Don't be afraid of The Darkness... 2!
The Darkness II is a game that tells me that there are those who might actually care about what they're telling their audiences. Digital Extremes, the developer who replaced the original developer for the first Darkness (Starbreeze), has recreated the story telling splendor that I've rarely been seeing. On top of it' story, there's much more to appreciate about this game that a lot of people take for granted, from its shooting to its soul. The Darkness II isn't perfect with its short length and variety of disappointing design choices, but that shouldn't hold you back from enjoying what this game has to offer.
Firstly, there's the story that I've already stocked a good amount of praise into. What makes this story interesting is not its concept (which isn't bad at all), but how it all comes centerfold. Narrative is easily the most important thing to this games short story, and it shows in numerous ways. It's told through the perspective of a troubled soul who can't distinguish reality from fantasy, named Jackie Estacado. Jackie is the head of a mafia who has slipped through the cracks for some time. With little to worry about, and a ton of protection at his side, Jackie has nothing to worry about, and continues the life of leading, killing, and sorrow. That is, until the story of this game actually makes its appearance via Jackie nearly being torn in half by a thousand bullets being shot at him from all angles.
He's bleeding to death, and it feels like there's nothing on earth that could possibly help him. This is where the title comes in; with the power of The Darkness keeping him from death after Jackie allows it to consume his body once again. But things change this time around, because Jackie has no choice but to let The Darkness be a part of him, seeing as how the love of his life that had previously passed away was now being kept in purgatory. The feeling of weakness overcame his body, and now he has to deal with this curse. This sparks the wars between these different gangs, as Jackie goes on quest to find his attempted killers, and bring justice with him in the form of The Darkness. Obviously this game unfolds to more, but if I went any further, I feel like I'd give something away, which is something I definitely don't want to do.
It sounds a tad bit typical, but its delivery is just impressive, at least in comparison to other shooters. The Darkness II combines elements of horror and psychological suspense to create a tale that will keep you guessing, especially towards the end. Believe me when I say that I rarely give games a pass for their stories, seeing as how I'm probably the most easily bored person on the planet. So the fact that this game kept me interested all the way through should be an indicator that this is something worth experiencing. I like it so much because there are rarely games that give me reasons to like the main-character, or any other character for the matter. Instead of having a silent protagonist, like in a lot of other shooters, The Darkness II features a main character that you can actually sympathize with. His girlfriend dies, he loses many of his most trusted comrades during the game, yet he perseveres for the sake of sanctifying his girl-friends soul. And it helps a lot when his dialogue and voice don't make him seem like a total jack-ass.
What amazes me most about the story of this game, other than actually not knowing what to expect from it, was its array of different side characters, and its antagonist. Every character in this game actually feels definitive, with different traits being spread across the whole cast. There are role-models (Jimmy "The Grape", Aunt Sarah), and there are friends (Vinnie, Johnny Powell), and most everybody in the game is likeable. As for the protagonist, well, he's one of the creepiest I've ever seen. But what makes this villain awesome is not his threatening appearance, or his vendetta against Jackie, but his overall cause to take over the world with the power that Jackie never wanted back in his life in the first place. A lot of stuff takes place in this very short game, and 95% of it is legitimate talent going into work with an awesome story.
That's the most I've ever spoken about a video game story in a review, but what might surprise you is that this game is stupid short. I managed to beat this game twice in one day, with enough time to beat this game again, possibly twice. It's always a shame to see games like this being so short, but I feel especially gloomy about this because there was a lot Digital Extremes could've done with the story and level design. But even with an extended length, there are two things that hold this game back from reaching the mark of greatness, and they lie within the games level design.
For starters, there's the light. Whenever you step into the light in this game, Jackie becomes much weaker, and is stripped of his abilities to use the Darkness, which greatly reduces your odds of winning a fire fight. Even on the games easier difficulty settings, the light is a very hazardous thing that can get you killed within a matter of seconds if you're not careful. I really love the idea of this, because it makes you strategize with your movement. You have to worry about the light and enemies in this game, as well as your constantly sparse supply of ammo. It sounds like legitimate challenge might have been one of this game's strong set of cards. Unfortunately, the light never really makes a huge impact on the way the levels are designed. It's an interesting concept, but it's never used to its fullest potential. Most of the light comes from street lamps and flash-bangs, with little variety. I would've liked to have seen levels take place during the day, where you have to constantly shift between different dark spots for cover, or something like that. As it is, this concept is under-developed, and kind of disappointing.
