If anything, play The Darkness for its intriguing story and superb visuals.
THE BAD: Too easy, tedious traveling, and little replay value.
The Darkness is full of goodness even if the title says otherwise.
GAMEPLAY is good. New York Orphan, Jackie Estacado, is out for revenge and he has a spew of weapons and demonic powers at his disposal. The combat in The Darkness is satisfying for the most part; however, the cinematic story is what makes the game truly special. The gameplay itself suffers from a lack of difficulty since Jackie can stealthily kill any enemy from afar with his Creeping tentacle attack or wipe everyone out in one shot with a devastating black hole. What's more, there is the tedious amount of back tracking through New York City's subway station which causes frequent albeit sometimes entertaining loading scenes.
GRAPHICS are outstanding. The visuals sport a very dark and depressing look which really throws the player into the middle of the action. New York City is not the only location in The Darkness so expect to see a lot of interesting places. Moreover, all the characters including the ordinary civilians are sharp and detailed. The blood and gore are especially fantastic if you have the stomach for it.
SOUND is superb. Everything from the music to the sound effects are top notch. The voice work is exceptional with The Black Donnellys' Kirk Acevedo as Jackie Estacado and Six Feet Under's Lauren Ambrose as Jenny Romano. There are a ton of other talented actors in The Darkness that bring the characters to life.
VALUE is decent. The Darkness lasts about 10-13 hours and although there is a lot of extra content to collect, they are not really worth the time and effort. The best unlockable goodies are the comic books which appear to be extremely different from the game. There is also an online multiplayer mode that during this review would not connect.
OVERALL The Darkness is worth checking out even for players not into first-person shooters. The dark powers and variety of weapons make the game entertaining enough to last the journey, and the story and graphical presentation more than make up for any flaws. The Darkness definitely earned its Mature Rating so it should only be played by people old enough to handle it.