Review: Darkest of Days

8Monkey Labs isn’t exactly a household name. The independent game developer only has one game under it’s belt so far, and it’s for the iPhone. The company hopes to change that with the release of its first person shooter Darkest of Days. Can the fledgling Iowa developer make a name for itself with the title? While the game may generate some talk, unfortunately it’s not the kind the company will be hoping for.

The Story

Time travel has become a reality. Some of the world’s largest mysteries have now been solved by warping back through time. Why was Stonehenge built and what became of the Mayan civilization is common knowledge. Yet oddly enough, history seems to be rewriting itself. Historic events are changing, and no one seems to know why. It’s up to you to find out.

You are being sent back in time to correct what has gone wrong. You will visit a number of different time periods and relive some of the most famous wars. From Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 to fighting in Pompeii as ash and fire rain down from an erupting Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. You must set things right, and save historic figures who have mysteriously been killed off.

The Gameplay

You begin each level in a briefing area then make your way through the mission at hand. “Mother”, a mysterious woman who only shows up on a display screen, lays out your missions for you. Once she explains the task at hand you jump right into battle.

Meet Mother. You'll be spending a lot of time with her.

You won’t be going into battle alone. Dexter, another soldier, is sent to accompany you on your time travels. He is more of a guide than anything else. He doesn’t fight and only shows up from time to time to help advance the story and show you where to go. Be warned children, he has a potty mouth. Dexter drops F bombs every few minutes. He also says some pretty crass remarks. Sayings like, “We can’t just let anyone get their dick beaters (hands) on that one” is used when he wants to keep weapons out of enemy hands. “You managed to keep your poop in a group”, another saying some may find mildly amusing. It’s true some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is kinda funny, but the swearing feels like it was thrown in just for shock value.

The missions themselves are fairly simple. In fact many experienced gamers will find them too easy. Although the maps are large, they’re mostly empty. You’ll walk across vast areas with no enemies, then when you do run into enemy troops most of the time you can simply run away.

One thing we do like is the weapons selection. Since you are from the future, you will have access to futuristic weapons as you warp your way through the different eras. You’ll be using laser guided missiles during the civil war and other cool weapons to blow away your opponents. A nice twist on a classic shooter indeed!

The Controls

Darkest of Days plays like any first person shooter. You can carry two firearms at a time. Auxiliary items can be carried such and grenades and chasers (small orbs thrown at historic figures to zap them and knock them out so they don’t get killed as killing them could alter history). Firing is done with the R trigger and aiming is done with the left trigger.

Controls work for the most part, but a few flaws are evident

Controls are basic and work for the most part with a few exceptions. Ducking, or crouching is pulled off by holding down the left analog stick. It’s hard to creep forward while crouching since letting up on the analog stick will make you stand up. This means creeping up on enemies can be difficult. Why the developer chose this control scheme  is beyond us.

Pulling out the map is also a bit annoying. Pressing and holding down the back button is the only way to reference your map. If you let go of the back button your map disappears. This is not convenient if you are getting shot at and need to figure out which direction you need to go.

You will also experience invisible barrier syndrome. Yes the maps are huge, but you can’t explore the entire area. You’ll be greeted by invisible barriers throughout the game preventing you from exploring every map thoroughly. It just makes the levels feel hollow.

The Graphics

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed by the graphics in this game. It looks and feels like an old PC game. While the graphics pass, they by no means measure up to many of the newer PC or Xbox 360 titles hitting the market. It almost feels as though you’re jumping back to the original Xbox.

The graphics are lacklustre at best. It feels like an old PC game.

The Downsides

Unfortunately the downsides really outweigh the good things in this game. Controls aren’t great, and the graphics are lacklustre. Then there are the technical problems. One thing we noticed, which is completely unacceptable, is the screen tearing. If you look left or right, you’ll notice constant tearing through the middle of the screen. It’s not as though this problem rears its head up once in awhile. It’s constant. I have never seen this in anXbox 360 game up until now!

The enemy AI is also questionable. Some enemies will just sit and stare at you as you approach while others will fire at you well before they should be able to see you. Even if you crawl through the tall grass and thick bushes you’ll encounter gunfire, even if there is no way in hell the enemy could see you.

Mix all these issues together and well, you see where this is going.

The Bottom Line

This game just feels rushed. While the story does become somewhat interesting in the later levels, we find it hard to believe many gamers will be able to stick it out that long. The game is marred by problems. From screen tearing to poor enemy AI, subpar graphics, and less than ideal controls. Even the presentation is awkward as there are no cinematics in this game!

The concept behind Darkest of Days is strong. There was so much potential here,  but unfortunately the final product fails to deliver. If more time was spent on ironing out controls, improving graphics and enemy AI we would have scored this title much higher. Instead we’re left with disappoint. It will be a dark day indeed if you purchase this game.