ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare
| ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | Monsteristic |
| Series | ShooterofIO |
| Engine | Blue engine |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | September 10, 2009 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed by Air Studios and published by Monsteristic. It is the second main installment of the ShooterofIO and is the first entry to be set during World War II in some compacity. The game was announced by Monsteristic on December 31, 2008 and was released worldwide on September 10, 2009, for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360.
The campaign is split up into two parts. The first part will explore World War II; its story is told primarily from the perspectives of US Marine Raider Private C. Miller and Soviet Red Army Private Dimitri Petrenko. The second part is set in the 1960s. The multiplayer component retains several key features from the first game ShooterofIO 1: Modern Ops (2008), such as the leveling, perk, and "killstreak" systems. Additionally, Dark Warfare marked the debut of the cooperative Zombies mode, which became a mainstay in Air Studio's subsequent ShooterofIO games.
Development for Dark Warfare took two years and began in 2007 after the studio was purchased by Monsteristic. The team felt like they could explore World War II in a good way without making a game in that setting, as they felt that wasn't what they wanted to do. The game is based on an enhanced version of the SOI 1.0 engine, with increased development on audio and visual effects. Air Studios utilized the engine to make more parts of certain environments destructible and introduce limb dismemberment and realistic burns to character models.
Dark Warfare received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at its intensity and violent nature, though it received criticism for its lack of innovation. It also marked the beginning of the Dark Warfare sub-series, with a sequel, titled Dark Warfare II, being released on November 6, 2012.
Gameplay
Overview
Dark Warfare features more mature themes than the first game in the franchise and is more open in map design, giving the player multiple ways to complete objectives, but otherwise generally plays like previous iterations of the franchise.
Dark Warfare features more mature themes than previous ShooterofIO installments and is open-ended, Players fight alongside AI-controlled teammates. They help during the game's missions by providing cover fire, shooting down enemies, and clearing rooms for entry. When playing the Wii version of the game, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk is used to aim at enemies with motion controls.
The game features a variety of different weapons and technology from World War II. The player gains access to these over the course of the game, but may only carry up to two weapons in addition to hand grenades. Weapons and ammo from fallen foes or friendlies can be picked up to replace weapons in a player's arsenal. Players can also find weapons with additional attachments, including guns equipped with rifle grenades, telescopic sights, and bayonets.
A character can be positioned in one of three stances – standing, crouching, or prone – with each affecting the character's rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage, as there are no armor or health powerups. When the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glow red and the character's heartbeat increases. If the character stays out of fire, the character can recover. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player in deciding whether to flee or throw it back at the enemy.
The single-player campaign includes thirteen hidden "death cards", denoted by playing cards attached to makeshift war graves. There is one in each level (barring those that take place in vehicles); collecting them unlocks cheats for Co-op mode, such as reduced enemy endurance and "paintball mode".
Multiplayer
Dark Warfare's multiplayer experience resembles the one established in ShooterofIO 1: Modern Ops. All versions of the game use a similar perk and ranking system and feature six multiplayer modes, including Team Deathmatch and capture the flag. There are three "killstreak rewards" that can be used to turn the tide of battle: a recon plane, showing opposing players on the mini-map; an artillery strike upon an area; and attack dogs, which spawn and attack opposing players. These are gained with 3, 5, and 7 kills, respectively. They are available in all game modes, apart from team survival, and cannot be edited.
The game also features a cooperative gameplay mode with up to two players via split-screen on consoles, or four players online, for the first time in the franchise. The Wii version of the game does not include online co-op, but two players can play through a "squadmate co-op" mode which allows both players to experience the game through the same screen and point of view.
Nazi Zombies
The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows versions of Dark Warfare feature the minigame Nazi Zombies. This is the first appearance of the "Zombies" mode in any ShooterofIO game; the mode would eventually become a mainstay for any ShooterofIO game developed by Treyarch. On completion of the final campaign mission, the first Zombies map, "Nacht der Untoten", will launch automatically.
In this mode, one to four players fight an unlimited number of waves of Nazi zombies (with exception for the map "Shi No Numa", which has undead members of the IJA), beginning with an M1911 pistol. Players earn points for killing zombies or repairing boarded-up windows, which are used to expand areas of the map to access more useful weapons. Zombies routinely break the windows to enter and attack the players; if a player is attacked enough times, they fall and will need to be "revived" by another player in a certain time, or wait until the next round occurs to play again. If all players are damaged enough to fall, the game is over. As the game's DLC cycle continued, three additional Zombies maps were released, which added several new features to the mode, including: "Perk-a-Colas" (soda themed player upgrades), traps, and the "Pack-a-Punch" machine, which is used to upgrade weapons.
