2007’s The Darkness was a quite good (but not quite great) shooter that certainly was a fun and memorable time, the kind of game you’d wish they’d make a sequel to just to give it that little bit of polish. Made stronger by an actually compelling story (far too rare in shooters nowadays) and some really fun powers provided by the dark demon that inhabits the main character and talks to him with the voice of Mike Patton, the game told the story of a former mob associate who was betrayed by his employers. Finding the Darkness in himself quite literally, he finds himself with demonic powers and comes back to life to seek revenge.
For such a violent game, it also the most garsh-darn sweetest achievement of all time, given to you for curling up with your girlfriend on the couch to watch To Kill a Mockingbird for a few minutes. Yes, the full film was included, as was Sonny Chiba’s Street Fighter and Sinatra’s The Man with the Golden Arm. Hooray for public domain!
Anyway, 2KGames has just announced The Darkness II for for a 2011 release. The story this time-
It’s been two years since Jackie Estacado, now the Don of the Franchetti crime family, used The Darkness to kill the men responsible for his girlfriend’s murder. He’s been unable to shake the memory of Jenny’s death since bottling up his supernatural power, and now The Darkness wants out. A sudden, unprovoked attack on Jackie’s life heralds the start of a full-scale mob war, which has clearly been orchestrated by some outside force. The botched attempt opens the door for The Darkness to reemerge, and sets Jackie on a journey to hell and worse, as he unravels the mystery behind the attack and the motivations of The Darkness itself.
The graphics look better already from just that one screenshot, which also seems to show the promised “quad-wielding combat”, which could certainly be interesting. Expect much more on this title in the future!
You can read Russ’s CHUD review of the original here (I miss you, Russ!), although I do think I would’ve added another point or so to the score myself. If I may make a recommendation, however- avoid the comic at all costs. I love Garth Ennis but The Darkness is no Preacher.
4 comments
this game was a guilty pleasure of mine for a while. The only thing I didn’t like was the multiplayer, or lack of. I don’t know if it’s because I picked up the game a year after its release, but there were NEVER anyone else up for MP.
This game has been sitting unplayed on my shelf for the better part of two years. This must be rectified at once.
It’s hard with a game that’s not geared towards mutiplayer from the get-go. Games with fun and solid mutiplayer like “Prey”, “Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway” and “Lost Planet” can’t compare to the mindless simplicity of a “Halo” or “CoD”. Though I love my “Halo Reach”, I’ve been enjoying the fuck out of the “Vietnam” expansion for “Bad Company 2”.
Yeah, the multiplayer was easily the most lackluster part, although I did have fun with a match or two.
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