In this review we will talk about Through the Darkest of Times, a strategic one that describes the horrors of Nazism from the point of view of German citizens
The video games set during the Nazis are really many, but most of them mainly deal with the conflicts of the Second World War. Many of these titles are focus on the action and among them it is very rare to be able to find someone who deals with the conditions in which the populations subject to Nazism were forced to live. For this reason Paintbucket Games decided to create Through the Darkest of Times, a strategic in which we will control a group of the German resistance.
A dark age
Our goal in Through the Darkest of Times is to keep our group together during the four chapters that make up the game. These chapters will not only be set during World War II, but they will cover throughout the period of the Nazi dictatorship.
During these four chapters the main purpose of the resistance will not be to defeat Nazism, but to help German citizens oppressed by the regime as much as possible. During the Nazis, not only Jews were persecuted, but also political opponents, homosexuals, the mentally ill and many other innocent people. Moreover, very often people were forced to join the party against their will to avoid being arrested or even killed. All these people are gods victims and it will be our task to help them overcome the darkest period in the history of humanity.
Living the Story - Through the Darkest of Times Review
Through the Darkest of Times is a very big title historically accurate. Each week of play will be punctuated through the use of a few newspapers, which with their titles will illustrate some of the most important events that occurred in that period.
These events will not only be told to us, but in some cases we will also be able to live them between one mission and another. During these game sections our protagonist will find himself embroiled in some typical situations in Germany of the Third Reich and we will be able to decide how to act by choosing among some multiple choices. These events range from generic events such as mistreatment of Jews in the streets, to specific historical events such as the Reichstag fire. Besides, there will also be gods different events based on some characteristics of our character, for example, a Communist character could be arrested and interrogated simply because of his political ideology.
Staying United Against Dictatorship - Through the Darkest of Times Review
After a brief character creation, we will immediately be put in charge of a small group of German citizens who intend to oppose Hitler. Initially our group will not have many resources and it will be our job to provide us with the necessary to build resistance.
The fundamental elements on which our group is based are the number of supporters and morale. The number of supporters indicates how many people support our cause and the higher it is, the more help we will receive weekly from our allies. Morale, on the other hand, indicates the level of cohesion of the group and it is essential to keep it high, since if it reaches zero the group will dissolve and we will lose the game.
Fighting Oppression - Through the Darkest of Times Review
To be able to keep up the number of supporters and the morale of the resistance, it will be necessary to participate in some missions. The available missions vary according to the chapters and range from simple actions such as the search for money for the resistance to real attacks on the Nazi forces, and to complete them we will have to resort to our agents in the field.
Our agents are characterized by distinctive elements such as traits and ideological, but also by five very important features: stealth, strength, empathy, knowledge and propaganda. Each mission will require one or more agents to complete and the success rate varies according to their characteristics. In case the chosen agents are not adequate, it will increase the risk of being seen by some witness or worse by the Gestapo. In these situations we will be able to decide whether run away, hide or fight, but we will not always be able to get rid of our enemies and in the event of failure our agents could become suspects, be arrested or even die.
The Problem of Instruments - Through the Darkest of Times Review
In addition to increasing the number of supporters, completing missions often will also provide us lots of different types of objects, such as paper, coal, medicine, guns, vehicles and much more. These objects will be used to carry out the more complicated missions or they can be used to facilitate normal ones.
In the first few hours of the game, having so many useful items to collect will be fun, but as time goes on we will realize theirs little use. Usually missions that reward us with items offer few immediate benefits for the group, while those that require them require too many materials to be convenient. Due to this imbalance, as the chapters progress, players will be more and more inclined to complete many simple missions rather than a few difficult ones.
A Heavy Atmosphere - Through the Darkest of Times Review
Through the darkest of times manages to perfectly recreate the heavy atmosphere that reigned in Germany during the Nazi dictatorship. The game can immerse us in this terrible historical period with an exceptional use of writing, but also thanks to images and audio. The intermission scenes are excellently rendered thanks to gods simple but impactful designs and to extremely detailed descriptions. More background audio, often made up of screams, gunshots and many other horrible sounds, it helps to emphasize even more the gravity of the scene. A note of merit should also be given to the music which, in particular within our base, is really very nice and reflects the type of music listened to in that period.
Conclusions
Through the Darkest of Times is a title that he managed to perfectly hit the goal he had set for himself, that is, to show us the life of the Germans during the Nazis. Unfortunately, however, Paintbucket Games it missed the mark in terms of gameplay. The game as the chapters progress is really easy and fills up with objects and activities that have no real use for us.
From a technical point of view, the game presents almost no problems. During our test there was no crash or slowdown of any kind, and we met just a few small bugs in the last chapter. Despite the gameplay issues, Through the Darkest of Times it is a title that deserves to be tried, given that the title deals with an important side of Nazism that too often is not explored in other games.
Through the Darkest of Times è available from today January 30 on PC. If you found this article useful and want to stay updated on all the news regarding this title and much more, keep following us here on techigames.
7 A necessary gamePoints in favor
- Tell an important theme
- Historically accurate
- Great atmosphere
Points against
- Many useless items and missions
- Extremely easy
