Paintbucket Games, a group formed from the team behind the incredible Spec Ops: The Line, have announced their newest game.
In Through the Darkest of Times you play as a resistance leader who attempts to overthrow the Fascist regime in Germany during World War II. You do this through a combination of direct action and subterfuge, all while alluding the Nazis hunting you and your fellow resistance members.
https://youtu.be/FnrP6dBkwAk
Most of the actions you’ll undertake are non-violent, like distributing anti-Fascist literature and leaflets, although you’ll likely be pushed to violent action as the situation grows more desperate. And you can expect to eventually get caught and interrogated, deceiving your captors and surviving the encounter is a huge part of the game. Although judging from the themes and design choices I’m seeing, I’d guess most attempts will end in failure. The game randomly generates a multitude of characters for each playthrough, so there’s a lot of replayability here as well.
Each chunk of the game is broken up into four chapters, each one built around different years during the period. 1933 and the rise of the Nazi party, 1936 and the full seizure of power, 1941 at the height of the war, and finally in 1945 curing the fall of the regime.
In what I’m guessing is Paintbucket Games’ style, there’s a very dark and uncomfortable subject under the microscope in Through the Darkest of Times, and that’s just the way the developers want it. I’ll let them explain:
“Games are often viewed as the narrative medium of the 21st century. But if someone were to learn everything about the history of the Third Reich from computer games, the Holocaust would only exist as an afterthought”, says Jörg Friedrich. “Players can invade Poland as Hitler in the fantasies and narratives of our medium, but the murderous racial ideology of the Nazis and the Holocaust are too often only casually mentioned.”
It’s great that such an interesting and vital part of human history is being examined outside the typical action or strategy game setting. There are so many terrible lessons to be learned and heroes to be honored from this era, that I find it wonderful that a game is actually attempting to do that as a core component.
No release date for Through the Darkest of Times has been announced, but I for one will be waiting to see what Paintbucket games manages to do with this game when it does finally release.
