How much do you like the opening scene from TimeCop? If “a lot”, then head on over to the new site for Phantom EFX’s upcoming PC and 360 shooter, Darkest of Days:
In the grand tradition of time travel action games like TimeSplitters and Time Lord, publisher Phantom EFX’s Darkest of Days sends players on a bloody tour of ancient Rome, the Civil War, and both World Wars, and leverages the proprietary Marmoset engine to render hundreds of NPCs at once. The site shows off what looks like a really neat Predestination Paradox mechanic: while traversing the past, the player will encounter NPCs with glowing auras that indicate an important future role for either that individual or their bloodline. Protecting that person will preserve the future, while killing that person causes… uh… what looks like some sort of ‘time explosion’. Hey, whatever – it’s original, and sounds like a fun mechanic so long as you don’t think about it too much.
As a publisher, Phantom EFX is the definition of a crapshoot. They’ve only published casino games, making Darkest of Days their first foray into the world of first person shooters. Developer 8Monkey is also an unknown quantity, but from the looks of the stills and videos, we might be in for a treat.
Expect Darkest of Days this September.