PC Gamer - UK 2020-04)

Youandyoursmallbandofresistance

members are German citizens;

names, attributes and appearances

randomly generated. The story begins

with Hindenburg

appointing Hitler

chancellor in 1933, and

runs right through until

the aftermath of the

war in 1946. Each turn

represents a week

(between time jumps),

and you need to decide

which tasks to assign to

each of your members.

Success in each task is

determined, in part, by the total value

of the relevant attributes offered by

the characters you assign. Things

aren’t as simple as that though. At the

beginning of each week, I’m

presented with three newspaper

headlines. The news is historically

accurate, and ordinarily details

successes for the Nazi regime. My

group’s morale is reduced accordingly

before I’ve even done anything.

That’s not all. Even if an action is

successful, there’s a high chance that

at least one member will start to gain

the attention of the authorities. If I

leavethisunchecked,theGestapo

willarrestthem,takingthemoutof

action.Anyheatonanymembers

assignedtoataskstartstoincrease

theriskoffailure.Ineedtoselect

taskstokeepmyever-depleting

supplyofsupportersup,too.IfIlose

toomanysupporters,orgroup

moralehitszero,it’sallover.

Nobodyaroundmecanbe

guaranteedtobeimmunetothetoxic

charmsofthecharismaticHitlerand

hisall-powerfulparty.Mostofthese

supportersoffascism,ratherthan

beingcartoonishvillains,are

otherwise unremarkable and... nice.

They bake cakes. Host parties. Talk to

me politely. There are vocal and

angry critics of the

Nazi regime, but they

risk not only arguments

with their peers, but

the potentially deadly

wrath of the

authorities.

When I come across

strangers, I don’t know

whether I can trust

them or not. How could I?

Even when I find somebody that

seems to offer a ray of hope –

somebody that one way or another

promises help from the outside world

• little or nothing tends to come of it.
  Yet I’ve become emotionally invested
  enough to try my best.

Earlyon,Icomeacross a Jewish

manbeingbeatenbymembers of the

SA.There’sanoptionto ignore the

situationbut,evenona second

playthrough,there’sabsolutely no

wayIcanbringmyself to do that.

PAPERVIEW

Thefirsttimearound, it’s all

extremelypowerful.The steady

drip-drip-dripofNazi horrors

through newspaper headlines pierces

me with cold reality again and again,

while seeing people suffering in the

story sequences urges me on to do

whatever I can during turns on the

map. A second playthrough however

shows that the story is definitely

rigid, and the choices I make there

often have little or no effect.

Each chapter has a few major

blows to the Nazis available. These

require specific items which, in turn,

need specific sequences of tasks to be

successfully completed (and all this

within a strictly set number of turns).

I’m never able to complete any of

these tasks, and I’m still not sure

whether this is due to design or my

own poor time management.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, because

the message is the same. Small acts of

rebellion under fascism are difficult

and dangerous; spectacular acts of

rebellion a hundred times more so.

Through the Darkest of Times is

as dark as it is important. One side of

the game explicitly tells the final

chapter in Hitler’s rise and fall, from

the perspective of ordinary citizens

trying to navigate the repulsive views

of their friends and inconceivably

horrific rumours regarding the

regime. The other side forces you to

juggle the urge for action with the

need to care for your group, with no

easy answers. It forms a cohesive,

uncomfortablewhole.

NEEDTOKNOW

WHATISIT?

ThestoryofNazi

Germany,as

experiencedbya

fictionalgroupof

itscitizens

EXPECTTOPAY

£13.50

DEVELOPER

Paintbucket Games

PUBLISHER

HandyGames

REVIEWED ON

GeForce GTX 1650, AMD

Ryzen 5 3550H, 8 GB

RAM

MULTIPLAYER

No

LINK

paintbucket.de/en/

ttdot

87

Through the Darkest of

Times is a superbly

crafted game that serves

as storyteller, teacher,

and concerned friend.

VERDICT

Smallacts of

rebellion under

fascism are

difficult and

dangerous

N

o matter how intelligent or empathetic you are, it’s

incredibly difficult – arguably impossible – to truly

comprehend the enormity of the atrocities of Nazi

Germany. Videogames usually seek to loosen your grip on

the concept further, by saying little more than “go shoot

every Nazi soldier you find in the face”. But this pigeonhole-defying game,

while still fully failing to communicate the scale of events, opens your eyes

somewhat wider in a very impressive way. The result is an incredibly

affecting emotional journey through history.

SHOT IN THE DARK

Get a taste of living THROUGH THE

DARKEST OF TIMES. By Luke Kemp

HARSH REALITY

You can change things...a little

1

Thedisplayof

swastikascanbe

disabledforthose

whowishit.

2

Sadly,youcan’t

swaycharacters

snaredby

propaganda.

3

Storysequences

offerchoices,

butthey’rerarely

important.

1

3

2

Through the Darkest of Times

REVIEW