Gameplay (Cont.)

Despite what the box blurb may lead you to believe, Darkest of Days is a very linear shooter. Sure, you fight on open fields instead of through tight corridors (most of the time), but fences, cliffs, and invisible walls are always making sure you follow the path the developers want you to. You can jump surprisingly high and far, but if you aren’t meant to cross that 2-foot rock wall, you won’t be able to. Rail sequences aren’t uncommon, not only on vehicles, but in line infantry formations, too. I have nothing against such elements when used sparingly, in fact it can be fun to just focus on hitting targets. Probably my favorite part of the Battle of Antietam was the automated marching through the cornfield to come face-to-face with about 100 constantly reinfored Confederates. Can you say “shooting gallery?”

Pertaining to the game’s storyline, or whatever resemblances thereof, most of the missions you take on are of an escorting nature. You have to find your man, highlighted with an orange glow, and then protect him while making your way to a safe area for extraction. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem that the VIPs can be harmed, which makes it easier because you only have to worry about keeping yourself alive. Speaking of which, there are some situations that initially led me to believe that I would be literally keeping myself alive, as in traveling back in time to provide covering fire for my past self. To my dismay, this was not the case. You see, some missions are revisited with a different point of view, whether to aid yourself in escaping from prison or to lend aid to the Germans when you had previously kicked their butt a little too hard on the side of the Russians. Remember, preserving history is KronoTek’s number one priority!



Darkest of Days’ control scheme could have been a whole lot better. Making good use of cover is very important in this game, which makes the omission of leaning all the more outrageous. Movement speed can be problematic, as you will likely find yourself moving too quickly by default. This can be directly attributed to poor translation from gamepad to keyboard. With no analog stick to govern how fast you’re going, it is difficult to strafe and shoot while aiming down the sights of your gun. Combined with the inability to lean, shooting from behind cover becomes a very dangerous game of “How lightly can you tap A and D?”