Operation Darkness - Developer Diary #1 - Operation Localize!

In a nutshell, Operation Darkness is a seamless fusion between classical fiction and World War II history. What is unique about the premise is that although the game features classic monsters like vampires and werewolves, they are introduced in such a way that leaves the major events of WW II historically accurate, while adding a "hidden war" angle between the werewolves and vampires.

We put a lot of effort into researching every aspect of the war: the battlefields, the dates, the weaponry... the whole shebang. We read books, browsed articles, watched movies. One of the editors even spent a solid hour watching a black-and-white German sniper training video from the era (he claims it was much more entertaining than it sounds). Ultimately, as boring as that all sounds, going into further detail on it would probably be even more boring. And so, for this blog, we decided to focus on some of the characters, their origins, and their names, since most of them are allusions to other works of lore or fiction (thus, an infinitely more compelling tale to tell!)

The two main vampire villains were given some particularly fitting names, both containing references to historical or fictional (or perhaps both) figures. The main bloodsucking baddy, Alexander Vlado, should call to mind Vlad the Impaler, who you might better know as "the dude who became the basis for Bram Stoker's Dracula." Although our Alexander Vlado isn't Dracula himself (wouldn't that be awesome), his name is intended to draw upon that lore quite overtly. Meanwhile, his partner-in-crime, a female vampire by the name of Carmilla, might not be as well known to you. For that matter, I'm sure a lot of people have seen that name show up frequently in vampire-related movies, videogames, and stories and never quite known what it's a reference to.

Well, this may come as a surprise, but the name came from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novella, fittingly titled "Carmilla" (sound of light bulbs turning on, much?). The novella was actually written over 20 years before Dracula and served as a source of inspiration for Bram Stoker, and a number of connections have been drawn between the two works, showing that Dracula was heavily influenced by "Carmilla" (I bet you didn't know that!). Whether or not Carmilla in the game is meant to be the Carmilla from the story, though, is entirely up for speculation...

Nevertheless, we should say that since the vampires in this game are drawing from much older lore, they do have the ability to walk around in the daylight. They tend to slink to the shadows and favor the night, of course, but the tradition of being outright destroyed by sunlight was one that surfaced well after Bram Stoker's and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's characters, and the vampires in this game are meant to be of that same breed (talk about oldschool!).

This next connection might be tenuous at best, but it concerns the two main characters, Edward and Jude. While we were surrounding ourselves with WWII-related resources, we made the connection that these two characters have the same first names as actors Ed Harris and Jude Law, the stars of Enemy at the Gates... a WWII movie about snipers. It's possible that this is just a coincidence, but it wouldn't surprise us if this were intentional (just one of many homages from those crazy guys over at Success, the developer).

And now, we reach the characters who don't just share names with previous works but who are intended to be the actual people themselves... and there's quite a few of them (we should've just renamed this game "League of Extraordinary Werewolves" with all these cameos!).

Although we've been trying hard to not spoil that this game has Jack the Ripper and Elisa Van Helsing... well, fans of the Japanese release have already been quick to spoil that. So yeah, let's just cut to the chase, shall we? The game does in fact feature Jack the Ripper (one of London's most notorious killers) and a female descendant of Abraham Van Helsing (one of the "good guys" in Dracula).

Another party member that will join you is a young man by the name of Herbert East, the party's medic and the purveyor of all those convenient bring-people-back-to-life abilities. Now, during the localization process, we kept every character's name intact, as best we could. The largest change, though, was with him. His name was a callback to the American author H. P. Lovecraft, who is probably known best for his Cthulhu works. In the early 1920s, Lovecraft wrote a series of stories about Herbert West, the Reanimator. In the interest of legal security, we realized we had to change one of those three elements: the first name, the last name, or the descriptor. The solution presented itself pretty naturally, of course... Change the last name from West to East! Brilliantissimo! To be honest, I don't know why we were all so proud of that decision, but rest assured that when that suggestion was put onto the table, we all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief and just called it a night right there.

There are a few other allusions among the other characters in this game (including a few other party members), but we'd rather not spoil any of those cameos right now. What we would like to close on, though, is how seamlessly they can interact with each other.

The story and the characters are among the most intriguing aspects of this game--certainly, what first caught our attention--and what we find especially interesting is how the developers were able to put them all into the same world. It's a lot different than, say, your favorite superhero-versus-videogame-character fighting game. Somehow, having vampires, werewolves, zombies, skeletons, Jack the Ripper, the Reanimator, a Van Helsing, a fire-starter, some larger creatures (no spoilers!), and regular British and Nazi soldiers all together on the same battlefield just feels right.

We hope you'll find out for yourself how all of this works out in the game. Keep a sharp eye out for your favorite classical figures, as there are even more cameos than this article covers. Finding them is what we call our "hidden achievements" for playing the game (sorry, no Gamer Points)! Thanks for reading.

-Sammy Matsushima, project coordinator
-Jason Ruper, editor

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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!

Key Features:

• Lead the Offensive! Brave dozens of missions, confront supernatural creatures, and discover mystical powers as you progress through a sweeping campaign of drama and mystery!
• A Strategy-RPG with an Emphasis on Tactics! With a vast arsenal of historical weapons and a large team of specialized characters at their disposal, players will have to consider every variable as they plan their method of attack – using the environment to your advantage is imperative!
• High-definition visuals, fully-voiced dialogue, and in-game cutscenes deliver a true next-generation experience!

Operation Darkness is currently scheduled for release on June 24, 2008.