[Games] The Starbreeze Threat Part II: The Darkness

[Soulghast]

Author: VOP2288
Original Thread: The Starbreeze Threat Part II: The Darkness

The Starbreeze Threat Part II: The Darkness

The Starbreeze Threat Part II:
The Darkness
WARNING!!! A FREAKIN' LONG REVIEW...SERIOUSLY...IT TOOK ME 2 1/2 HOURS!!!

Finally, the long awaited The Darkness review! At least I hope it was long awaited...

The Darkness is yet another title from our Swedish friends over at Starbreeze Studios - this time hooking up with 2K Games and working with Top Cow Productions. The Darkness is based on the Top Cow comic book series created by Garth Ennis, Marc Silvestri, and David Wohl of the same name which first appeared in 1996. The comic series experienced some good sales in the late '90s but saw some neglect at the beginning of 2000, and so the series was "re-launched" in 2002 - the comics have sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

The Darkness series has also found its way into many other more well-known comics such as Tomb Raider, The Hulk, Batman, Superman, Aliens, Predator, and Wolverine. Most of all though, The Darkness is pretty much tightly linked with the comic series Witchblade.

The Darkness game, released on June 25th in NA and June 29th in EU, is on two platforms: the Xbox 360 and the PS3 (sorry PC guys). Since release The Darkness has garnered fairly positive reviews from game critics. The average Metacritic score is 83. PSM gave it a 9/10, Gamespot 8.5/10, Gamespy 4/5, and EuroGamer 8/10.

As a funny bit of trivia...the game was altogether banned in Singapore due to the fact that the censorship board ruled the game as "excessively violent" and thus refused to let the game be sold within their country - it was scheduled for a July release.

Review:

- Graphics
While only appearing on the next gen systems (Xbox 360 & PS3) you'd assume that The Darkness would be an amazingly beautiful game all around. Unfortunately, that's not the entire truth of the fact...

The Darkness is beautiful though - don't get me wrong. There are plenty of great looking visuals here but with all the impressive things flashing on screen it's hard not to miss the things which don't look right or seem a bit half-assed.


As far as negatives go with graphics there are only three small things that come to mind here. The first is something almost every game seems to have trouble with - models moving through one another or through objects. I can't stand that! It doesn't happen often, in fact I spotted it maybe 4 times total throughout the game. The second would have to be how some of the models look. While the actual characters you interact with are extremely detailed and look great it's the NPCs that piss me off. They're detailed looking and such but sometimes they look a little odd from different angles - curves are not curves...they're more geometrical...more boxy from some angles. Plus, there are a few NPC clones here and there if you keep an eye out. The third and last thing that bothered me is something that I think all critics spotted and mentioned right away. When characters are speaking their mouths don't usually move that much - given certain camera distances and such it'll look like the character isn't moving his mouth as he talks. Half the time it all depends on the character model and how close you are to them - but for instance your character (Jackie) when he talks it just doesn't look like his lips move at all.

Now for the good! If there's one thing The Darkness does perfectly it's the animation and visualization of anything having to do with your Darkness powers. For those unaware, when Jackie activates his Darkness powers two black, snake-like creatures with glowing eyes will protrude from his shoulders (appearing on either side of your HUD). As these things seethe and writhe about as you go they move beautifully. They're very detailed and the glow from their eyes is creepy as hell. Even better is when you use your powers. You have 4 main Darkness powers and all look GREAT on screen.


In close second to the Darkness visuals are the environments in this game. New York City is grungy, dark, and looks like a perfect place for what's going on in the game. The darks and lights of this game are immensely detailed along with the shadows. There's so much attention to detail in almost every aspect of The Darkness' environments that I can't recall seeing anything like it before in a game.

So, the graphics have their goods and bads but as you can see the goods outweigh the bads by a ton. Like I stated before: you only seem to notice these little bothersome things as an effect of how great the rest of the game looks.

Graphics = 9/10


- Gameplay
Most critics were sold to The Darkness' gameplay when they discovered that the player could devour human hearts. Obviously there's more to the gameplay than that but they are right in pointing out that this is a great mechanic to the game.

Side Missions & Collectibles -
Kind of like Butcher Bay, The Darkness gives you that feel of it being a non-linear game at times but like I said with the previously mentioned title: that's not the case at all. As the game progresses you'll come across random people (mostly in the subway stations) who will ask for your help. You can choose to accept of decline these little side missions - for the most part though these missions just involve hunting something or someone down for the reward of a "collectible" phone number.


