Darkest of Days

About

In Darkest of Days, you have the chance to travel through time and alter key historical events. Combat through brutal battles like the Civil War's Antietam and both World Wars, with the goal of saving certain individuals to change history for the better. This game stands out with its unique Marmoset engine, delivering impressive graphics and setting it apart from other FPS titles.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+22

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 251 reviews

story49 positive mentions

stability9 negative mentions

Unique concept of time travel through various historical events, allowing players to use modern weapons in past battles.
Nostalgic gameplay that brings back memories for many players, especially those who enjoyed it on older consoles.
Fun and chaotic combat mechanics, with a variety of weapons and large-scale battles that keep the gameplay engaging.

Significant technical issues, including crashes, black screens on AMD graphics cards, and poor optimization.
The story is often criticized for being poorly executed, with a confusing plot and an unsatisfying cliffhanger ending.
Graphics and AI are dated and can detract from the overall experience, making the game feel unpolished.

story
107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
50%
5%
The game's story revolves around a time-traveling organization rescuing a soldier from a battlefield, with a subplot involving the search for the organization's missing founder. While the narrative features intriguing concepts and twists, it suffers from clunky exposition towards the end and a disappointing cliffhanger, leaving many players feeling that the story lacks resolution. Overall, the plot is seen as a mix of engaging ideas and execution flaws, with some missions being educational and enjoyable, despite the occasional weak character development and pacing issues.
- “The plot is that your character is rescued from a battlefield by a time-traveling organization dedicated to protecting the timeline from nefarious forces who would seek to change it.”
- “I loved this game; it was nice and I loved the different historical settings, weapons, and interesting story with a nice twist.”
- “The story is great, mixing time travel and massive wars, which is incredibly fun.”
- “The storytelling gets a bit clunky right at the end, as it does feel a little like the devs were running out of time and had to just dump a load of exposition on the player all at once.”
- “The story is dumb, the characters are uninteresting, the acting sucks, the action sucks, the weapons suck...”
- “There is also the problem that you get a massive chunk of plot dumped on your head in a single ending cutscene with the vague promise of a sequel to resolve it.”
graphics
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
57%
16%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that they are dated and occasionally glitchy, particularly for those using AMD graphics cards, which struggle to run the game effectively. While some users find the visuals acceptable for the game's release era, others feel they detract from the overall experience. Despite these graphical shortcomings, many players emphasize that the gameplay and story can still provide an enjoyable experience if one can overlook the visual flaws.
- “The graphics are excellent and the whole idea has me waiting expectantly to see what other eras we are going to be able to explore.”
- “This game is probably the best game I have played in a long time, the graphics are gorgeous for 2010, the story is amazing as is the concept, and the engine is the best one I have seen forever. The big battles run totally smooth on my PC, and in all, this game is 10/10.”
- “If you can get it working with PhysX, the graphics hold up surprisingly well, and the game has a great concept and is a hell of a lot of fun.”
- “Great story arc, unfortunate ending, decent dialogue, and dated graphics and software.”
- “The graphics of this game...not the best and you can tell there are some glitches in it; it is like the producers of this game wanted to make it quickly.”
- “Sadly, until they make a patch where the game can be run without an NVIDIA graphics card, there is no point in buying this game as it won't work.”
gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
46%
11%
The gameplay is a mixed bag, characterized by low-budget production values that result in janky mechanics and choppy graphics. While some players appreciate the nostalgic feel and fun combat mechanics, others find the controls lacking and the overall experience glitchy. Despite these issues, many reviewers enjoyed the engaging story and found the gameplay to be entertaining, albeit short, with around 8 hours of content.
- “The combat mechanics are functional for the most part, and they do get pretty fun - for example, when using some futuristic artillery blaster to hold back a German army in 1915.”
- “Good story and gameplay, I enjoyed this throwback to 2009 quite well.”
- “The gameplay is great.”
- “The first thing you need to know is that this is very much a low-budget shooter, and it does show - the gameplay can be a little janky at times.”
- “The gameplay is glitchy, breaks, makes absolutely no sense sometimes, and has a storyline that is insane at best.”
- “Choppy gameplay.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
90%
Overall, the game's stability is characterized by a mix of humorous glitches rather than severe, game-breaking issues, allowing for an enjoyable experience despite its bugs. While some players reported mediocre performance on higher-end systems and noted outdated graphics, the fun gameplay often outweighs these stability concerns.
- “The game runs smoothly without any crashes or glitches, making for a seamless experience.”
- “I've played for hours without any issues; the stability is impressive.”
- “The performance is rock solid, allowing me to fully immerse myself in the gameplay.”
- “Its very buggy and performance on my i7-7700 and GTX 1070 (with 16GB of DDR4) was mediocre at best.”
- “There are a few glitches and the game looks a bit outdated but it's still one of my favorite games.”
- “A buggy yet fun and enjoyable first person shooter with a solid premise.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some users reporting significant bugs and mediocre performance on mid-range hardware, while others have noted that it runs smoothly and visually impressively on their systems. Additionally, the gun upgrade system is linked to in-game performance, enhancing both gameplay and visual aspects of the weapons. Overall, while there are patches available, the optimization experience varies widely among players.
- “My PC is Windows 7 64-bit with NVIDIA graphics, and it runs smoothly and looks much better than I expected.”
- “The gun upgrade system is related to in-game performance, and the guns visually change with some upgrades.”
- “The weapon upgrade system is connected to the player's performance, and the weapons also change visually after some upgrades.”
- “It's just not optimized very well and bugs out, but there are patches online you can find.”
- “It's very buggy and performance on my i7-7700 and GTX 1070 (with 16GB of DDR4) was mediocre at best.”
- “The gun upgrade system is related to in-game performance, and the guns change visually with some upgrades.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely driven by the character Dexter, whose cheesy tough-guy persona and excellent voice acting provide frequent laughs. Players appreciate the charming nature of the game's glitches, which add to the comedic experience rather than detract from it. Overall, the humor is well-received, contributing positively to the game's enjoyment.
- “Your sidekick Dexter is kind of a cheesy tough guy stereotype, but his voice actor is great and he's frequently hilarious.”
- “Thankfully, most of the stuff that's broken is more of the 'funny charming' kind of glitches rather than the 'frustrating game-breaking' type of glitches that usually plague this tier of game.”
- “This game is really good; Dexter's humor is fricking awesome, I enjoyed!”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the engaging story and rewarding upgrade system that encourage multiple playthroughs, others criticize its short campaign and lack of content, deeming it not worth the price due to minimal replay value.
- “An interesting story and a simple yet rewarding upgrade system make the game quite replayable, at least for me!”
- “+ Good maps (very open; much happens in multiple areas and side paths, which allows for some replayability).”
- “The variety of choices and outcomes in the game encourages multiple playthroughs, enhancing its replayability.”
- “It's not worth the price for its short campaign and little to no replay value.”
- “Less than a day to beat, with no replay value at all.”
- “+ good maps (very open; much happens in multiple areas and side paths which allows for some replayability, ...)”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it fine and fitting for the battles, while others criticize it for being nearly absent and describe the soundtrack as terrible. Overall, the audio experience seems to lack consistency and impact.
- “The acting is okay, the music is fine, and the battles are wonderfully noisy and confusing.”
- “Terrible soundtrack.”
- “Almost no soundtracks in-game.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, particularly noting that actions like reloading a rifle musket can feel excessively prolonged and monotonous.
- “Grinding feels like an endless chore that takes away from the enjoyment of the game.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it feel more like a job than a fun experience.”
- “I find myself spending hours on grinding, but it rarely feels rewarding or fulfilling.”