intro:

"Operation Darkness: Enter an alternate WWII-era world where history and fantasy collide! Leading an army of ruthless officers and unearthly creatures, Adolf Hitler marches through Europe, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. With his powers on the rise and his armies on the move, it falls on you and your team of elite soldiers to cut deep into the heart of the Third Reich and strike a fatal blow to Hitler's ever-growing legion of evil!"

I downloaded the demo of this game yesterday and played the first mission. Man, was it a long battle.

When I first started the game, I didn't think I'd like it at all. After all, it was just another strategy rpg like all the rest, right? Well, after getting use to the game a bit, it actually felt different. The men on screen weren't some little pixelated dots or so small you couldn't even see them. The graphics were actually good.

One thing that is cool is that the game changes throughout the battle. For example, they call in more troops once you start killing them. When I thought the battle had to be near over, they brought in tanks.

Some of your characters can turn into werewolves. From what I can tell, the only advantage to being a werewolf is quadruple the mobility.

One thing I thought was cool is that you can set up your team to carry many weapons, and many have their different uses. Sniper rifles for long range powerful attacks, pistols and sub machine guns for short range attacks, a bazooka to really blow some stuff up, hand grenades, bayonets for when you run out of ammo, etc. You can also steal items from dead corpses, whether it be weapons or medical kits.

Like I said before, the graphics are great, but there are some graphical problems in the demo at least. It's sometimes hard to tell where you're at, because buildings and other objects block your view. It's like one of those games with bad camera angles.

The game is kind of like a mix between a tactical fighter and a strategy game. It's a team or squad based game. You have to try to find places with cover when moving, to minimize casualties, like trees, sides of buildings, poles, etc.

The battles are long and I'd even call them sometimes taxing.... So, while the game is fun and new now, I'm not sure how long that feeling would last. It's definitely something that's caught my eyes for now, and for those of you on xbox live, it'll also offer live play as well.

This game will be released on 6/24/2008

I'm sure it seems like a cool game but what's new about it? There's not much you mentioned that Wolfenstein and Rogue Spear haven't already done. (sharp AI and counterterrorist combat/strategy, etc).

I'm not sure there is anything new about it, but it's really nothing like wolfenstein or rogue spear, as far as gameplay. It's more of like a rogue-spear type overlay in a turn based strategy game, if that makes sense.

I've personally never seen anything 100% like it, and the difference is going to mainly be because of the better graphics, larger characters, etc. I'd personally rather play this game than command and conquer or lord of the rings battle for middle earth or whatever that strategy game from lotr is called on the 360, because the characters are so small and hard to see on lotr and many of the other strategy games today.

As far as new gameplay elements, I doubt there will be any more. So, it's like adding a more eye-pleasing experience to your typical turn-based strategy/rpg.