Synopsis
Characters and settings
During the single-player campaign, the player controls three characters from a first-person perspective. The player first assumes the role of Private C. Miller of the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Division, fighting with Corporal, later Sergeant, Roebuck (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland), and his men from the Marine Raiders, during the Pacific War. Other notable non-playable characters of the Marine Raiders unit include Sergeant Tom Sullivan (voiced by Chris Fries) and Private Polonsky (voiced by Aaron Stanford). The second playable character is Private Dimitri Petrenko of the Red Army, who fights on the Eastern Front with Sergeant Viktor Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman). They are joined by a third character, Private Chernov, Reznov's subordinate, who serves as a voice of reason throughout the campaign and regularly voices shock and disapproval at the brutal slaughter he witnesses. The third playable character in the campaign is Petty Officer Locke, a weapons operator on a PBY Catalina, who is only playable in the mission "Black Cats".
Plot
American campaign
On Makin Island, in August 1942, Private C. Miller witnesses the torture and execution of his squad of Marines by the Imperial Japanese Army, before he is rescued by a squad of Marine Raiders, led by Corporal Roebuck and Sergeant Sullivan, who then begin assaulting Japanese positions on the island. In September 1944, the squad participates in the Battle of Peleliu. After breaking through the Japanese lines on the beach, Sullivan is fatally stabbed by a Japanese soldier, and Roebuck is promoted to Sergeant. The squad make their way through a swamp to capture an airfield to disable anti-aircraft guns. After pushing further inland, the squad take out enemy mortar crews so their tanks can proceed inland. They proceed through the jungle to attack the artillery-filled point, allowing American ships to advance, and Peleliu falls into American hands.
In April 1945, Petty Officer Locke, in a PBY Catalina, takes part in a raid on Japanese merchant ships before being diverted to assist Task Force 58 of the US Fifth Fleet, who are being attacked as part of Operation Ten-Go. Locke's crew works to rescue as many American sailors as possible while fighting off Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo boats and Zeroes. A sudden attack from a squadron of Vought F4U-1Cs drives off the remaining Zeroes just as the damaged Catalina runs out of ammunition.
In May 1945, Miller's squad assaults a Japanese position on Okinawa, clearing out machine gun bunkers to allow American tanks to progress. With the battle almost won, the Americans storm Shuri Castle. Several Japanese soldiers appear to surrender, but reveal concealed grenades when Roebuck and Private Polonsky attempt to search them; Miller is presented with the choice of saving either Roebuck or Polonsky (at the end of the mission, the individual saved gives Miller the dog tags of the dead individual). More American troops arrive to help engage the remaining Japanese soldiers in the castle. After air strikes are called in, Shuri Castle is captured, crushing the last bastion of Japanese resistance on Okinawa.
Soviet campaign
In September 1942, Private Dimitri Petrenko of the 62nd Rifle Division wakes in a body-filled fountain in Stalingrad as German troops execute his comrades. He meets fellow survivor Sergeant Viktor Reznov, who tells him of his mission to kill German General Heinrich Amsel, who is responsible for numerous war crimes across the Soviet Union. After evading and fighting German soldiers, Dimitri and Reznov meet up with the remainder of Dimitri's unit preparing to assault the General's communications post. Dimitri and Reznov provide over watch for Soviet soldiers as they attempt to capture the post, managing to kill Amsel as he attempts to escape. Their position is discovered, and Dimitri and Reznov flee into the Volga River.
In April 1945, during the Battle of the Seelow Heights, Dimitri is saved from capture by German soldiers by the advancing 3rd Shock Army. He is reunited with Reznov and introduced to Private Chernov, who is reluctant to be merciless toward the enemy as ordered by Reznov. The Soviet troops fight through German lines before reaching and clearing out an enemy camp. Dimitri and Reznov then operate a T-34-85 tank alongside several others, eliminating the last German resistance in the area before boarding a train to Berlin. Upon arrival, they engage German soldiers on the outskirts of the city. They advance through the streets before entering a Berlin U-Bahn station, fighting through it until the Germans flood it in an attempt to eliminate the Soviets.
Reznov drags Dimitri out of the U-Bahn station to regroup with Soviet infantry. The Red Army then advances towards the Reichstag. During the assault at its entrance, Chernov is killed by a flamethrower. Reznov, Dimitri and the remaining Soviet soldiers enter the Reichstag, clearing it of the German defenders, and reach the rooftop. Dimitri is badly wounded by a lone German soldier, whom Reznov then brutally kills with a machete before helping Dimitri plant the Soviet flag, signaling Soviet victory and ending the war in Europe.
