The Darkness

It took me awhile to finally play this game because I always got mixed reviews on it, however upon finally playing and completing this game I have to say I rather enjoyed it. It had a good story, I loved ripping the hearts out of my enemies and the graphics were rather good to for one of the earlier Playstation 3 titles. It does have its assortment of problems too, some times it is hard to control your snake thing when sending it on the attack, your darklings get killed rather easily and so forth. However, those problems need a little addressing don't they cause if you have not played this game you are thinking "What?". The game is about a guy in the mob named Jackie who is about to have the head of the family against him. Yes, Jackie has fallen out of favor with his uncle Paulie and at the start of the game you and the two guys you are with are infiltrated by the many crooked cops who basically work for Paulie. This is Jackie's 21st birthday, however, and he is about to gain a special power, or you could say a dark power is about to control Jackie. This power is the Darkness and it manifests itself around Jackie in the form of two snakes and tentacles. So you have your basic shooter combat where you kill with guns, and on top of that you now have the Darkness powers which can be used to kill very efficiently such as sending the snakes out to do stealth kills, using the tentacles to move cars and kill people, and later in the game manifest black holes. You also now have the ability to summon creatures called darklings which sometimes they can be effective and sometimes not so much. So using Jackie you now must take your revenge against your uncle Paulie and Eddie Shrote the crooked captain of the police as they do something that really ticks Jackie off. You also have to try and control the Darkness, though that seems to be a losing battle. As I said rather fun game, just needs work in a few areas, however ending is not one of them, very good emotional ending to this one.

The first thing one notices when playing "The Darkness" is the incredibly stylized visual aspect of the game. It seems fair to assume that a game called "The Darkness" would be dark… but the game isn't just dark, it's pure darkness. It starts of in New York City and it's a shock to see every street, corner and alley so gloomy and absent of light, with only a few lamps bursting small, but bright, rays of light. But even those are not warm pleasant lights; they're cold, dry white lights that contrast perfectly with the blackness that surrounds them. The result is similar to the "chiaroscuro"style photography that will reminisce with anyone who has ever seen a "Film-Noir" or German expressionist film like "Nosferatu". Though it's a common technique in cinema, this is the first game that actually was able to emulate it on a game (and so many have tried), and for that fact it must be commended. The way the lighting shapes objects and scenarios is superb, thanks to the quality of the volumetric lighting engine and the sheer detail of the sets. Whether it's the New York subways, with its grayish and slab tones, or the hellish land of the Darkness, engulfed in its dead brown and fiery red, every environment of the game feels unique and organic, pulsating with life and death.

The dark visuals fit perfectly as the counterpart to a story of corruption that transpires in the soul of one man: Jackie Estacado. Jackie is a "wise guy" from a crime family ruled by his Uncle Paulie, and on his 21st birthday, he's possessed by a demon-like being called "The Darkness". Coincidentally, on the same day, his uncle decides to have Jackie killed. "The Darkness" will agree to save Jackie by giving him power, but in return, will demand a significant price to pay. The story is beautifully crafted, filled with fatalism and dread; in a nutshell: it's "The Godfather" meets "Faust". Not a bad combination, is it? And though it's based on a comic book, don't expect a cookie-cutter plot; it's not revolutionary, but it's engaging and deep. Narrative develops through dialogs and cut-scenes where the player has control of the character ("a la" Half-Life 2); and this is where "The Darkness" shines really brightly, with character animations bordering life-like, thanks to one of the best motion capturing ever seen in games. Add great voice-acting, and the result is a series of emotionally powerful sequences that actually resonate with the player, and thus give a whole new level of dramatic impact to the plot.

As a FPS, "The Darkness" fares well: it's not groundbreaking, it's not perfect, but it is enjoyable. The main character can use a lot of guns, which feel extremely powerful, thanks to the care given to model and sound design. But apart from the ability to use of some cool finishing moves, gun use feels a bit formulaic and shallow. Adding spice into the mix, are the "darkness" powers that allow the disposal of enemies in a number of "unpleasant" ways. Stick a huge tentacle through your enemies' bowels? Check. Summon a kamikaze imp to blow everything to smithereens? Check. Darkness powers are fun, and do a nice job of adding a touch of dark-humor to the otherwise serious tale. The downfall is that most powers don't seem well implemented, and more than once in a while, their effect will be unpredictable, either because the controls aren't responsive enough, or because the AI just doesn't cut it.

