- "I know there's a lot of you asking the same question right now: why? There was no reason for any of this."
- — The Radio DJ during a broadcast.
Robert Darden, also known as the Radioman, is the secondary antagonist in Spec Ops: The Line.
Biography[]
Darden was once a journalist for Rolling Stone magazine who focused primarily on "celebrity fluff pieces", but was eventually allowed by Konrad to be embedded with the 33rd Battalion. Darden was with the 33rd during the Afghanistan campaign and had good relation with Konrad in the process.[1] He soon accompanied the 33rd from Afghanistan to Dubai to assist in the evacuation where he soon record the past 6 months inside Dubai for the news piece.
He soon discovered a major coverup with the Dubai elites attempting to hinder evacuation so that they could save their own skin. He confronted one of the politician who indirectly admited to the coverup and discovered foreign aid workers corpses shot and burned. During the 6 months, he witnessed Konrad's martial rule and although supportive, was still disturbed. He also interviewed 33rd soldiers and Konrad, although with the latter he secretly turned off the recording.
According to the final recording[2], Darden was brokenhearted that Konrad committed suicide but seeing people haven't given up yet. He decided to make a last ditch effort to broadcast a distress signal. He was responsible for broadcasting the distress signal that led to Delta Force being sent to Dubai. While the intel itself is debatable, the physical evidence support this fact as the only person responsible for radio equipment is the Radioman and 33rd soldier fresh corpse meant that people been there recently.
While he is not a commander, he became the radioman for the derelict Dubai to both 33rd and civilians, with speakers spreading all over the city.
Events of Spec Ops The Line[]
He is first heard in Chapter 3 where his song, Deep Purple - Hush, is played in the news station and his broadcast of the truce between the 33rd and CIA was broken is heard by Delta Force.
Nevertheless, he was kept in good care by the 33rd for reasons that are not explicitly clear. It is possible that they believed he was an invaluable asset due to his monitoring of Dubai and informing the 33rd of trouble. It is also possible that after Konrad had his command staff executed, the Radioman was the closest thing he had to a second-in-command.
Regardless, he effectively became the Damned 33rd's apparently only commanding officer and his eyes and ears in Dubai, tracking Delta Force since their arrival. He also taunted Delta Force as well as the CIA Grey Fox team about their failures and casualties.
Walker eventually decides to assault the Radioman's tower in order to use his equipment to order an evacuation. After fighting through the 33rd's guards, Delta confronts the Radioman, who remains non-chalant. After he tells Lugo how to use his equipment, Lugo shoots him twice in the chest and once in the head with his beretta. Adams is furious with Lugo for being so brash, while Lugo feels that the Radioman kept the 33rd on their trail the whole time, and would not allow them to walk away alive. Walker uses the Radioman's radio to send a message to Dubai and then destroys the radio station with the mounted gun of the MH-60L DAP.
Quotes[]
- "What are the eight scariest words in the English language? "We're Delta Force and we're here to save you.""
- — Darden during the mall broadcast.
- "Where's all the violence coming from? Is it the videogames? I bet it's the videogames."
- — Darden during the attack on the Trans-Emirates Building.
Trivia[]
- Darden plays a variety of songs, many of them apparently references to songs of the Vietnam era and commonly heard in Vietnam war movies.
- His soundtrack includes: Hush by Deep Purple, Verdi Dies Irae by Giuseppe Verdi, First Vietnamese war by The Black Angels, Nowhere to Run by Martha Reeves, and Bad Vibrations by the Black Angels.
- It is possible that he is based on the The American Photojournalist from the movie Apocalypse Now, a flim based on the same book the game is partially based on, Heart of Darkness.
- He is commonly referred to as "The Radioman".
- Darden is arguably the real main antagonist of the game, as it is revealed at the end that John Konrad died well before Walker and his squad entered Dubai.
- Darden even refused to convince the 33rd to stand down when Walker requested it over the radio and pointed out that the conflict was not working for either side.
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