Operation Darkness

Last updated
Operation Darkness
Operationdarknessna.jpg
Developer(s) Success
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Hisakazu Masubuchi
Producer(s) Ken Ogura
Designer(s) Ken Ogura
Hiromichi Sakuma
Hisakazu Masubuchi
Programmer(s) Eiji Takaki
Masaki Abe
Artist(s) Yoshio Sugiura (character)
Writer(s) Ken Ogura
Composer(s) Kenichi Arakawa
Kazushi Tsurukubo
Tetsurō Satō
Platform(s) Xbox 360
Release
  • JP: October 11, 2007
  • NA: June 24, 2008
Genre(s) Tactical role-playing game
Mode(s) Single-player, Online multiplayer

Operation Darkness is a tactical role-playing game for the Xbox 360 developed and published by Japanese studio Success on October 11, 2007 in Japan. A North American version was released on June 24, 2008 by Atlus. The game is a fantasy conception of World War II, featuring weaponry and events from that time period, but with fantasy elements such as dragons and vampires mixed in.

Contents

Synopsis

Operation Darkness follows a squad of British SAS soldiers fighting the Nazis across the European Theater. The story covers much of the real history of the European war, including the battles for North Africa and the liberation of mainland Europe. French resistance fighters, American soldiers, and others appear as non-player characters.

The game diverges significantly from real history in that zombies of deceased Nazi soldiers appear as adversaries, and two of the player characters can transform into werewolves. [1] Other fantasy elements include the appearance of supernatural foes such as vampires, as well as allowing the use of magic spells.

Gameplay

Gameplay consists of a series of tactical battles; between battles, the player may resupply the characters, purchase new items, and select which characters will participate in the following mission.[ citation needed ] Battles play out in standard tactical role-playing game (RPG) fashion, with turn order based on characters' speed statistics. During a turn, characters can move, attack, use items, pick up items from dead soldiers, [2] and cast spells. The battle system also includes factors like cover and decreased accuracy from movement. Differing from the great majority of games of this genre, long-range attacks tend to be far more frequent than close-range attacks, and many characters can hit targets with high accuracy from a distance of more than half of the battlefield. Characters killed in battle remain dead permanently unless revived by playable character Herbert East before the end of the stage. [3] Generic soldiers can replace fallen ones. [4]

Characters possess the following attributes: HP, MS (martial spirit), Attack, Defense, Speed, Hit, Luck, Weight, and Move.[ citation needed ] Each character also has specific weapon-related abilities and other skills, predisposing them to particular weapon types. [1] In addition, characters can carry up to five weapons and five items. Each weapon and item has a weight value as well, and characters who are overburdened receive penalties to movement. [5]

Two player characters can transform into werewolves, which massively increases their speed and attack. However, maintaining the werewolf form costs MS every turn, limiting its use to short durations.[ citation needed ]

The game has cooperative online multiplayer with up to four players, and completing missions in multiplayer unlocks new items in the in-game item shop in single-player. [5]

Characters

Wolf Pack members

Villains

Others

Reception

Operation Darkness received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [6] IGN said, "Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong." [4] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of three sixes and one five for a total of 23 out of 40. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 Blevins, Tal (September 21, 2007). "TGS 2007: Operation Darkness Hands-on". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. 1 2 VanOrd, Kevin (July 11, 2008). "Operation Darkness Review". GameSpot . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  3. ↑ "In the trenches of Operation Darkness". Siliconera. 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  4. 1 2 3 Brudvig, Erik (June 23, 2008). "Operation Darkness Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Villoria, Gerald (June 26, 2008). "GameSpy: Operation Darkness". GameSpy . IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Operation Darkness for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  7. ↑ Donahoe, Michael (June 23, 2008). "Operation Darkness". 1Up.com . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "This week's (Oct 3rd) Famitsu news (Etrian Odyssey 2!)". NeoGAF . NeoGaf LLC. October 3, 2007. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  9. ↑ Glasser, AJ (May 15, 2008). "Operation Darkness review". GamesRadar+ . Future plc. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  10. ↑ Hopper, Steven (June 26, 2008). "Operation Darkness - 360 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  11. ↑ Racewing; Wanderer (June 24, 2008). "Review: Operation Darkness". Hardcore Gamer. Hardcore Gamer LLC. Archived from the original on June 27, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Cameron (July 2008). "Operation Darkness". Official Xbox Magazine . Future US. p. 70. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  13. ↑ den Ouden, Adriaan (July 29, 2008). "Operation Darkness - Staff Review". RPGamer. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  14. ↑ Cavalli, Earnest (June 27, 2008). "Review: Operation Darkness Succeeds Despite Flaws". Wired . Condé Nast. Archived from the original on June 30, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
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