Move Forward to Darkest Hour

Those who thrive for realism and adrenaline-pumping gaming have discovered the newest and most realistic World War II game on the net. Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 simulates as many aspects of the war as technically possible and provides a growing foundation for the many players, realism units and clans that have moved forward and joined the battle.

What is Darkest Hour?

Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 is a first-person shooter with a World War II theme, involving realistic battles between the US/UK and German armies. It was created as a modification for Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, which is a similar game between the Soviet and German armies. Both games were built on the Unreal 2004 Engine, allowing for possibilities never before reached by World War II games.

What's So Different?

Crosshairs Are For Arcade Games

Darkest Hour strives to provide as realistic an experience as possible. Unlike most first-person shooters, there is no bright-red crosshair on Darkest Hour - players must aim like they would a real weapon, by using the sights on the top, or by pointing it in the correct direction and hoping for a hit.

Crosshairs such as those seen in Day of Defeat are a thing of the past
An M1 Garand being aimed with the built-in ironsights

Maps That Keep Going

Unlike most first-person shooters, Darkest Hour is not bound by range in its levels. While you may be used to closely-aligned urban fighting, this engine allows for massive 200 square kilometre terrains with multiple villages, fields, farms or forests.

Amazing Graphics

The engine on which Darkest Hour runs supports amazing scenery and very detailed textures. Observe the difference between the same map in Day of Defeat versus in Darkest Hour below.

64 Player Servers

The engine can support up to 64 players on a server, and there are several popular 50 slot servers that perform seamlessly. Picture storming Omaha beach with 31 other players next to you being fired upon by 32 on the other team.


50 Players lined up in formation

Call in Artillery Strikes

Officers can call in artillery strikes at precise targets to clear out a town of infantry and tanks.


Officers use binoculars and radiomen to call in artillery strikes
Artillery wreaking havoc on a bridge with a halftrack on it

And Much More...

Watch the mouth-watering Official Trailer for Darkest Hour 3.0 to see all of this in action.

How Do I Get It?

Darkest Hour is built on the game Red Orchestra, thus Red Orchestra is required to play Darkest Hour. Red Orchestra is available through Steam for $9.99 and can be purchased from Steam's Web Site. Some stores and online web sites sell the game as well.

After Red Orchestra is installed, download and install Darkest Hour for free from Steam.