The second complaint I have is the balancing. Towards the end of the game, on the hardest difficulty, with all of my Darkness powers unlocked, the game was still relatively easy. I died very few times while playing on the hardest difficulty, and that's because it felt like the game gave me more than I actually needed. Overpowering a character is something that can happen, in RPG's or Open-World Adventure games, but for linear FPS's, this is something you really don't want to be doing. It sucks out the challenge of the game, which in turn makes the shooting segments almost pointless. Imagine how I felt when I was playing this on normal, I almost fell asleep from the lack of any difficult moments.
Aside from these two glaring problems, the shooting and action in the game feel awesome. The Darkness powers I mentioned earlier act in ways the perks in Dead Island did. It's a simple progression system with many rewards to reap, and while some of them are unnecessary (like the Darkness Armor, which makes you tougher than a diamond encrusted elephant with leather blood cells), some of these perks are actually pretty cool, like the cloud of green dust (?) that you can use to temporarily paralyze your enemies. If the game had been more difficult, this progression system would've been much more appreciated, even with things that are useful, regardless of difficulty. But this game is still very much enjoyable, thanks to good shooting mechanics and a great sense of violence that'll hook any 12 year-old by the teeth (and everybody else, to a lesser extent).
Fire-arms in The Darkness II aren't exactly special. They feel great, sure, and you can dual-wield them (and you'll actually want to do that in some cases), but there's a general lack of variety. There are only a few different weapon types with only a few different weapons per type. I guess it's supposed to go with the games ridiculously short length, but I would've appreciated a few more weapons to choose from. Although I do have to say, while weapons are scarce in variety, the way they work is actually pretty neat. Most of the weapons you find in each respective category acts in different ways, with an example being the pistols you find. One shoots slowly and has less ammo room, but is more powerful (the revolver), and the standard pistol is quick, efficient, but lacking in power. This sounds like something that's pretty basic, and that's because it is. Unfortunately though, most games seem to have forgotten this trait, which is why I deem this a positive for The Darkness II. Bravo?
Along with the typical single-player, there's also co-op (because EVERY game just HAS to have a multiplayer component of some type). While I can't really say much about it that I haven't already said about the single player portion, it is a nice way to kill time. There is a selection of different characters that you can choose from that go on missions that are stream lined into the story of the single player. There isn't that much to look forward to though, thanks to the lack of fidelity that was found in the single player. The selections of characters feel to stereotypical to be interesting at all, and their dialogue isn't exactly at Jackie's level. The missions are fun, but you'll definitely enjoy yourself more with the single player campaign for the purpose of there being a story there that will actually entertain you.
One thing that caught me off surprise when I booted this game up was its visual end. It utilizes cell-shading, a technique used to make things look cartoonish (Borderlands and El Shaddai are good examples of this). This is weird because the first game went the realistic route, with darker colors and a general lack of artistic value. The Darkness II looks fantastic because of this cell-shading, regardless of some pop-up. All the environments and characters look colorful, which represent the comic that these games were based on perfectly. One might complain that this colorful style doesn't really fit something like this, and I'm a part of this crowd. I like the look of it, but I feel like it would have been much better off somewhere else.
While the colorful atheistic might be a bit off, the voice acting and sounds definitely aren't. Like I said before, all the characters in this game feel defined, and a lot of that comes from the voice-actors, who do terrific jobs. The guns sound awesome, even if the effects are just as sparse as the weapon selection itself. There are a few licensed tracks in here which fit quite well, and the original music is alright, if a little bit forgettable. I'm not one to usually be a good judge on sound, so I'm not really sure what to say at this point. I guess that's where I'll end this this thing then.
The Darkness II has its obvious flaws and short length, but it's still definitely worth checking out, if only for the story. The cooperative won't give you much reason to keep playing, and there are a few problems with the overall games design, but the amount of fun you'll have playing this game will be noticed as you blast through everybody that stands in your way. At 60 bucks, I'd wait for a slight price drop, but at a good 30 dollars, this game is definitely worth your money.
Review by Cal Burkhart