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Best. Concept. Ever.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: July 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

"Operation Darkness" is the first Japanese strategic role-playing game (JSRPG) to arrive on a Microsoft console and I say not a moment too soon. After all, Final Fantasy Tactics is one of my favorite games of all time and OD is very similar in gameplay to that groundbreaking gem. The story takes place during World War II with your main character being wounded in battle. He receives an emergency blood transfusion from a British special forces officer who shows up just in time. You join the unit known as The Wolf Pack and for a while, everything is as it should be; you find Nazis, you shoot Nazis, life is good. And so it goes until after one battle when zombies suddenly appear out of nowhere. Promises of forthcoming explanations keep you going until a friggin' vampire shows up and starts demolishing everyone. So your commanding officer -who was so generous as to have given his own blood for your transfusion- transforms into a werewolf and tosses the bloodsucker into the air as the anime hottie you have a crush on blasts him in mid-air with a fireball from her hand. Alrighty then. "Operation Darkness" mixes and melds a wonderful historically accurate account of the greatest of all wars with supernatural horror aspects and presents it as a solid JSRPG video game. These are a few of my favorite things.

Now, if you've read the professional reviews for this game you are thinking, "Hey, man, didn't this get like a 40 out of 100 on Metacritic?". Yes. Yes it did. But the professional reviews are from the standpoint of video game industry insiders who are more concerned about a game's programming, graphics, and technical proficiency then they are it's capacity to entertain. Screw that. Lost Odyssey garnered some decent scores and it has endless loading screens, outdated gameplay, limited voice-acting, technical issues, AND it needed four discs to do it; all for a few awesome-looking cutscenes. This is a stripped-down game by comparison that focuses on it's key aspects well and does away with endless cutscenes and the loading screens that go with them in favor of a solid fully-voiced story often (well) told with non-animated characters. It may be last-gen, but it is still effective.

Now let me give you full disclosure about what IS wrong with OD. First, foremost, and most flagrantly there is the in-battle camera. Atlus tried somethinga little different and went for a up-close-and-personal view reminiscent of a third-person shooter rather than the standard eagle's eye-view typical of most strategy games. This succeeds in making the battle seem more in your face and personal, but the fact that you often can't line up your shots because there is a tree or building blocking your view from behind your character is awful at times. It's not as bad as some reviewers would have you believe once you get used to it (the mini-map is your friend), but it is a fault nonetheless. Next, you get most of the best skills early in the game and every character gets the same selection to choose from. So basically, while the characters are customizable, you'll more than likely have most of them with the same stat boosts for most of the game. The good is that those skills level up according to how you play the game with each character and that's very cool. The fact that most of your characters can die permanent deaths puts a big damper on this game as well. There are no revival items and only one character (who CAN die) has magic to bring them back. Two of the characters look similar so at one point I wasn't even aware that one had died until after the hour+ battle was done so I had to restart because who the hell wants to play an RPG without a major character's dialogue? Silly.

This game is hardcore and unforgiving. One-shot kills abound and the fact that the 100% required feature of having a mortally wounded soldier heal themselves with items from their personal inventory is a skill that takes a space away from the other skills I could be equipping is a headache. You are typically (over)matched against a group of nearly- indestructible tanks and an army of soldiers where you have to run and hide until you can bring your slow-moving bazooka troops to bear. Then, out of ammo, out of healing items, and feeling good about yourself after an hour or so of pitched battle, the game tosses another large volley of fresh troops and/or tanks at you in an obvious attempt to make you throw your controller at the screen. However, this does make for a real feeling of accomplishment when you send those Jerrys packing. Each move you make must be carefully planned, each attack carefully weighed for risk, and skillful strategizing is usually rewarded with success. In spite of it's issues, this is a great strategy game.

As well as many historical figures, there are some horror icons that make appearances as well. Jack The Ripper is particularly awesome in his role and vampire legend Carmilla turns up leading the supernatural Nazi forces. One of your comrades-in-arms is a bespectacled Re-Animator known as Herbert East. I KNEW that guy's needle-brandishing pose looked familiar! So cool. You even get a sword-swinging Van Helsing descendant on your team. Add plenty more interesting characters and horror homages to that pile. The story is solid and it such that it never fails to point out that not all Germans were Nazis and many actually opposed Hitler. In fact, your aforementioned love interest is a German citizen, driving the point home. And there you are with your German-hating ways. For shame. I'll take this over 90% of what's out there any day of the week, last-gen or not.

"Operation Darkness" is a great game IF YOU ARE A FAN OF THE GENRE. If you are not, the camera will drive you nuts, the graphics will not impress you, the presentation will strike you as PSP-worthy, and you will not have a good time. But if you read what I wrote and said "hell yeah!" then download the free demo from Xbox Live. It's a level where the camera is at it's worst so if you can enjoy that particular battle than this game is all about you. There is nothing else like this on a current console and I highly recommend it to true strategy game aficionados who are into WWII history and horror films.

True Gem with Flaws..

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is probably one of those games that will be a hit or miss depending on who's playing the game. Some will enjoy it immensely while others hate it. I saw a lot of admirers and haters out there for this game so thought I'd throw in my two cents. Personally, I really enjoyed this game. Yes, the camera can be aweful at times but once you get used to it it's not that bad; it just could have been better. And no, the graphics are not PS2 era (as some review that I read tried to point out). While it may not push the Xbox 360 graphical capabilities over the limits it is by far cleaner, sharper, and simply better than games on PS2 can do (Load up another strategy game from the PS2 saga like Disgaea and do the actual comparison.. you may be shocked), especially when viewed in HD and a nice big TV. This game's graphics is no Gears of War by any means but it still does the job.

