA sequencer that can target the genomes defining racial identity. He goes on to explain that this DNA sequencer was stolen and used by less talented Middle Eastern scientists to create a virus that targeted people of European descent. 2 billion died as a result (including eight out of every ten people in North America). As Dexter laments the loss of his family, the strange man states that this crisis has been averted because of the Opposition's interference with the time stream. Although he makes clear that Kronotek's ultimate goal is still the preservation of the time stream, he indicates that this one exception was made. The strange man then says that his Kronotek has use for talented agents such as Morris and Dexter and invites them to join his agency, leaving an open time bubble for them to enter. As the strange man departs, Agent Dexter turns to Morris and asks, "So... what the hell do we do now, brother?", presumably leaving open the possibility for a sequel.
PhysX
, a hardware-accelerated physics engine.
The same demo was released on September 15 for the Xbox 360.
Reception=
The game has generally received poor ratings, including a 3.6 out of 10 from IGN.com, a 4.5/10 from GameSpot
, a 1/5 from X-Play
, and a 5.4/10 from GameZone
. Other reviewers, including Francis Clarke of ApertureGames, have expressed disappointment that the majority of the levels are played out primarily in two time periods. However, PC Gamer
has given Darkest of Days a 80/100, stating that "Darkest of Days is a unique first person shooter". It should also be noted that most reviewers have reviewed the Xbox 360 version of the game, not the PC version.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game developed by 8monkey Labs and published by Phantom EFX
Phantom EFX
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Cedar Falls, IA, Phantom EFX is a game developer and publisher of interactive card and casino entertainment titles for PC and Mac. They have produced over 20 individual titles and numerous combo packs spanning a broad line of casino-type games, Phantom EFX...
. It was released in North America on September 8, 2009 for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. It is available in Europe via Steam.
On December 30, 2010, Virtual Programming published the Mac OS X version of the game.
Gameplay
Darkest of Days takes the player through time into historic battles in an effort to save key individuals from certain death. The battles range from Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of the Little BighornBattle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
in 1876 to fighting in Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
as ash and fire rain down from an erupting Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Other locations include the battles of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
and Tannenberg
Battle of Tannenberg (1914)
The Battle of Tannenberg was an engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian First and Second Armies against the German Eighth Army between 23 August and 30 August 1914. The battle resulted in the almost complete...
, and the German World War II prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...
. There are different missions in every time period and the game takes about 5–9 hours to complete.
The game features various weapons, both from the time period in which a level takes place and from the future. In most cases, however, a player will not be using modern weapons unless they have been taken from killed Opposition agents. There are also brief segments where a player can take control of artillery or a cannon.
Players are required to save certain individuals who are important to the continuity of history. There are two types of characters who fall into this category. The first type is the individual who must be returned to the correct time locus; this type is highlighted by an orange aura. (Enemies, however, will not specifically target an orange aura character, and there is no special need to pay attention to them). The second type is a random character marked with a blue aura; such characters can be saved by being taken out of battle without being killed. (This can be done through the infliction of an arm or leg wound, or by the use of the "chasers" Stun weapon).
If three of the blue aura individuals are killed by the player, however, this can trigger a visit by the Opposition who use the disturbance caused by their deaths to track down and attempt to kill the player. Opposition agents tend to be heavily armed and shielded making many period weapons useless against their superior technology. They are not completely indestructible, however, and can be killed allowing the player the opportunity to seize their weapons. However, the downside of killing blue aura individuals to trigger opposition agents is the forfeit of any weapon upgrade points.
Plot
In Darkest of Days the player controls Alexander Morris, a soldier fighting in General CusterGeorge Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
's battalion during the Battle of Little Big Horn at the beginning of the game. After Custer is killed and Morris is wounded he is suddenly rescued by a man in futuristic armor and taken through a strange portal. Morris then awakens in the headquarters of Kronotek, an organization that has managed to develop time travel technology and is apparently dedicated to researching and protecting history. A Kronotek higher-up known as "Mother" tells Morris that Doctor Koell, the organization's founder, has gone missing and disturbances have started appearing through history, causing individuals that have played key roles in history to be placed in danger, and tasks Morris with helping Kronotek restore history.
Agent Morris then begins his combat training. As he is from the 1800s, he requires a crash course in "modern" weaponry (ranging from World War I to the late 22nd century). Upon completion of his training Mother tasks Morris and his new partner Agent Dexter (another MIA from history who is implied to have gone missing on 9/11) with tracking down two individuals who are not where they are supposed to be: one Corporal Welsh from the Union Army in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
at the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
, and a Russian Army Officer named Petrovich in World War I at the Battle of Tannenberg
Battle of Tannenberg (1914)
The Battle of Tannenberg was an engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian First and Second Armies against the German Eighth Army between 23 August and 30 August 1914. The battle resulted in the almost complete...
.
