The Darkness

"This game falls just short of greatness"

Graphics: 9
Many people have been raving about the amazing graphics of this game. True, the textures are quite good and generally quite crisp throughout. The lighting is amazing (as it darn well should be what with the enormous gameplay emphasis on it), all of the people all well detailed, and their body animations are pretty realistic. The problem with the graphics comes in when you enter conversation with them. Their lips don't move. I'd swear that the animators must have a deep-seated aspiration to be ventriloquists, because even when you are looking for it, it can be nigh impossible to see the characters' lips move when they talk. So, the animators added in over the top hand motions to go along with it. At times, it works quite well. But at other times, it just comes across as laughably exaggerated, which can break the mood of a particularly tense cut scene (which all look gorgeous by the way).

Sound: 10
Without a doubt, this is one of the games with the best sound that I have ever seen. Or heard, as it were. The voice acting is certainly one of the best in videogaming history, with voiceovers one might expect from a Hollywood film. The Darkness' voice is particularly spectacular. Whoever did that voice should be proud, because it will make your skin crawl. The gameplay's sound itself (gunshots, explosions, etc.) are well done. None of the guns sound too weak, and none of the environmental sounds feel fake or shabby. Also, the various phone calls that you will make throughout the game are very well done, and at times, unbelievably hilarious.

Story: 9
This game tells a relatively well-spun tale, with quite a few crazy twists and turns along the way. I can guarantee that you will be thrown for a loop quite a few times. The game has an interesting way of telling you the story through cut scenes that play during load screens. It's original and it's pulled off well. However, the story falls into a few pretty bad cliches, even for a story based off of a comic book (I say based because it doesn't follow the comics to the letter. But then again, I didn't really read them, so I don't care too much). The story is also a tad bit convoluted at places, and it is possible to get confused at a few spots, especially in the beginning. But overall, the game tells a pretty good yarn.

Gameplay: 8
Yes. The first 8, and I put it on gameplay. The control scheme is easy to get the hang of, and within 20 minutes, you will be able to control the Darkness like it's a second pair of arms... which it is... The powers feel very balanced, and you won't find yourself using just one power all the time. There are times when you are forced to use the Darkness powers to solve a problem, but these "puzzles" generally require the intelligence of a 5-year old. Or a really dumb 3rd grader. The Darkness powers lend the game a very unique feel, putting a huge emphasis on exactly where you are while you are fighting. You will find yourself taking note of areas of darkness, or making areas of darkness, as you go along so that if an unexpected group of enemies shows up, you will be ready. However, after about an hour of playing, I began to forget that I was playing a shooter. The guns felt much more difficult to use than they should have been. While various levels of sensitivity and autoaim can be adjusted to make the whole thing easier, the whole aiming mechanic felt just a tad bit off. I found myself avoiding using weapons as much as I could. The pacing of the game is a minor complaint. There actually aren't a ton of enemies throughout the game, usually coming in groups no larger than 6 or 7, so expect no epic battles here. This means it can be very underwhelming on the easier difficulties, but on Hard, you can expect to be forced to use your Darkness powers in clever ways to survive. The game is rarely frustrating, and once you unlock most of your Darkness powers, you will find yourself dying surprisingly little. It is generally easy to find your way around, but the travel in and of itself can get tiresome, as the maximum speed of your character is ridiculously low. I found myself frequently frustrated that I had to walk a few city blocks, simply because the act of walking it might take 3-5 minutes, after which I would fight for 20 seconds, and then walk another 3-5 minutes. It is sometimes difficult to find your way around, seeing as there aren't any objective markers and the in-game map is about as worthless as crap smeared on toilet paper. Outside of the linear main quest, there are a few disjointed, pretty much random side quests to do, spanning from killing people to picking coins up off the tracks before you become the newest headline "Idiot Gets Hit By Subway Train". Yeah, random. If you so choose, you can spend a sizeable amount of time hunting down all of the "collectables" (100 in all), which are either phone numbers you call or letters you mail, which unlock extra content. The whole phone interface feels completely original, and is actually mildly entertaining. I actually spent probably 15 minutes just playing with the phone, dialling random numbers... Overall, you can beat the game on Hard in probably 10 hours. But getting all of the achievements will probably take at least twice that, unless you go through it with a guide of some sort.

Multiplayer: 6
This has never been one of Starbreeze's strong points. The Chronicles of Riddick didn't even have it at all. And suffice it to say, if this is multiplayer, it was better off without it. The whole transformation idea (changing from human to Darkling and vice versa) is original and mixes things up, but it also seems to mix up the connection, so the average match on Xbox Live is like trying to play a slideshow. Fun? No. There are the standard Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and CTF modes. But there are also modes that are very Zombie-ish and Juggernaut-ish, for those of you who know the popular Halo 2 gametypes. Basically, one player starts as either a Darkling or human, and is challenged with killing people of the other species to either A) bring them to your team or B) become the only human so you can score points. Overall, I suppose it's good that it has multiplayer, since it has become pretty much standard in this day and age. But horribly laggy servers with kinda meh gametypes just doesn't feel complete. It feels more like something a bored computer-savvy high-schooler programmed and tacked on in his spare time.

The graphics and the sound are beautiful. The story is engaging. The gameplay is good. The multiplayer sucks. (In my opinion of course) Thus, I give the game an 8. It isn't perfect (what game is?) and it isn't just short of perfect. But it is just short of greatness. I dunno if I would spend 60 bucks on this again. But I would definitely rent it for a week or two. The Darkness is a great game that I enjoyed for a week, and I will probably forget about it in a month.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/07