Getting back on the track, this game can be a killer, in good ways and bad. It is rather unforgiving. The death of regular members can be permanent, and death of certain characters in mid-mission can simply end the game on the spot without giving you a chance to try to revive him/her. Pacing can be uneven, from slow to mind numbingly fast when unexpected enemy reinforcements pop up right behind you (and there's a lot). But some people like that kind of surprise and the whole shift-your-tactic-on-the-go thing. I think it makes for a better and more intense strategy game. The theme of the game is very unique as well (WWII, Nazis, Zombies, Werewolves? count me in), the character profiles very interesting (historical appearances from many you'll recognize), and a great and realistic selection of weapons that you'll have to figure in and utilize in order to come out ahead against some overwhelming odds.

To conclude, if you give this game a chance it will tie up hard-core strategy gamers/perfectionists happily for hours to come, but may give casual gamers an urge to grab their controllers and throw it at the screen. As for me, with lack of decent strategy games coming out as of late this game has done wonders in filling in the shoes. Now back to collecting those damn Valhalla reports..

Everything I thought it would be...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

-- Difficult game - check
-- Graphics about average - check
-- Enjoyable tactical RPG goodness - check
-- Entertaining story - check

This game is by far one of the more difficult strategy RPG's I've ever played, and you know what? I like that. Are the graphics anything to be impressed by? No, of course not, and if you ever played the demo you would know that. However, the game play is what makes the game, not the graphics, and this game has plenty of that. Tactical RPG's are a dying breed, and if you want to be challenged every step of the way in the game, dollar for dollar you won't find a better game out right now to do it. Atlus has rarely disappointed me, and almost intuitively know what I want in games. If you are willing to ignore some bad qualities that you can find in any game reviewers claim to be perfect 10's, then this is a game that to me, as a TRPG/JPRG enthusiast is great game, better by far than the reviewers gave it credit for, and certainly worth every penny I paid.

Wonderful concept, but embarrassing and awful execution

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: July 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I looked forward to this game for quite a while; as other reviewers have stated, it's a pretty unique twist on the classic SRPG/tactics-style game, and Atlus is known for doing these in fine style. Unfortunately, most of the major factors responsible for engaging the player in the game are terrible at best. The camera is truly awful, completely gutting the player's ability to even tell what is going on or where characters are. The graphics aren't just "last gen," they're "the gen before that" - the game looks and runs like a Playstation 1 game more than anything else, with shockingly lo-fi and jagged textures and models. But the ultimate handicap, and final impediment, is the general clunkiness of the game's menu system and interface - even executing the most basic battle command, like performing a standard attack, involves up to 10 or 12 individual selections and button clicks before the character carries out the action. This slows even the simplest battle to an unbearably sluggish lurch, as it can take up to 10 minutes to simply walk across an environment and attack a single other enemy...truly a colossal failure and destined for the clearance bin.

Accomplishes what very few games can

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

There are roughly 8 or 9 games that I would never sell for my 360, the guitar hero/rockband games, Gears of War, Civ Rev, Culdecept Saga.....and this. This game requires a great deal of strategy, planning out, and execution.....and of course a certain degree of luck/randomness. The story is engaging, the gameplay is methodical, the game is very deep (easily 50 hrs of gameplay here), and although not without minor flaws, it really will be a game that will be thoroughly enjoyed.

Just the demo

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

granted i only got to play the demo of the game but you do get to complete a full scenario. this game is one of the few games currently available on the 360 that fills some of your rpg needs. it's a tactical/strategic rpg featuring WWII. Well it was all normal until i took control of a character named Gallant and he had the option to turn into a werewolf. The main characters all have special attack moves that do a great deal of damage. Much more so than their guns. Based on the empty slots I'm sure their special attacks will become stronger or they will develope different special attacks.

You can only equip like five items per character. I don't know if that changes or not but you can pick weapons, ammo and items off of dead soldiers which is extremely beneficial. One thing I don't like about the game is how each scenario or new information is told by non animated characters. It strongly evokes feelings of the original playstation rpgs like lunar. With the power of the 360 even with a strategic rpg i would expect something better than that. Actual gameplay graphics will pass with most gamers though. If you have your doubts i would suggest downloading the demo like i did. Based on the demo I can't find much fault with it.

its a great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

i like the game is a role play, it gives you the chance to play different characters at once and have a lot of fun!

Way Too Frustrating

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Fantastic scenarios and character designs, however, this game is way too frustrating to recommend, even to the hardcore tactics fan. Even with the "cover" tactics giving you extra turns, the AI is designed to gang-up and destroy the weakest member of your Wolfpack.

This is not good, because you have a limited number of slots in your inventory for healing items per individual. And you have no healing magic, much less revival magic until late in the game. And of course, it's instant game over once that weakest party member dies, with no "Quick Save" resume available. So that's 1hr.+ of lost work with nothing to show for it, plus the added insult of no way to skip the dialog scenes for a second or third time.

Repeat this process until you memorize the enemy AI's movement and tactics for the upcoming map and load up almost all your inventory with healing items.

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