These "collectibles" appear throughout the game. Except for when you're in the Otherworld (which I'll talk about shortly) these collectibles are found in the form of phone numbers. When you go to a phone you can choose to dial these numbers, listen to some sort of funny response, then learn that you've unlocked some extra content available on the main menu. This extra content appears throughout the game in bulk (like Butcher Bay) and the pay off for collecting these numbers can be anything from bits of the comic book, character renders, script portions, concept art, etc. In Otherworld however these collectibles appear as letters which when you return to the real world you can slip into the nearest mailbox to unlock content.

Two Worlds -
Now, the game takes place in two worlds: the real world of NYC and the Otherworld. NYC consists of a few different parts ranging from Chinatown, Lower East Side, and Grinder's Lane along with 3 other above ground areas and two subway stations (Fulton St. and Canal St.). Transportation between most of these places in conducted by subway stations. At each subway station you can reach 3 parts of the city - all of which Jackie will spend his time running between throughout the game.

The Otherworld however proves to be the creepiest, most visually dark and tormented place you'll probably ever find in a game. The Otherworld is actually a form of Hell or Purgatory that lives within the Darkness demon. Jackie makes two trips to the Otherworld: one near the beginning of the game and one near the end. What the Otherworld takes the shape of is a shadowy, dark, twisted, and evil plain where you'll find yourself caught in a grotesque version of WWI.


In the Otherworld the clouds block out the sun and the sky glows with a dark blood red. You'll encounter both demonic German soldiers with no faces and British troops fighting them with stitched and bloodied bodies. It is here that Jackie learns more and more about the Darkness, where it came from, and how to control it. Over this evil land stands the Darkness' fortress which is a massive combination of industrial fortification and medieval castle elements. This place will give you the creeps you can bet on that.

Weapons -
Traveling between these two worlds Jackie will have to fight both demonic beings in the Otherworld and very human enemies in the real world. To do this he has two types of weapons at his disposal: firearms and Darkness powers.

Now - since the game is all about the Darkness and its power it's quite obvious that the game makers chose to center their minds more on developing and perfecting that mechanic over the firearms b/c they simply want to make you use your evil rather than revert to just blowing things up. Unfortunately the lack of diversity and depth in the firearm portion of the game doesn't go by unnoticed...


I think there's a total of 5 types of weapons and maybe a grand total of 11 different kinds of these 5 types. The 5 types are pistols, machine pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and a bolt action rifle. The kinds of pistols that appear are Colt .45s, .38 revolvers, .50 cal Desert Eagles, Glocks (I think or something similar), and the old WWI Luger pistol. There seems to be only one kind of machine pistol in the game - it's not an Uzi but it's something similar. The two shotguns are your standard assault shotgun and your automatic riot shotgun, the different assault rifles are your stereotypical M16 and AK-47 but then there's another one that I can't figure out what it is. Than the bolt action is simply the old WWI German Kar model which appears just in the Otherworld along with the Lugers.

These weapons appear in bulk throughout the game and Jackie can carry all the different types at once. The one thing which bothers me the most is with the pistols. You can only use the pistols in duel wield mode and there's no reloading. Jackie tends to pick up enough pistol types in the game to just use each pistol till its clip is done and then just pull out another one. B/c he's allowed to carry so many pistols it not only makes the game that much more unrealistic but it also blocks you from using Jackie's original Colt .45s that he receives at the beginning of the game and appear throughout in the loading screen cutscenes. Jackie does however reload the assault rifles and shotguns.


Also with the firearms in the game there seems to be a sort of aim assist that's automatically there and you can't turn off (as far as I know). As a result of this, shooting enemies with guns is all that much more easy and you'll find that almost every kill is a head shot - this however tends to disappear with the assault rifles, they're almost impossible to hit anything with (with the exception of the M16). The shotguns are somewhat useless too. Unless you happen to find yourself 3 feet away from an enemy they will totally miss your target 100% of the time. I prefer to use the shotgun ONLY when I'm feeling particularly evil and I walk up on a wounded enemy begging for his life...*cocking noise* BOOM!