However, completion of both of these tasks is blocked by a mysterious group known only as the Opposition, which also has time-travel technology. Over the course of the game, Morris and Dexter have to fight through both the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Tannenberg, which involve massive cornfield battles, the dynamiting of a train bridge, and the hijacking of a zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
. Although Agents Morris and Dexter manage to secure and reintegrate Welsh and his twin brother into the proper timeframe, Petrovich is labeled a traitor for abandoning his post. This causes his son, who was originally going to become a scientist, to enlist in the Russian Army during the Second World War, leading to his capture by the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. When Agents Morris and Dexter try to rescue him before he reaches a POW camp, Morris is also captured and sent to the camp.
After spending some time in the camp, Petrovich is sentenced to death because of an escape attempt, but right before his execution, an explosion goes off outside the camp. Agent Dexter appears and assists Morris, Petrovich and the other inmates in escaping. Once Petrovich reaches safety, Dexter informs Morris that Morris was the one who set the explosive, allowing Dexter to infiltrate the camp. So Morris goes back, fights his way through a Nazi facility, and sets the explosive that triggers his own release.
After rescuing Petrovich, Morris and Dexter find out that Koell is at Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, on August 25, 79 AD, the day Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the Roman town. Agents Morris and Dexter and a tech specialist named Bob fight through hordes of Opposition agents to find Koell, who is in the town's arena. Koell then nonchalantly accompanies Morris and Dexter back to the 22nd century.
Upon arriving in the 22nd century, a strange man appears, claiming to be the head of the Opposition. (It later transpires that the Opposition is a future version of Kronotek). The man asks Koell if it is wrong to change terrible events that already happened, to which Koell answers yes, because "dark days teach valuable lessons and define who we are". The Man then shoots Koell twice, once in the chest and once in the head. When confronted by Morris and Dexter, he explains that the Welshes and Petrovich were ancestors of scientists who invented a DNA sequencer that can target the genomes defining racial identity. He goes on to explain that this DNA sequencer was stolen and used by less talented Middle Eastern scientists to create a virus that targeted people of European descent. 2 billion died as a result (including eight out of every ten people in North America). As Dexter laments the loss of his family, the strange man states that this crisis has been averted because of the Opposition's interference with the time stream. Although he makes clear that Kronotek's ultimate goal is still the preservation of the time stream, he indicates that this one exception was made. The strange man then says that his Kronotek has use for talented agents such as Morris and Dexter and invites them to join his agency, leaving an open time bubble for them to enter. As the strange man departs, Agent Dexter turns to Morris and asks, "So... what the hell do we do now, brother?", presumably leaving open the possibility for a sequel.
Development
Since the premise of Darkest of Days leans heavily on the historical aspect of its story, the developers focused on making the battles as historically accurate as possible. They incorporated extensive research on the time periods, locations, and weapons for each of the battles depicted in the game (much of the city of Pompeii is accurately recreated). Darkest of Days uses NVIDIANVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
PhysX
PhysX
PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...
, a hardware-accelerated physics engine.
“It was critical to the success of Darkest of Days that these epic moments in world history are experienced in eerily accurate detail, and NVIDIA PhysX technology helped us achieve that goal,” said Mark Doeden, Art Director at 8monkey Labs.“Our Marmoset Engine brings these battles to life with a completely unique look, and the PhysX technology was instrumental in making the game feel alive and real.” 8Monkey Labs designed the Marmoset engine specifically for the game. The Marmoset engine can handle over 300 characters on the screen at one time, enabling the game to have densely populated battle scenes, all with their own AI and pathfinding. Darkest of Days also contains wide open battlefields, allowing players to choose their own course of action to accomplish the goals set in the game (however, there are numerous limitations imposed on a player's movements throughout a map via obstacles and invisible walls). The player is also equipped with futuristic weapons adding a unique twist to classic battles. Marmoset's AI is able to drive behaviors for hundreds of characters simultaneously, without impeding gameplay.All actions share a common set of sensory data - audio, vision, navigation, teammate signals, enemy fire detection, and object finding and following are all efficiently and easily made available to all behaviors.
Demo
On August 11, the Darkest of Days demo was released on the PC on Steam and other sites. It features the Tutorial mission and first "official" mission in the game set at the Civil War battle of Antietam.The same demo was released on September 15 for the Xbox 360.
Reception=
The game has generally received poor ratings, including a 3.6 out of 10 from IGN.com, a 4.5/10 from GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, a 1/5 from X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
, and a 5.4/10 from GameZone
GameZone
GameZone is an American multiplatform video game website. GameZone's daily coverage includes reviews, previews, news, hints & cheats, and editorials. Additionally, GameZone offers downloads, a child-targeted website and in association with GameStop, hosts GZGameShop, an online retailer...
. Other reviewers, including Francis Clarke of ApertureGames, have expressed disappointment that the majority of the levels are played out primarily in two time periods. However, PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
has given Darkest of Days a 80/100, stating that "Darkest of Days is a unique first person shooter". It should also be noted that most reviewers have reviewed the Xbox 360 version of the game, not the PC version.