In desperate situations like that, no one will fault you for desecrating the dead. Looting corpses is not only a necessity in dire times, it’s the best ways to keep your operatives fully stocked on ammo, med kits, and some of the finest weapons around. Say what you will about the Nazis, but they didn’t fool around when devising new tools of destruction. Considering the quality of the weapons you can buy from mid-mission supply depots, it’s a wonder that the Allies ever came out ahead.
As morbidly fun as robbing the dead can be, the cover system is what makes the game stand out. Cover gives you a free round of fire, but the stipulations keep it balanced. Shots do less damage while still using ammo, you’re grounded to one position, and there are three situational types. You can establish a hefty defensive line by anticipating your opponent’s movements, but gauge wrong, and you might give them the opening to obliterate your team.
After spending a few hours getting the nuts and bolts properly fastened, it’s time for the real show to begin. Hitler wasn’t just a maniacal dictator with a formidable army. He was a devoted occultist with a legion of black magic warriors at his back. Vampires, skeletons, and dragons blend seamlessly into combat while Wolf Pack evens the odds with their own brand of magic and lupine transformations. I bet you never saw that coming. I like to think that stumbling hordes of gun-toting zombies add pizzazz to any game, but nothing can compensate for Operation Darkness’s atrocious camerawork.
Dealing with the camera system is like having an aunt with a pulsing, softball-sized goiter, who gives great presents during the holidays. It’s not something you can ever get over, but you learn to live with it to get to the good stuff. Unlike the bird’s-eye view that most strategy games adopt, Operation Darkness puts you side by side with the grunts. For all the wonderfully cinematic shots it gets in battle, the camera should be able to just glide right in to catch the perfect angle for movement and aiming. Instead, it’s one of the hardest opponents you will ever face.
The smallest flick of the analog stick sends the camera careening into buildings, mountainsides, and any other places where people aren’t getting killed. Whenever you manage to wrangle in the perfect view, it dips into the ground, jumps to the rooftops, or pulls a 180 just to remind you who’s in charge. Even the auto-targeting system has enough spins and swirls to incite motion sickness. To be fair, auto-targeting was useless to begin with. Why would I risk a potshot at someone across the field when there’s a wounded Nazi at my feet?
It doesn’t help that the only way to see enemies half of the time is through the fluorescent arrows pointing them out. War isn’t supposed to be fun, but a few colors beyond the bleakest shades of gray and brown wouldn’t hurt anyone. If nothing else, the dull palette hides the fact that someone went nuts with the fugly-stick. Every model and texture looks fit for a five-year old PS2 game, with some classic N64 fogging. Even if you can get past these cosmetic failings, with a tightly-fastened burlap sack, the foundation of the gameplay wasn’t built with durability in mind.
