OXM Previews Operation Darkness

Official XBOX Magazine Online has posted a hands-on preview (http://www.oxmonline.com/article/previews/m-r/operation-darkness) of the final build of Operation Darkness, and while they point out a few of the rougher edges as "kinks that need to be worked out," they claim that "none of these problems are insurmountable," and that the game is "deeply strategic and has plenty of potential." Their final impression is positive, but what do you think after your time with the Operation Darkness demo? Agree? Disagree?

[Mungo]

I pretty much agree. I'm definetily interested in the game, but I'll have to see how it does in the reviews before I decide to buy it or not. Any chance of those rough edges being smoothed?

[Darkbeat]

I've played the demo over and over a few times and I think that it's quite good once you wrap your head around the camera controls. It was a bit hard at first to figure out what you were targeting when you were targetswitching with the triggers (because of the way the camera snaps to each target) but it's a huge help that the position of the cursor shows up on the minimap.

A minor gripe is that the GUI could have been optimized a bit better to make
space for both the minimap and the turn-list.

The cover system is quite unique IMO and it rewards defensive play that I quite like in some strategy RPG's (Setting up bottlenecks for the enemies and taking them down before they can get through) :)

It strikes me as odd that people think that it's strange that it's a mix of WWII and the Supernatural... Noone ever made comments like that regarding "Return to Castle Wolfenstein".

[fyrtoes]

Isnt it a waste for them to suggest some changes to the game?
I thought all atlus usa was publish...so doesnt that mean that they dont develop? Doesnt developing mean messing with the actual performance? What else is Atlus doing aside from translating? This is an honest question btw.

[puffycloud]

Our hand-on time with the game showed us that while it is indeed deeply strategic and has plenty of potential, it also has quite a few kinks that need to be worked out. For instance, the battlefield interface is a real chore: the camera is uncooperative and the targeting system really doesn’t help at all. Enemy AI is equally clunky, with Nazis sometimes moving and acting in ways that just don’t make sense. Multiplayer could also stand to be improved since the only mode basically just offers co-op versions of random missions from the single player campaign. None of these problems are insurmountable, but Operation Darkness will definitely need a few adjustments if it’s going to succeed commercially or critically.

That basically translates to = the game is garbage.. It's not being fixed as already stated by Atlus so expect a broken game... If these issues were addressed it could be great.. However Atlus like the idea of charging full price for a half finished game.

This is coming from a biased source xbox exclusive game magazine... Expect other gaming sites to rip on your game harshly come review time!

[Kid Marin]

However Atlus like the idea of charging full price for a half finished game.
Nonsense. Did you try the demo ? A lot of people like to brag about the camera, but it is really no big deal. OD has a satisfactory gameplay and this is so much more important.

[dragonlife29]

I've said this before, but this game's premise is like a nerdgasm for some (me, of course). I have always wanted to play it, but I have no 360 and probably won't for quite a while...

But I bought the game anyway a day or two ago on Amazon for $17.99 <3 Premise + SRPG = win for me. *sigh* Now I'm gonna have the game taunting me for what could possibly be a very long time...D: I'm positive I'll get a 360 eventually, though.

I threw in a HORI DS case for 16 games to get free shipping, so I can't wait for that, either <3

Anyway, I'm sure I'll love the game--I can like pretty much anything, so I'm lucky in that regard :D

[TheLD]

I've said this before, but this game's premise is like a nerdgasm for some (me, of course). I have always wanted to play it, but I have no 360 and probably won't for quite a while...

But I bought the game anyway a day or two ago on Amazon for $17.99 <3 Premise + SRPG = win for me. *sigh* Now I'm gonna have the game taunting me for what could possibly be a very long time...D: I'm positive I'll get a 360 eventually, though.

I threw in a HORI DS case for 16 games to get free shipping, so I can't wait for that, either <3

Anyway, I'm sure I'll love the game--I can like pretty much anything, so I'm lucky in that regard :D
Haha, I'm in the exact same boat. I really dislike the 360 and I don't have the money to afford one, but I when I do get one I'll definitely pick up this title. Though I never really heard much about it, which is weird to me because I'm a BIG WWII buff so making an fantasy SRPG (one of my favorite genres) is like you said, Nerdgasmic. I would expect it to get more attention from the modern strategy fans.