Darkness Powers -
As for the Darkness powers...those are more in depth and prove to be more fun to use at ALL times (although it does seem impossible to get through the whole game without using your guns). Jackie has mainly 4 Darkness weapons at his disposal:

1) Creeping Darkness - the Creeping Darkness power sends out one of your little shoulder fiends to crawl about the world under your guidance. You can fully control the creature and wind through smaller holes and such to unlock doors, retrieve certain objects, etc. This helpful power can also serve as a mightly useful weapon too. Controlling your fiend you can use him to creep up on unsuspecting enemies and deliver a nasty bite to their necks/faces that'll kill them in one blow.
2) Demon Arm - this one is personally my favorite of all 4. Basically by using this the Darkness will shoot out one of its tentacles. This can either be used to grab movable objects and throw them or better yet it can used to impale close enemies or smash out overhead lights.
3) Darkness Guns - I couldn't really find much use for these actually. Using this power summons two pistol-like weapons into your hands. The one on the left has a shotgun-like effect where it sends out a massive shockwave that will effectively throw enemies and objects while the right weapon shoots out small jolts of lightning that IMO don't do much of anything to your enemies.
4) Black Hole - probably the most visual and powerful of the 4 powers it simply rips open a large black hole wherever you direct it. Enemies, objects, and such get pulled into this black hole and enjoy a nice whirlwind kind of ride that effectively kills them then throws them. This hole will only last for about 5 seconds though and has a very limited range to it.

As you can see...if you become pretty good with using these powers you'll almost never have to use your guns in the game. And usually if you do have to use your guns...the pistols seem to be the most powerful in the game having almost pinpoint accuracy, unusually good range, and that aim assist I mentioned.

Other Darkness Stuff -
Beyond the powers there are a few more things that come into play with your Darkness demon. Namely 3 more things.

The first of which is the ability to summon Darklings. When you bring out your Darkness demons (RB) you'll notice these little pits open up around the area you're in. From here by going up to them and pressing a given button you'll be able to summon one of 4 different kinds of Darklings. You'll start with the basic melee one called a Berserker which will attack enemies with random weapons ranging from machetes, axes, their claws, saws, or my favorite...the jackhammer! After that comes the Gunner - basically the same kind of Darkling only he wears a Vietnam-style Army helmet (reading Born to Kill on the side a la Full Metal Jacket) and totes around a chain-gun. Next comes the Kamikaze, a Darkling with a bundle of dynamite strapped to his back that'll either a) blow up enemies or b) blow holes in buildings and obstacles for Jackie to continue on. Finally the last Darkling is the Lightkillers who will break/zap up all forms of light, can electrocute enemies with a electricity gun, and can shoot power into machines to use them.

Secondly, your Darkness powers will always need to recharge. This happens when Jackie stands well....in the dark. Thus you'll find yourself throughout the game shooting out/breaking out lights wherever you go - you don't want to find yourself in a well lit room surrounded by enemies and unable to use your powers.

The last thing with your Darkness is that it'll speak to you. With the help of some excellent and creepy voice acting the Darkness will communicate with you throughout the game and further expand the plot and such. This is just another cool little mechanic of the Darkness.

Innocents, Heart Devouring, and Darkness Reactions -
Another bit about your Darkness powers...while you can use them almost at any time throughout the game they will not however work in the subway stations. If you try and bring it out there the voice of the Darkness will respond with something like: "I will NOT bother with these cattle!" Thus you CANNOT go on some civilian killing spree in this game (unless you find them in one of the six above ground parts of NYC.

Heart Devouring proves to be a big part of the game up until about 3/4 of the way through it. After an enemy has passed onto Hell or worse Jackie can stand over the body and push a button to send out his right shoulder demon to strike the enemy in the chest and rip out his bloody heart. It's always the one on the right who eats it too - even though sometimes the two creatures will fight over it the one on the right will ALWAYS win and eat the heart.

The purpose of the heart eating is that it raises your Darkness Level which can be seen in the menu along with your Inventory and Map. As your level increases you'll unlock all the above mentioned powers one at a time. By the time you reach the Black Hole power however...heart eating is just a waste of time unless you like those Xbox 360 achievements.

It should be noted though that you can ONLY eat the hearts of enemies. If you happen to find and kill an innocent bystander above ground they will not be able to give up their hearts to you.

Finally one of the more questionable parts of the game is how people react to your Darkness demon. The most enemies will say is: "Holy ****! What hell!" than proceed to shoot at you. Innocents on the other hand either don't react at all or will say something along the same lines as the enemies. No one will ever run away or just give in/surrender. I also found that a civilian cowered and begged for his life more when I took out my shotgun as opposed to when I stood in front of him with my Darkness creatures snapping away in his face - explain that?

Game Progression -
The actual way the game plays out is in certain chapters. These chapters though aren't totally made clear where they begin or end but if you follow the story and such you'll get an idea of where one should begin and where one ends.

The game is basically a vegence game where you're ultimate goal is to kill your mob boss Paulie. How the game works its way there is by Jackie carrying out a series of small tasks that help him get ever closer to that objective. These tasks are carried out with the help of Jackie's friends and family who support him and give him info on how to get to Paulie and how to basically bring down his entire operation and everyone involved.

