The Darkness II Reviewed - Mark Del Rio

Written by Mark Del Rio Wednesday, 15 February 2012 06:00

The Darkness released back in 2007 and was a console exclusive (XBOX 360, PS3). Based on a comic book of the same name, the game stars Jackie Estacado, a hitman for the Franchetti crime family. On his 21^st birthday, a demon known as “The Darkness” possesses his body and infuses him with otherworldly powers. Jackie soon becomes an unstoppable force against his families’ enemies but “The Darkness” has a mind of its own. The more he uses its power, the stronger it becomes. Eventually, he relinquishes its power before it takes over his soul. And so begins The Darkness II.

The Darkness was a beautifully made, open world FPS (first-person shooter). Various side quests complemented a handsomely written main storyline with which you were free to deviate from at any time. The Darkness II departs from its open world roots and walks you down an over-the-top, story driven linear narrative. Is it better than the first game? Let’s find out.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

The Darkness II takes place some two years after the events of the first game. Jackie is now Don of the Franchetti family. “The Darkness,” now silenced, still resides within him. After a failed hit is place on his life, Jackie is forced to let “It” out. Throughout the course of the game he will have to confront his own demons, a secret underground society, and even his own sanity in his quest for redemption and to destroy “The Darkness” within him.

UNBOXING/INSTALLING/FIRST IMPRESSIONS

My Limited Edition copy of The Darkness II arrived in a standard amary (DVD) case. A foil embossed slipcover in the tradition of a comic book would have been nice but alas that was not the “case” (excuse the pun). Inside, I was greeted to a very sparse 5 page instruction manual, 2 Limited Edition code redemption flyers, 1 large dual sided poster of the protagonist, Jackie Estacado, and of course the game disc (yep, just a single disc).

The Darkness II is a Steam exclusive game and therefore a breeze to install. 1. Insert the disc into your PC. 2. Type in your serial number. 3. Sit back while Steam installs and configures the game for you. It couldn’t be any easier. I did have to wait about 15 - 20 minutes however. If you bought the game online through Steam you can skip steps 1 and 2.

The game gets into intense action right away. Once “The Darkness” is awakened within you (at the start of the game) you’re ripping enemies to shreds (literally). The game uses the typical WASD + SPACE for movement. On the mouse, L-CLICK and R-CLICK are used for controlling your right and left handed weapons (dual wield, baby). The MIDDLE MOUSE button in combination with a mouse swipe is used for swinging your right tentacle. Back on the keyboard, the “Q” key is used to grab objects and enemies to toss as projectiles. This control setup sounds a little complicated at first but soon (and surprisingly) it becomes very natural and extremely satisfying. It might be a little difficult to understand just how useful this setup is by merely describing what the buttons do. Here is an example of it in gameplay:

In any typical level of the game, you are surrounded by approximately 4 enemies at the same time. You can begin shooting at 1 enemy with the L-CLICK. At the exact same moment you can hit the “Q” key and pick up a nearby trash can with one of your tentacles to use as a shield for awhile then toss it at another enemy. The ammo runs out of your first gun by this time so you hit the “R” key to reload it. During this moment you are not venerable to attack while watching a reload animation like in other FPS. Immediately R-CLICK to continue firing with your other weapon WHILE the first one is still reloading! At the same time you can easily click the MIDDLE MOUSE button (in conjunction with a short swipe of the mouse) to slash apart any nearby melee attackers. All of this happens almost instantly and is handled intuitively with the control setup (XBOX 360 controller or mouse & keyboard); quad-wielded weapon heaven! The feeling is almost godlike. This was the thing that instantly impressed me about the game.