Through The Darkest Of Times: Overview Video Games

Real history, as you know, do not rewrite – Although attempts are regularly undertaken. But in games such an opportunity, we are often given, mainly in historical strategies. In this sense Through The Darkest Of Times could become unique and allow to stop Adolf Hitler Even before the Second World War began. However, the authors from the go say: “Historical accuracy means that your small group will not change the outcome of the war – and will not prevent all Nazi atrocities, but you can do everything to save more lives and resist the system with any opportunity.”. Was the game from this worse? Hardly.

Communists and monarchists against the Nazis

So, Berlin, January 1933, just Hitler became a new chancellor, and an evil called the Third Reich begins to win. In this situation, several ordinary citizens decide to organize resistance. The player chooses his protege (a man or woman of the chosen profession and political views) and in this role the underground cell takes.

The leader may have several closest associates whom we gradually recruit, choosing again from ordinary people – plumbers, doctors, priests, secretaries, merchants. They can be communists, anarchists, social democrats, monarchists, moderate liberals, Christian conservatives (only, is understandable, not members of the NSDAP).

In addition to political views, each of them has its own unique character traits (calm, selfish, reckless, believer, athlete, a person with dubious past, the disabled of war and so on), as well as specializations that are generated on the basis of which parameters are better developed. The parameters are the following – Education, empathy, secrecy, propaganda, power. As success and achieve success, our wards receive levels and can increase one of these indicators.

To everyone – on the task!

And here is the whole game actually lies in the fact that on the global map we regularly send each associate (and leader too) on the tasks, focusing on their indicators. At first, in each of the four chapters, you need to collect donations and attract comrades, communicating with workers, priests, young people, entrepreneurs, old friends, former friends, and so on. You can also buy paper and paint, print and distribute flyers, then the option is to steal the shape of the attack aircraft, print a false passport or communicate with someone to penetrate important objects, for example, to concentrate, where you need to get important information and capture the crimes of the regime.All tasks are available for a certain number of weeks.
Or we carve gasoline, cars, explosives, we draw your own workshops, where we type books. Or first learn about the delivery of weapons, and then try to steal it – the same can be checked with the Nazis cash register. So, each task has the level of preparation and the level of danger, and sending it to it from one to three people. And each of each indicates the factors that increase or, on the contrary, lower the risk – somewhere better to send the Communists, Social Democrats, Anarchists, but monarchists at the meeting of workers, it will be clear, will meet at least puzzled. Somewhere it will be better to cope with a dubious past, and somewhere we will be useful for reckless athletes.

It is possible to reduce the risk, if you change the enemies in the form of enemies or take a bike with you to quickly break away from the chase in case of detection. And just as if you take to meet with the working information, implanting the Nazis, it will turn out to recruit more supporters.

Gestapo does not dremlet!

And in fact, the success of our efforts the whole game depends on how we distribute financial (Reichsmarks) and human resources. Well done tasks increase not only the budget and the number of supporters, but also the morale. However, fails due to the fact that there is no money or the level of morality fell to zero, it is almost impossible.

The main risk factor is a surveillance and arrests from the Gestapo. During each task, there is a chance that your ward will notice (you can try to escape, hide or bring the case to the end), and then the level of its “illumination” will increase in the Gestapo. Well, and then, the comrade will come and throw him in prison for a while – you have to wait for the exit or try to free yourself. But the leader can close very long, and then the game will end. To avoid this, you need to periodically remove the most active characters in the underground, but it is expensive.Swastika in the game in the end decided not to use.
Additional financing, support and even the ability to delete data on someone in the Gestapo, we get if we find the right people and then appeal for help in the “Contacts” section.

Terrible truth

All this strategic mechanics resembles a mixture from This Is The Police And Republic: The Revolution, But hardly as deep. In addition, it is bewilderment, as in the same team, monarchists and anarchists could work, for example. And why, even knowing the rapidity of the Nazis from the beginning of the war, our hero then does not believe that they could burn whole villages together with civilians? Therefore, I would appreciate below Through The Darkest Of Times, But the situation is saved, firstly, the ability to learn many interesting historical facts about what was happening during the formation of the Third Reich, and secondly, interesting and emotional story scenes, meetings and dialogues.

We walk to listen to speech Hitler, We look at the burning Reichstag, we meet the writer Erich Kestener, The books of which together with the rest publicly harness during the shares of the student union “against the Negroean Spirit”, see how attack aircraft stick to an old Jew on the street or how do not let people in Jewish shops. We can pass by or intervene, but then the chance will increase that the chief holder is in the Gestapo.

Each chapter has its own key targets – for example, to promote important information on the atrocities of the Nazis, break through the radio and tell the world about them during the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. You have to visit the ghetto for Gypsies, secretly shooting how children from there will be taken to experiences, meet with American journalists and transfer them to them. At some point, the option appears on Soviet or British intelligence. And, for example, in the third chapter, we are trying to help hide the daughter of acquaintances, which suffers from epilepsy and therefore can undergo forced euthanasia.Considering that during the game of the characters, you get a soul, read it is very hard.

Silent solutions in dark times

Of all this is a very gloomy, sad and emotional picture, which is complemented by the dramatic events in the life of our associates. Someone is experiencing that the son or wife supports the Nazis, one girl wants to get out of the game, because it is pregnant and afraid for the child, someone suspects the other in betrayal – and we need to decide how to do in this situation.

The brother of one of the associates, for example, at some point is arranged to work for the Nazis, and we can ask him to work as our informant, but if you press it hard on it, that is, the risk that a person simply reveal and arrest. That is, and we yourself constantly have to choose from two angry, and then faced with the consequences. After all, from what we say, what decisions in such situations are accepted, also depend on the fighting spirit, and the relationship of comrades to the case – dissatisfied can leave the group. But in any case, as a rule, participants in resistance and in real life, and in this game is waiting for the sad fate – arrests, executions, concentration camps, suicide ..

In such situations you need to quickly make decisions.
***
In this, there is a sad charm Through The Darkest Of Times – this is very honest, historically faithful (for the most part) and therefore a very emotionally heavy chronicle of the formation of Nazism, which gives us the opportunity to know what was actually worried about, with what horrors people came across and how they tried to change something in a situation,when changing almost nothing. But therefore, even small, local progress cause sincere joy – and this story really wants to live to the end.

Pros: Dramatic and interesting plot;Fascinating historical reading, allowing to know much about what was going on during the formation of Nazism;non-trivial strategic gameplay;the ability to influence your decisions in the life of heroes;simple but stylish picture;Authentic music.

Minuses: Strategic gameplay in some places falls into the routine;Gaming conventions sometimes conflict with historical accuracy.