Thus - you'll find yourself carrying out tasks such as killing a certain character or retrieving a vital item of sorts. The task types really don't varying but the name of the game is vegence so Jackie is pretty much on a war-path killing everyone he can and needs to in order to get to Paulie and find the prick.

Gameplay = 8/10


- Audio
The Darkness has some of the BEST voice acting I've ever seen in a game. Better than Butcher Bay even! This is extremely helpful in three ways: 1) keeping the players attention focused on the characters and story 2) Severly increases the believability of the game and 3) You'll find that you actually care about characters and the story given the fact that such good acting combined with effective model actions makes it almost seem like your watching a live action film rather than a CG game.

The music is also another strong point of this game. When things get creepy cue the creepy atmospheric music. When things get emotional, cue the piano and slow music. When things get nasty and bullets starts flying, cue the fast paced metal. Great music work in this game. Both instrumentally and in using actual songs from bands.

The only gripe I have about the audio of this game is that some of the random NPC characters in the subway stations will look different but have the same voices and say stupid things like: "we cool?" or "we straight?" when you go up to them and press A.

Audio = 5/5


- Replay Value
Truthfully this is a singleplayer-minded game even though there is multiplayer available. The Darkness does however do a GREAT job at telling the story and making the game an enjoyable ride that you'll no doubt either want to play through it again a few weeks after finishing it or you'll want to play through it again maybe on a harder difficulty level right away.

Besides multiplayer and playing it through again for the sake of liking the game the only other reason I could see for playing it again would be collecting all the extra content collectibles.

I will say however that even though I just finished up the game about 2 hours ago...I WILL be playing through it from the beginning again sometime within the next 4 or 5 days. I MUST experience this again!

Replay Value = 4/5


- Story/Plot
The Darkness has an excellent plot. This could be b/c there's a great number of comic books and story already laid out for the game devs but it also could be the great work of Starbreeze and their scriptwriters.

Basically the game centers on Jackie Estacado...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

...a hitman for the NYC Italian mafia Franchetti family. At the start of the game you find yourself caught up in a bad situation getting worse. Eventually you learn that as a result of a money pick up gone bad the Franchetti mob boss - Paulie (your own uncle no less) thinks that YOU stole the money and have thoughts of taking him down and taking over the family business. In turn Paulie puts out a price for your head and you find all of NYC's baddest coming after you...

At the same time it's Jackie's 21st birthday and he discovers that he's just been empowered with a sort of demon entity only known as the Darkness. The Darkness gives him extreme powers that Jackie uses against his enemies throughout the game. While the Darkness gives him immense power Jackie begins to learn the price of such power and you witness as it slowly but surely corrupts Jackie and fights him for control...

Jackie's girlfriend Jenny eventually gets caught up in all this and thus begins a long hard road for Jackie out of hell - killing anyone and everyone who gets in his way to his eventual target....Paulie.

Between the story and how it's acted out by the in-game characters and their great voice work I have to admit that this game is one of EXTREME few that I've ever cared about the characters or the outcome of the story. I actually sat in awe at the end of the game as the credits rolled and contemplated on the immensely dark, violent, yet emotional experience I had just sat through....I give The Darkness a well deserving...

Story/Plot = 10/10


Conclusion:

The Darkness is one of those few games that come along and actually make an impact with certain kinds of people. Whether it be with the uniquely twisted gameplay and setting or the actually gripping and well acted story The Darkness has really earned its place among my Xbox 360 games and has repaid the $60 value I paid for it almost x3.

As I said...this is one of the few games I've come across that the story and the characters within the story have actually moved me in some way or another.

I desperately hope Starbreeze will continue to make games along this sort of line. I would sacrifice addicting gameplay for immensely good voice acting/acting and a gripping story any day as they've proved they can do it in the past with Butcher Bay.

This is well worth the still "new game" price and I urge anyone who's taken interest in the game to buy it or rent it right away. This is a great game and should not be missed. I must warn though...not only is this a very graphic game in terms of violence and language but also this WILL NOT be everyone...this game will be most appreciated by people who either like the comics (duh) or like movies/stories along the same line as The Crow - in fact that's what this game really reminded me of....The Crow.

I give The Darkness an extremely well earned...

Final Score = 37/40 or 92%

Links:
The official The Darkness website:
http://www.2kgames.com/thedarkness/
The Gamespot review:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/thedarkness/review.html?tag=tabs;reviews
Purchase?:
http://www.amazon.com/2K-Games-The-Darkness/dp/B000HX1P72/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5695508-1730251?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1185081630&sr=8-1
More info on the comics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darkness_%28comics%29