Operation Darkness

The audacious premise is incredibly fun all the way through, and right up until just before the last few missions the gameplay more than holds up its end. It's too bad the game gets so frustratingly difficult right at the end.

It innovates from the usual set of strategy titles in so many areas without falling flat on its face, and it’s a meaty title besides.

I can overlook the average graphics, the camera mechanics, and even the sub-par voice-acting. What I can’t accept is that the story, which was supposed to be the most interesting part of the game, is just plain boring.

It's not quite as engrossing a turn-based strategy experience as Final Fantasy Tactics, but its unique setting kept my interest long enough for me to discover the fun that lay beneath the unpleasant exterior.

Operation Darkness takes an intriguing idea, but ruins it with some awful gameplay.

If you can handle inelegant controls, graphics, and story, and a text-heavy menu system, this might hold some appeal. Otherwise, avoid it like lycanthropy. [July 2008, p.81]

No quantity of vamires, werewolves, and undead zombies can salvage its dreadfully tedious gameplay. [July 2008, p.70]

It’s not as bad as a 46, but I can’t give it higher than a 60. It’s got a cool theme and planning each move is fun. However, the music is so repetitive it drives you nuts. I can’t ignore how annoying it is to be in an hour long battle and you lose one character and that’s it, mission failed.. then you have to go all the way back in, watch the bland cutscenes over and over again just to restart the mission. Not terrible, but coulda been much better

Operation Darkness attempts to blend turn-based strategy with supernatural World War II elements, but stumbles in its execution due to fundamental design flaws and technical issues that hamper the overall experience. The game's most glaring issue is its problematic camera system. Unlike genre standouts like Fire Emblem with their clear top-down perspective, Operation Darkness opts for a restrictive third-person, over-the-shoulder view that actively works against strategic planning. This design choice creates unnecessary difficulty when trying to survey the battlefield and plan movements—a crucial aspect of any strategy game. The camera becomes particularly troublesome in urban environments, often getting stuck or providing limited visibility when you need it most. The presentation is a mixed bag. While the 2D assets show care and polish, with appealing artwork complemented by decent voice acting and a solid musical score, the 3D elements fall noticeably short. The character models look dated even for their era, resembling PlayStation 2-era graphics despite being an Xbox 360 title. Animations are stiff and lifeless, with characters lacking expressive movement or detail. Battlefields feel sparse and underpopulated, creating an emptiness that undermines immersion. Technical performance issues compound these visual shortcomings. When multiple units appear on screen, the frame rate drops noticeably, with stuttering and screen tearing that disrupts the flow of gameplay—problems that shouldn't plague a turn-based title where processing demands are typically lower than action games. Perhaps the most exhausting aspect of Operation Darkness is its grueling battle length. Encounters routinely stretch to 30-40 minutes, creating a tedious experience with minimal narrative breaks between engagements. The scant five minutes of story development between these protracted battles fails to provide sufficient respite or motivation to continue. The punishing permadeath system, while common in strategy games, feels particularly harsh here given the extended battle times. Losing key party members forces a complete restart of these lengthy missions, multiplying the frustration when defeat comes after investing significant time. This design choice might have worked with shorter, more focused battles, but here it simply compounds the game's pacing issues. Operation Darkness represents a missed opportunity. Its blend of supernatural elements with WWII strategy offers an intriguing premise, but the execution fails on fundamental levels. The restrictive camera undermines strategic planning, dated visuals break immersion, technical hiccups disrupt gameplay flow, and the punishing length of battles without meaningful breaks creates an exhausting experience. While some players may appreciate the unique setting and solid 2D art, voice work, and music, these positive elements aren't enough to overcome the game's substantial flaws. For strategy enthusiasts, there are far better options available that don't sacrifice playability and pacing in service of an interesting concept.

This game had a great premise, and I really wanted to like it, but it's just not good. The level's are tedious, and early in the game the difficulty curve shoots for the moon unless you're willing to sink hours into grinding levels. So sad, it could have been a dandy game.

The game would be a very serviceable tactics RPG if it didnt suffer from several major flaws that detract from the cool setting and concept. Including challenges that are only able to be overcome through lucky and RNG. Which turns that replaying of levels into a frustrating tedious chore. Very specifically, tanks are near impossible to remove from the map, and yet you have to in many missions. Especially the very limited ammo to do so, the very poor accuracy, and the fact they can one shot one of your many characters that can't die (otherwise you get a game over) and they just do this by running them over with their high mobility. This game is a mess and should honestly be avoided.

No region free. 0 atlus...............................................................................................................................