The Darkness II - Review
Digital Extremes has taken over the
reins of development for The Darkness II, the follow up to Starbreeze
Studios' acclaimed 2007 original. After a delay of over six months,
it was finally released at the beginning of February on PC, PS3 and
Xbox 360.
The games follow the story of Jackie
Estacado, who is inhabited by a malevolent being called The Darkness.
This gives him unholy abilities, on top of two tentacle-like extra
limbs, which can be used to melee and grab objects and enemies from
afar. After surviving multiple mob hits in the first game, and being
forced to watch his girlfriend, Jenny, die, Jackie went on a quest
for revenge. The Darkness II takes place two years after the events
of the first game, and in the meantime, Jackie himself has become the
head of the Franchetti crime family, whilst trying to keep the evil
Darkness under control. However, at the beginning of the game, Jackie
is under attack once more, and must unleash the power of The Darkness
again as only it has the power to prevent him from dying.
As the story unravels, you find that an
ancient organisation called The Brotherhood are looking to gain the
power of The Darkness. Giving up The Darkness seems an enticing
prospect for Jackie, but the evil being reveals that Jenny's soul is
trapped within it, and will be lost forever if Jackie does not fight
back. And fight back you do, with great force. You have several
categories of weapon to choose from, such as shotguns, rifles and
pistols, with several types of gun within each, and you can dual
wield one handed weapons. This is all standard fare, but what sets
The Darkness II apart from other first person shooters are your
Darkness abilities.
The right tentacle is used for swiping
and slashing, and the left tentacle is used for grabbing. An enemy
can't be grabbed unless they are dazed, either by being shot, or hit
with the right tentacle. Once the left tentacle has someone in its
grasp, a gruesome finishing move can be applied, and depending on
your talent choices, you can gain health, ammo, or a shield which
gives good protection from bullets. The left tentacle can also grasp
objects such as lengths of pipe or fan blades, and can hurl them at
enemies, causing yet more gory death. On top of the tentacles, you
can also unlock some extra abilities, such as being able to channel
The Darkness through your guns, which means you can fire without
using any ammo and with increased damage. Early on, you get the
ability to eat the hearts of deceased enemies to give you a health
boost. Guts and gore are definitely high on the list of defining
features of The Darkness II. Be wary though, as your Darkness powers
can't be used in the light, so you are often shooting out bulbs, or
avoiding enemies smart enough to carry large torches with them.
Also at your disposal is your little
Darkling buddy, who is a figment of your imagination, but becomes a
very real threat in the dark. He also provides a little comic relief,
as he is a small, British-accented demon wearing a union jack shirt
who delights in calling you 'Monkey' even though he looks like one
himself. You control him at certain points during the game, but for
the most part you're running around as Jackie killing everything that
moves.
Right from the get go, the game has a
rather frenetic pace, especially from an onlooker's point of view.
The amount of action on screen at any one time can be a little
overwhelming because of your four points of attack. Despite this, the
controls are usually manageable, with one shoulder button being
assigned to each limb on the consoles. The main complaint is that
your tentacles rather obstruct your field of view, sometimes making
it difficult to see exactly where the danger is coming from. Being in
the light is also a massive hindrance, as it takes away your Darkness
powers, while also partially blinding you. Once again, if you don't
know exactly where the light source is, it's quite hard to escape and
you are very vulnerable. When it's at its best though, The Darkness
II is a delight to play, a fast paced shooter with great and exciting
extra mechanics.
It's a nice thing to look at too, with
some good cel-shaded visuals to give it more of a comic book feel,
since the games stem from the comic book series. Although cartoony,
the game does a good job of maintaining the dark, brooding atmosphere
throughout, to the point that when you do go outside in the daytime
for a fleeting moment later in the game, the amount of light and
colour seems strange. Also adding to the atmosphere is the top notch
voice acting on show, with Mike Patton of Faith No More fame
returning from the first game to voice the Darkness, and Brian Bloom
becoming the new voice talent for Jackie. Even the side characters
are voiced really well, and the quality of writing helps you feel
really involved in what's going on on screen. To break up the action,
Jackie occasionally has hallucinations created by The Darkness to
distract him from his goal of being reunited with Jenny. Many of
these take place in an insane asylum, where Jackie is the patient,
Jenny is a nurse, and members of The Brotherhood and his crime family
are either doctors or fellow inmates. In fact, the game does a good
job of nearly convincing you that maybe Jackie is a mental patient
and is just imagining his other life after all. The Darkness II has a
pretty compelling story, which will keep you powering through just to
see what happens next.
The only problem is that the main
story mode is on the short side. On normal difficulty it only took me
between four and five hours. There is a new game plus mode, where you
can replay the story again whilst keeping all of your talents you
have accumulated, and there are plenty of achievements to go for, but
the lack of length in the first place is a little disappointing.
The Darkness II does have a multiplayer
mode to keep things going though, and it takes the form of a
co-operative story campaign called Vendettas. You can play as one of
four characters, each with their own limited selection of Darkness
powers, and you play through some missions that are alluded to in the
single player mode. It too is fairly short though, so if you want to
bring some friends on a long multiplayer campaign, you may have to
look elsewhere.
If you're looking for a quick burst of
fun with some extreme violence and brutal murder thrown in, then The
Darkness II is the game for you. A bit more work on the campaign and
a more robust multiplayer mode and it could have become one of the
better games in a slow start to the year for new releases. But as it
is, it's an enjoyable, if short, experience that I would recommend to
fans of shooters who are looking for something a little bit
different.
Overall:
8.3/10
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