Level Design is OK. Action sequences are balanced and straight-forward, allowing the game to flow smoothly. But, "The Darkness", like the companies' predecessor ("Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay") also has a few RPG/adventure elements that add variety: speaking to characters, finding collectible items, and performing small quests are just a few of the possibilities. The problem here is that, unlike "Riddick", levels are enormous in size, and usually, have little going on in most of their areas. This means, the aforementioned elements become long and somewhat boring fetch games filled with backtracking . So unlike "Riddick", instead of helping the game, these elements end up hurting it.

Like its "Chiaroscuro", "The Darkness" is game of contrast; on one hand, there's a powerful and moving story, beautifully told through the sights and sounds of the game, and on the other, an uninspired game, that doesn't show the same amount of care and production value as the rest of the package. All in all, it's a great game for those who don't mind suffering some uninspired shooting to appreciate some great artistic design and a cinematic narrative. So if you don't belong in this group, then forget about "The Darkness", but if you do… embrace it.

Well first I must admit that I was a bit sceptical about this game to begin with. Sure it looked good but still I was unsure, but for whatever reason I bought it.

First impression was amazing, the first act is probably the most intense scene in the whole game, but not in a bad way. You get the general picture of what has happened and before you know it your are forced into an adrenaline pumping car chase.

The game does a good job at making you feel like you are over powerful, which (of course) is not so true. You feel invincible with all the tentacles sticking out of your back but really if you are not careful (and not playing on easy difficulty) you will fins yourself gunned down before you know it.

All in all it's a great game, nice graphics and with a depth rarely seen in these types of games. The story is intriguing and the acting superb. However, there are some frustrating moments with a few (and rare) glitches and the fact that there seem to be hardly anyone walking the streets of New York, although I suppose you could argue that this is because it's night throughout the game.

This is still a game that I think most people would enjoy as long as they like FPS games, but really I think this game can offer a lot to just about anyone.

I must say, i never normally post things on sites about games, i just like to read what other people say, but after i read the last comment that was made on this game, i had to say something.. first off the comment that was made on this game that it add's nothing to the fps genre is total rubbish, for starters you can summon demons, suck people up through a black hole, sneak through gutters, grates with a creeping dark ability and impale the bad guys on your anaconda sized tentacles!! this is a fps that isn't just about the guns!! Also between missions you can do more or less what want, there's two subways that link the major levels off the game together, here you will find various sub quests and unlockable content, or you can just go round talking and watching people get on with their life! Now on to the main reason this game DOES add something different to the fps genre, the idea is, you stay in the dark, you see, your darkness powers will only work in the dark, therefore you find yourself shooting at street lamps before you even go in battle, with the conventional guns not really having much affect agaisnt the enemies you come across, its essential you black out the area so you can get in the dark and get out the weapons ( the darkness )that will kill the bad guys...!!! You stay in the light and it wont be long before your dead! The story will keep you gripped from the moment it starts as you find yourself being transported from hell and back ( literally ) in order to take out your evil uncle paulie and avenge events that happen not to far into the game!! All in all the darkness is a quality fps, that changes your mind on just running in with your guns blazing, its different, its gritty and its dark!! ( sorry about the pun! ) buy it now!! hope this helps!! 8/10

Jackie is one of the best video game protagonist. We have on the Xbox 360 a very quiet and will spoken man ,who has lost everything. Is now only a life for Revenge.

I remember the music because the score is used so well. Most of the game We have the atmospheric sound of the city but a specific moments in fights if you enter area, then music begins to play and especially the piano sounds still horns me,

shooting is fine it is very reliant on how auto aim, so I never really felt like I got good at it. It was mostly about putting Jackie in the right position. So he didn't get shot. I try to play it on hard difficulty but that was a frustrating mist that made me Furious enough to not care about the story. In this game you have to play it for the story and atmosphere if you are too frustrated in the gameplay. You're not having a good time at all.

And what a story and atmosphere it feels like a Time Capsule of gaming and the graphics has that very nice black and white aesthetic to it when the darks are crushing and the lights are blinding in the contrast.

And the game has some of the most mature and heartbreaking love was I have seen in the story about a man's descent Into Darkness where you may lose himself. It is a story I returned to often because, older I get more i enjoy it.

And the actors did such an amazing job with the Italian mafia. I didn't think it was silly. I took it seriously because they even if they had some really the meatball is delicious accents it never got too into the comical tone. It's so well done.

I think about how good performance is even if they weren't overacted just with the voices, could they revealed so much emotion and could really feel relationship history in every line.

As a shooting game it is average, but as an experience a story and mood. It is top Notch it is a phenomenal's game made from those weird Swedish.