The Darkness

A lot really doesn't need to be said about this game that you won't glean from playing the demo (this is a good thing). This game is a pleasant surprise for people who expect a lame shooter with tentacles. Even though there are tentacles involved, they're not only evil but they eat human hearts to restore health. How can you pass that up?

The storyline is that Jackie Estacado, a known name in the New York mob business, is part of a long line of Estacados who were chosen by an evil entity known only as The Darkness to be its host. It is said that The Darkness could see into the future of the Estacado's bloodline and see the evil that would breed in their hearts, and The Darkness feeds off of that evil; that darkness. 

The Darkness manifests in its hosts as soon as they hit their 21st birthday, and if they have sex and pass on their seed that host will instantly die and the Darkness will have to lay in wait in the new host until their 21st birthday. I'm not sure why it has to be 21, perhaps the Darkness wants its host to be of legal drinking age, who knows.

This game doesn't go into the history of this ancient evil until about the middle of the game, so the entire time you're playing before then you're wondering how it came to be, what makes it this way, and how you can defeat it so you can stop listening to Mike Patton's voice growling through your speakers (which is actually very cool, especially once you know that he did the voices without any special effects added.) 


For fans of the comics, it will be a nice flash-back into the origins of the Darkness but it will also bring something new to the tale as it brings in some of the game elements as well.





This game is better than the comics mostly because you actually get to be the bad guy for a change, and even then the bad guy (Jackie) is still struggling with his morals and the influence that the Darkness has on him. At times, the Darkness will take control in-game to do the things that Jackie won't do and it gets pretty scary to see just how powerful it really is. It's also a bit disappointing that you don't really get to harness that power yourself when you're the one in control, but perhaps that's something to be used for the sequel.

The Darkness game not only boasts quality voice acting, but the graphics are pretty top notch as well. There are no generic wall textures or tiled flooring, every level is unique. When you go to the subway, you believe you're in the subway because one look around will show you the cracked porcelain tile on the walls, the graffiti (designed by real Swedish graffiti artists), the homeless people, the scam artists- everything you'd expect to see in the bad part of an already corrupted city.

Another thing that is to be said about this game is the characters. From the NPCs to the main characters, they all have their own personality. The fine voice acting really brings them out and makes them real. Never in this game do you see or hear the same character twice, everyone plays their role in the game as if they were really going about their own business and not just filler in a game. I love just listening to people talk, the writers made sure lines didn't loop over and over again. Two characters will have five minute long conversations without looping and that's fantastic.


The Darklings are another fun aspect of the game. These little critters can be summoned to do specific tasks, though sometimes there seems to be programming errors and they won't always do what you want them to. If you're easy-going enough you can just chalk this up to them being little smart asses with big mouths wanting to spite you, otherwise you may get frustrated a few times. It didn't bother me much until I acquired the light-destroying darkling, and he would just sit underneath a light frying himself instead of actually putting it out like he's supposed to.


It may help to point out that the Darkness lives up to its name by only manifesting at night or in darkness. Frequently in the game you'll be destroying street lights and porch lights so the entity can thrive. This is good because with the Darkness activated it forms an invisible shield around you powered by the darkness around it, so if you find yourself close to death just slip into the shadows and your little tentacle buddies can be seen sucking in tendrils of the dark to replenish health (the alternative to devouring hearts). 


So needless to say the game mostly takes place during the nighttime, and trying to summon it in places such as the subway or your girlfriend's house will get you a snobby comment about how these common people aren't worth its energies. Seems like the Darkness only likes evil, who knew.


I must say though, the only disappointing thing about the game was the ending. It was a bit too anti-climactic for me. I read the comic book based off of the game, Levels, and even it had a better ending, so upon my replaying of The Darkness and getting to the end, I kept thinking about the comic ending. I suppose they left it open for a sequel, which may or may not happen. Despite that, I still feel like it was a satisfying shooter even though its multiplayer is pretty much dead by now.