Nazis, Werewolves, and Vampires

Operation Darkness is a Tactical Role Playing Game by Japanese developer Success. It is being localized for North American audiences by Atlus. The game is similar to Final Fantasy Tactics and Vandal Hearts, but adds a few twists that will help it establish its own unique flavor within the genre. While most of its peers will let you fight with swords, bows, and magic, Operation Darkness has something different in store for you. Magic is still there but guns and tanks are added to the mix.

Operation Darkness blends the historical events of World War II with supernatural and fantasy elements such as Werewolves, Vampires and Zombies. Two of the playable characters have the ability to transform into Werewolves and some of the Nazi soldiers that you will be fighting will raise from the dead as zombies after you have defeated them. The protagonists are Special Air Service (SAS) troops that are fighting their way across the European theatre.

Most tactical games have you engaging the enemy on small maps with varying elevations and varying land types that determine the power of your attacks and your defense against enemies' attacks. Operation Darknessdoes this a bit differently. Instead of characters jumping around on stacked cubes, the fighting occurs in actual 3D environments, and various obstructions determine the success of attacks, rather than the type of land or its elevation.

A pretty cool feature that I haven't seen in any other game in this genre, is the ability to loot the bodies of your fallen enemies for useful equipment. Pretty handy when your grenadier runs out of mortar shells.

Not for the Faint of Heart

The game comes with a somewhat steep learning curve, not because its difficulty, but because of its many menu's. The game itself is not really that hard to figure out, but the amount of things to click on before the battle even begins is staggering and may overwhelm some players. The clicks are necessary to equip your characters and enhance their skills. Skipping the menus and jumping right into the fight probably would not end very well and is not recommended. This setup is not all negative; the game has deeper Role-playing elements than most other games in its genre, allowing you to truly customize your army. Units become more skilled with different weapons as they use them, and you can mix and match their abilities. This makes it possible to turn one or more of your characters into specialist in certain weapons. A powerful feature that I am sure many will enjoy.

That is not to say that the game is easy, far from it. When one of your non-essential characters dies, they are gone for good but you can play on. If one of the story characters dies, it's an instant 'game over', despite the fact that there is a character that can revive others. Battles can be long and tedious. It can sometimes take up to four turns to get within attacking range and letting just one essential unit fall in battle means starting over from the very beginning. Preventing that from happening can be quite a feat too when the enemy suddenly calls in reinforcements to flank you from all sides. When part of the flanking force consists a tank or two, the odds are definitely stacked in their favor.

While a higher difficulty level is welcome during a time when video games are toned down to appeal to a broader audience, there are other things that may work against a the game's ultimate success. The graphics aren't exactly of the quality one would expect from an Xbox 360 game. In fact, they are more on par with late PS2 or original Xbox titles. While I am certain many of you will be able to look past the less-than-stellar graphics, I am not so sure about the irritating camera controls. Moving the analog stick will send the camera flying all over, and the only way to adjust it accurately is to quickly tap it multiple times in the direction you would like the camera to move. Battlefields are by nature very dynamic environments. Buildings, barricades and enemy units occupy the screen at all times and moving the camera easily from one point to another is a necessity. It is very possible that the shoddy camera controls will ruin an otherwise great playing experience.

Unique

Operation Darkness is an exciting tactical game with some nice Role-playing elements. Its alternate history of WWII setting is infused with fantasy lore in a very unique way, giving it an instant edge over the competition. Unfortunately it seems to be marred by sub-par graphics and lack of control over the camera. In that light, the fact that the game will retail at the full price of $59.99 seems a bit strange. For a full verdict, we will have to wait until its release on June 24th.