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Virtual Programming has announced the release of Darkest of Days for Mac. Originally developed by 8monkey Labs the first person shooter follows the adventures of Alexander Morris, a soldier who must hop through time to protect specific people at key points in history in an effort to preserve the space-time continuum.

"You're our last, best chance to keep history intact, so no pressure, buddy." That's Kronotek's Agent Dexter speaking to the player in Darkest of Days, Virtual Programming's latest action-packed release for Mac OS X. Gamers step into the time-traveling shoes of Alexander Morris, who Agent Dexter plucks from the ranks of General Custer's army during the Battle of Little Big Horn. Now he must travel through history and relive some of its most famous events while protecting those whose survival is crucial to the space-time continuum.

"Time travel offers many opportunities not only for unique gameplay but also fascinating storytelling, and Darkest of Days offers a cornucopia of both," said Mark Hinton, Virtual Programming's CEO and its foremost expert on the ins and outs of time travel, including that most dreaded of possible side effects, the space-time paradox. "It features realistic recreations of major historical events as well as so many twists and turns in the story that you won't be able to catch your breath until it's over."

Players' quest to keep the space-time continuum intact begins with the Civil War's Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Tannenberg during World War I. They soon learn that a mysterious organization called the Opposition is using its own time travel technology to stop them from protecting a Union Army corporal and a Russian Army officer. Darkest of Days' storyline later takes players to a World War II POW camp and Pompei on the day in 79 AD that Mount Vesuvius erupted.

By the end, players will learn the shocking secret behind the Opposition's motives, and they'll have had a chance to use futuristic weapons on long-ago battlefields. Enemies encountered in each of the game's five time periods fight the way combat was conducted then, heightening the immersive realism and allowing players to adopt different types of strategies for success.

Features:

• Brand New Engine: The dedicated team at 8monkey Labs has created an all-new, groundbreaking game engine known as Marmoset. The Marmoset engine not only breaks from the all-too present Unreal engine FPS clones flooding the market, but also allows for some amazing graphical capabilities. You'll fight through epic battles filled with literally hundreds of NPCs on the screen at the same time, all with an advanced AI and all without a hint of graphical slowdown and all set against wide-open environments that are lushly detailed and dynamically lighted.
  
• Compelling Storyline: Darkest of Days is a compelling, action-packed first-person shooter to be sure, but it's not just mindless run-and-gun, blow 'em up gameplay. You'll have to not only think about how to approach certain key battles and situations, but you'll also have to take care when fighting — certain key people that were never meant to die will be marked with a special blue aura. If you kill them, you'll face dire consequences…
  
• Wreak Havoc with Future Weapons in Antiquity: Something nearly every gamer that's ever played a shooter based in the past has always wanted is the ability to bring a futuristic weapon back through history and kick some major butt. How differently would Custer's last stand have turned out if the General was equipped with an M-16 assault rifle? You'll be able to answer questions like this in Darkest of Days. While not every battle and situation will allow you to wield weapons from the future, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to unleash futuristic fury on your unsuspecting foes.

System requirements:

• Mac OS X version 10.6.5, or higher
  
• 2.16GHz Intel processor
  
• 1GB RAM
  
• 128MB video card (GeForce 8600, Radeon X1600 or newer)
  
• 5GB Hard Disk space
  
• Internet connection for product registration

Virtual Programming

Darkest of Days

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