Operation Darkness : My Impressions

I got Operation Darkness via Gamefly last week.  I have really enjoyed tactical/turn based rpgs ever since the Shining Force/Darkness series on the Sega Genesis.  This game got so many things right, but does have some serious flaws. 

The good:   It's a WWII era game.  Lots of semi-authentic weapons/adversaries/vehicles to use in combat and to fight against.  I say semi-authentic because eventually the game does add some supernatural elements and takes liberties with the technology available.  Basically, you join a British special forces unit, only to find that it is composed of 2 werewolves, Frankenstein's monster in disguise, and eventually you are joined by Van Helsing's granddaughter and Jack the Ripper, among others.  I'm not kidding.

I could have done without the supernatural elements, but it does give you access to unique skills.  Frank is strong and has a punch that can decimate enemies.  Your werewolves can transform and move very fast and do increased damage and get some special attacks.   Van Helsing is very good against the undead and is very quick.  Jack the Ripper is much the same. 

You're not the only ones with access to supernatural characters.  Your main adversaries are a duo of vampires and their vampire/zombie henchmen.  You start off fighting normal german troops, including SS and Panzer tanks.  Eventually, the story leads into the vampires and zombies and progresses to the point that you are fighting cyborgs and dragons.  Yes, all of this in WWII.

There are skills to build and quite a few abilities to select.  It almost seems like Fallout 3 in the character options, and you have tough choices over which to use and which to leave behind, because you can only have 5 active skills and 5 passive ones.  Some characters are good tanks, some are good at sniping, and you have a couple that are good healers, so you have options as to how to play.  Party size varies on different maps, but is usually 10-13 people.

And the best thing I can say about this game is that it is fun.  It is hard to put down when your team is set up right.  However, this will lead into the bad.

The bad:  The game can be incredibly cheap.  Enemy reinforcements can come in without warning, and the supernatural ones can even teleport in.  This has lead to weakened characters that were hanging out in the back to suddenly be surrounded by enemies and killed in short order.  Unfortunately, you cannot save during a battle, so if a certain character dies in a battle, you must start all over.  Not at the beginning of the battle, which is why it is even more frustrating.  You have to go back to prior to the last cutscene and go through it all over again.  The save system combined with cheap deaths really suck.

Of course, your biggest foe will be the camera.  Oh yes, the camera is god-awful.  It took some getting used to, but I eventually got to where I could manage, but it needs a major overhaul if a sequel is made.  It doesn't pan out far enough to give you a good view of the battlefield and it faces random directions each time a character's turn comes up which can be very confusing.  You'd think it would start behind the character pointing in the direction of the enemies, but no, sometimes it points to the back of the map.

I really wanted to love it, but I really can't recommend it to anybody.  That said, Success develops a sequel that addresses the problems from the first, I'd be very interested in it.

I give it an C-.   It's not crap, but it's not good.  It was close to being good, though.  A few tweaks and it could have been something special.