Don't ever run to the front of a machine gun. Ever.
Don't cross the road without looking at the sides. Ever.
Don't 360º non scope. Ever.
Don't try to be the hero. Ever.
Don't do anything stupid like you do in CoD, or real life. Ever.
Don't go to the toilet while playing. Ever.

If you do all these things, you increased the chances of not getting killed. By 1%

This game is awesome, endless hours of gameplay on it even though there aren't many servers left.

Awesome game esspecialy if you're playing it with your friends! It's literally a real simulator of WW2, also friendly people on servers! Great game!

Very good mod for its age with a good player base and community - www.29th.org

As you can probably tell, or know, 'Darkest Hour, Europe '44-'45' is a modification for the original Red Orchestra, set on the western theatre of the Second World War focusing on the beach landings in Normandy, which is shown by it's content, mainly map designs. Content wise, it obviously expands it's content to that area and period, including weaponary, vehicular combat, mapping and other features. Apart from that, it contains most of the same mechanics from it's mother title, any extras, I'll just keep them as a surprise.

Personally, I have been casually been playing the mod for quite a few years, and enjoyed it everytime I touch it, so be it with myself, or a few others. At this current moment, most servers and community input rely of the 29th Infantry Division, a unit for the mod which is known to be the main playerbase. I believe it has been active for quite a few years, keeping servers up for pubbers and members alike with a mature and friendly enviroment. Of course there is other smaller units which are always to be present, but if you are interested in such affairs, the Jackboot forums contain that sort of infomation, if that's your cup of tea.

The original RO is known to contain a higher realism factor in my eyes, and may be a struggle to those used to recent and popular First Person Shooters. Aesthetic eye candy from such titles is not the focus here either, and will only be of interest to those of the period, and having the needed patience for it's pace.

For those wishing for a quick analysis of Darkest Hour.

Pros.

One of best realism alternatives to Arma for instance, set in the Western theatre of WW2.
Enough content for all categories.
Active units and clans to participate with, if that's your can of beans.
Atmospheric, giving a sense of realistic combat.
Can run well on most/all systems.
Free.


Cons.

To be honest, I personally cannot find any large ones, without being picky, apart from some small animation and sound quality problems, the only reason you would dislike parts of the title, would be it's entirety due to it's mechanics. It can appear very sluggish at times, in terms of gun handling and such, but as said previously, it's aimed at those wanting a more realistic experience to the usual FPS style.

Either way, it's free, so why not give it a bash?...


In comparison, it is the best/ only alternative for the ArmA 2 Invasion 44 modification, if you do not have a 'beefy' system, and is easier to set up if you would rather play it casually. The public playerbase is fairly active currently, but may smallen in time.

A new title named: 'Festung Europa' which will focus on the same aspects of this title, and to hopefully improve in all of it's areas, and will most likely release next year. Keep an eye on that in future!

Oh, and remember! You'll need to suck a bag of raisins through a straw before you'll get the 'Practice' mode to work.