Despite the fact that 2007’s
The Darkness fared quite well with critics it didn’t manage to catch the imagination of the gaming public at large. Still though, it did shift more than a million copies which was enough for
2K Games to sanction the development of a sequel, which is due to hit shelves on February 7th in North America and February 10th in Europe following several delays.
The Darkness II takes place approximately two years after the events of the first game and continues the story of
Jackie Estacado. In the time following the events of the last game, Jackie has elevated himself to the position of Don of the Franchetti family by virtue of his dark powers.
To recap for those of you who didn’t play the original, Jackie’s family is afflicted by The Darkness, and ancient power that passes from generation to generation. This dark power gives the wielder a number of nasty abilities, mainly focussed on tearing people apart, but also including handy superhuman strength and physical longevity. In other words, Jackie is not someone you want to mess with.
At least he wasn’t until found a way keep The Darkness under control with the help of former occultist
Johnny Powell. Haunted by the memory of his girlfriend, murdered in the last game while The Darkness forced him to watch on helplessly, Jackie has been able to battle its influence for quite some time – but he knows that it’s just waiting for him to slip.
When Jackie is brutally ambushed for seemingly no reason at a restaurant, he is left in seriously bad shape. Knowing that the only way to survive long enough to get revenge on his attackers is to unleash The Darkness once more, he is left with no alternative.
From the moment The Darkness is unleashed, we are treated to one of the most violent first person shooters that we’ve seen for quite a while, full of destructible (and usable) scenery, countless grunts to slaughter and the same excellent story that made the first game so popular among the media.
When we got out first look at The Darkness a while back, what really grabbed us were the incredibly stylised visuals. Think cel shading with comic book style graphic direction, come together for a blood soaked massacre and you won’t be far off. To be honest, neither screenshots nor videos do it justice, you need to see it up there on the screen to really appreciate how great it all looks.
Getting back to the action, you can forget about dual wielding here, because you’ve got a grand total of four weapons to unleash at any given time – your two hands, and two rather angry looking serpent tipped tendrils, the manifestation of The Darkness. Additionally, you’ll also be able to call upon your
Darkling – a minion whose job it is to help you out wherever possible (he’s particularly adept at chewing the faces off oncoming enemies).
Taking enemies down is a real joy. You can opt to be boring and shoot them, or you can be a little bit more creative, tearing them in two, decapitating them or eating their still beating hearts. It’s vicious.
Oh, there’s also the little matter of being able to incorporate your surroundings into gameplay too. Facing a few too many enemies? No problem! Use The Darkness to rip off a car door and use it as a shield, before flinging it at the last remaining enemies, literally slicing them down with a deft flick of your tendrils. Did we mention this game is a tad violent?
Unsurprisingly given the name of the game, light isn’t your friend here, which adds plenty of variety to the level design. While careful route planning will get you out of some binds, for others you’ll need to be smart and utilise your weapons and surroundings in order to destroy generators, smash lights and tear down lit ceilings.
We have to admit we weren’t expecting all that much from The Darkness II, but on this early showing it’s definitely something that we can’t wait to get stuck into once it’s done. If you’re tired of samely old FPS titles, then we suspect this is going to be right up your street.