Let The Darkness consume you.
Gameplay:
The gameplay for this game is pretty interesting. It's a FPS/Adventure title, and all of you who played Riddick will recognize the laser sight aiming system for guns, although it's done much better in this game and gives the title a very cinematic flair. You have your basic assortment of weapons ranging from pistols and revolvers, sub machine guns, shotguns, and assault rifles that all work very well. Obviously what separates this game from other titles is the powers of The Darkness. The Darkness as it's name implies works the best in the cover of dark so you will want to shoot out lights and attack in the dark so your powers will be at there peak since you will die fast running in guns blazing. As the game progresses you will get more powers starting with a stealth move which releases a tentacle that you control so can go threw vents, climb a building or wall, to cut powerlines, or eat a guys face for a sweet instant kill, then you get the darkness arm which is a big tentacle that you can use to lift objects, knockout lights, or impale a enemy, then you get the darkness gun, and finally, and my personal favorite, you get blackhole which as the name implies makes a blackhole sucking enemies and objects into it and all life out of them. A interesting aspect of this game is during load screens it has Jackie telling little stories from his life and such. You usually get a new one each time, however when you're doing sidequests and have to go to a area more times than you would have strictly staying to the story path, it will start showing some of the same ones over and over which get's slightly repetitive, but since there is one for every story section you won't see the same one twice during the main quest. The only flaws of the game is AI can sometimes be really stupid, some small contact sensitive issues, and extremely weak multiplayer. But overall it's a solid lengthy adventure.
Audio:
This is wear the game truly shines. This is in my top 5 games for best audio. All the voice acting is extremely well done and movie quality and Mike Patton as the voice of The Darkness, he just played it so perfectly and creepy. Music is dark and atmospheric and add to the mood very well. Sound effects are also very good with weapons giving a nice sounding punch. As I said earlier this is some of the best stuff out.
Graphics:
Again very solid! The game is dark and gritty to fit the mood of the world very well. Everything is nicely detailed and the attention to detail is very amazing. Lighting obviously is very well done for this game and one of it's strongest parts with every light being destructible and lots of environment interactivity. The Darkness powers and effects looks really nice especially when it comes to heart eating, which looks really cool, and obviously nice blood and gore effects. There is a few problems with character animation here and there and some strange shadows on characters, but barely noticeable. Also sometimes the game is a little to dark and sometimes a little to bright, but it's not much of a issue. Overall it's very nice looking game, especially when it was first released last year.
Closing comments:
Overall this is a great game that shouldn't be missed. If you like The Darkness comics, liked The Chronicles of Riddick Escape From Butcher Bay, or just enjoy a good shooter, then this is a game you definitely want to check out. It's a lengthy, solid adventure with a cool concept and interesting powers.
Overall: 8.5/10
Pros:
Great voice acting
Cool powers and concept
Great story, especially for a FPS
Very violent
Cons:
Tacked on and very weak multiplayer
Sometimes weak AI
Small contact sensitive issues