The Darkness II

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.

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,which combined with 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, many of which take place in an insane asylum. 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 for the start to the year. 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.