Review by: Jeff McAllister

Darkest of Days has an intriguing story idea: You play as a soldier named Morris who was plucked from the Battle of Little Bighorn, just as Custer made his last stand. Your saviour, the corporation known as Kronotek, uses time travelling to solve the mysteries of history, as well as having a staff of agents that travel from time period to time period to make sure everything stays the way it should and that history is not altered in any way. You are rescued by an agent named Dexter and are quickly thrust into the role of partner and agent of Dexter and Kronotek.

Not asked if you would like to, or even offered much of an explanation, other than a brief introduction from “Mother” who is nothing more than eyes on a video screen, you are sent back in time to make sure what has been altered is changed back to prevent consequences in the future. It seems that Kronotek’s founder, Dr. Rainier Koell, has gone missing and the abnormalities in the past may have something to do with his sudden disappearance. Yeah, it's a bit out there.

As you and Dex first jump between missions in 1914 to help the Russians against the Germans in WWI and in 1862 to find a soldier during the American Civil War Battle of Antietam, you start to run across other future agents that use the same technology you do although their plans seem much more nefarious and seem to be behind the time shifting events. As you travel from time period to time period, fighting on both sides of the battles, the story begins to unfold and not everything is a cut and dry as it first appeared.

When you are first dropped into time frames, you are dressed in the garb and equipped with the weapons of the time. Slow loading Muskets and six-shooters deal damage in the Civil War while quicker firing rifles and handguns are offered in the WWI and WWII missions. The biggest kick the game offers is that at times you will be able to use the weapons of the future while you are in the past. No musket is a match for a fully automatic rifle with laser scope. A fact that is made quite apparent as you take down crowds of Rebel soldiers in seconds. It is unexplainably satisfying and gives you quite the god complex. Other future weapons, such as sniper rifles and automatic shotguns are also available at different stages of the game. The Incinerator, available only during the missions through the city of Pompeii as it is on the brink of destruction from Mt. Vesuvius, allows you to torch any and everything in your way – a fitting end to those that are not aware of the fate that is approaching them.