1960s
In April 1961, Mason, Woods, and Bowman participate in Operation 40 to assassinate Fidel Castro and assist the CIA-sponsored Cuban exiles during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Mason kills Castro's body double and stays behind, allowing Woods and Bowman to flee in an extraction plane. He is captured by the real Castro, who gifts him to a Soviet Army Major General named Nikita Dragovich. Imprisoned in a brutal gulag known as Vorkuta, Mason befriends a former Red Army soldier named Viktor Reznov, who gives him the identities of their enemies: Dragovich, Colonel Lev Kravchenko, and ex-Nazi scientist Friedrich Steiner. In October 1945, Reznov, Dimitri Petrenko, and their platoon were sent to extract Steiner, who wished to defect, from a secret Nazi base on Baffin Island. Upon being rescued, Steiner provided the Soviets with the location of a disabled cargo ship carrying the weapon he had originally developed for Adolf Hitler. However, Reznov and his men were betrayed by Dragovich, who wished to see the effects of the gas first-hand; Reznov was forced to watch Petrenko die horrifically, only being spared himself when British Commandos, interested in also acquiring Nova 6, attacked. Reznov detonated the V-2 rockets onboard the ship during his escape, destroying it and Nova 6, only to be captured by the Soviets and imprisoned in Vorkuta. The Soviets later recreated Nova 6 using British scientist Daniel Clarke.
In October 1963, Mason and Reznov spark an uprising to flee the prison; Reznov stays behind to facilitate Mason's escape. Upon his return to the US, President John F. Kennedy authorizes a mission to assassinate Dragovich; Mason is plagued by anxiety and murderous visions during his meeting with the President. Mason, Woods, Bowman, and Weaver are dispatched to the Baikonur Cosmodrome to disrupt the Soviet space program and eliminate members of "Ascension", a Soviet program giving sanctuary to Nazi scientists. The team destroys the Soyuz spacecraft, while Dragovich is seemingly killed in a car explosion.
In January 1968, Mason's team is sent to Vietnam as part of MACV-SOG. After defending Khe Sanh from a North Vietnamese assault, they recover a dossier on Dragovich from a Russian defector being held by the North Vietnamese Army in Huế during the Tet Offensive; the defector is revealed to be Reznov. When Dragovich resurfaces, the team penetrates Laos to recover a Nova 6 shipment from a downed Soviet plane, but are captured by Viet Cong and Spetsnaz forces at the crash site. Bowman is later executed during a forced game of Russian roulette, but Woods and Mason escape, hijacking a Mi-24 Hind and crippling a part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail before rescuing Reznov from Kravchenko's base. They confront Kravchenko, but he primes grenades strapped to his body, forcing Woods to push himself and Kravchenko out of a window; Mason presumes the two dead.
Hudson and Weaver interrogate Clarke in Kowloon Walled City, with Clarke revealing the location of a facility in Mount Yamantau before being killed by Dragovich's men. Hudson and Weaver infiltrate and destroy the facility before receiving a transmission from Steiner requesting to meet at Rebirth Island, as he suspects Dragovich will kill him in order to cover up Nova 6. Mason, now going rogue, travels there with Reznov to assassinate Steiner, succeeding just as Hudson and Weaver arrive. It is revealed that although Mason supposedly witnessed Reznov executing Steiner, Hudson and Weaver saw Mason carrying out the act alone while calling himself Reznov. With Steiner dead, Mason is now the only individual left who knows the location of the numbers station, prompting Hudson and Weaver to interrogate him.
Hudson explains that Dragovich has sleeper cells stationed within each American state capital, which, when ordered by the broadcast of a series of numbers from his station, will release Nova 6 and pave the way for a Soviet invasion. In response, the US, now at DEFCON 2, is preparing a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the Soviets. Hudson reveals that Mason was brainwashed by Dragovich at Vorkuta to serve as a sleeper agent and assassinate Kennedy. Reznov died during the breakout, and the Soviet defector was killed; Mason's visions of Reznov are an illusion caused by the brainwashing. Prior to his death, Reznov reprogrammed Mason to kill Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner to complete his own revenge. Mason finally remembers the location of Dragovich's broadcast station is a Russian ship named the Rusalka in the Gulf of Mexico. An assault on the ship is carried out the next day, with the US Navy called in to destroy it. Mason and Hudson confront Dragovich in the underwater submarine base protecting the ship, with Mason killing Dragovich before the two escape.
Footage of President Kennedy before his assassination on November 22, 1963, is shown, revealing Mason was among onlookers who watched him arrive at Dallas Love Field, suggesting Mason may have carried out his initial programming.
Marketing
On February 2, 2024, it was confirmed the game reveal event will be held on June 10, 2024 and will deliver information on the Campaign mode for the game, intel on Multiplayer, and the all-new survival Zombies mode.
Release
ShooterofIO: Dark Warfare was released on September 10, 2009, for PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360.
