The Darkness

"The Darkness' obscene sinister powers are fun enough to obscure most flaws, but tend to compromise the challenge."

Good: Darkness powers are sadistically fun to use; great cinematic aspects and dialogue; painstakingly detailed textures; multiplayer can be cool when working properly.

Bad: Multiplayer is also a lagfest; powers can render standard weapons obsolete; real world needs more people, other world needs more purpose.

The Darkness was developed by Starbreeze, the brilliant minds behind the outstanding Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Based on the graphic novel series by Top Cow, the game wastes no time throwing you into the bloody shoes of anti-hero Jackie Estacado, a young, charismatic mafia hit man stuck in a terribly unfortunate situation from the initial fade-in. In a first-person, bang-up intro similar to (and likely inspired by) the original Half-Life, Jackie wakes up in the back of a convertible with a couple of his buddies racing for their lives through a crowded tunnel. Turns out you're being hunted down by the man who raised you, and you must do what is necessary to survive.

The story plays an enormous role in the The Darkness' visceral experience. Although the plot itself isn't exactly brimming with creativity, the familiar mafia elements feel authentic and Jackie himself is brought to life with considerable flair and sensitivity. He's a brutal yet modest and respectful young man when not performing hits, evidenced by insightful--though often repetitive--monologues that double as loading screens, and by the touching relationship with his childhood sweetheart. The story can make one feel included in something both dire and special, particularly when it strikes the player with its unforgettable plot twist. However, there are no deep explanations for the true origins and motives of the Darkness itself, although this may remain deliberately obscure for the sake of a possible sequel.

In terms of gameplay, what sets The Darkness apart from other shooters is the Darkness itself, a sinister and physically manipulative being that manifests inside Jackie on his 21st birthday. In addition to letting you sprout heart-devouring tentacles like some satanic version of Doctor Octopus, it will bestow overwhelming powers that let you steamroll over nearly every enemy you encounter. Expectedly, the Darkness will grant new powers as you progress, and most are amazing fun to use. However, even in spite of the fact that light sources weaken you, these abilities can negate the need for regular weapons, thereby erasing much of the challenge--even on the hardest difficulty.

The first power you're given is Creeping Dark, an independent tentacle capable of distant item collection, heart consumption, and stealth kills that often remove enemies' faces. Creeping Dark is cool and sneaky but can be relied upon almost entirely and has trouble circumventing obstacles. Next is the Demon Arm, a ridiculously strong appendage that can impale and toss any enemy or movable object--even a car. It can kill every enemy with one hit, and is also very handy at knocking out lights but has trouble auto-targeting those occasionally. Later come the puzzlingly misguided Darkness Guns. These just get in the way when cycling through powers and pale in comparison to regular guns that downed enemies constantly drop anyway. Lastly is the Black Hole, which is exactly that, sucking all nearby objects and enemies into a void before dropping everything to the ground lifelessly. You might as well put away your guns once you get this one. These unholy abilities may make the game easy, but it's hard to deny the feeling of awesome power by wielding them.

To make matter easier still, the Darkness also allows you to spawn little helping gremlins called Darklings. These guys pop out of the ground to assist you in your homicidal efforts, and are by far the most entertaining characters in the game. Four types will become available progressively: the Berserker, which has only a melee attack based on whatever unlocked outfit it's wearing. This one kills pretty effectively but must do so at point-blank range. Then you receive the Gunner, which mows down everything with a minigun fairly efficiently, though it occasionally detects unseen enemies and tries to shoot them through walls. The third Darkling is a Kamikaze which simply explodes in order to kill enemies or clear obstacles. Lastly is the Lightkiller, which conveniently zaps lights and enemies alike though often fails to attack. Despite their sporadic inefficiency, the Darklings do help matters more often than not and there's no denying their entertainment value. For example, a Darkling killed a SWAT cop with a jackhammer, said, “Regards to your family,” then promptly urinated on his corpse. After laughing hysterically, I actually texted a friend to tell him about it.

Despite linear campaign progression The Darkness does have a slightly open-world structure that allows travel between different districts as you see fit. Side missions will have you hopping all over town via subway to basically kill this person or fetch that item. Most of these objectives entertain plus double as opportunities to unlock achievements and concept art, and to take in more of the rich dialogue, spot-on voice acting and detailed environmental artwork (the graffiti was even designed by known taggers). Some aspects that may annoy include a deliberately plodding movement speed and utterly vacant streets, as if the city were evacuated except for a few nameless NPCs and the dozens of thugs and crooked cops bent on your death.

Eventually you end up in an alternate dimension of sorts that represents the Darkness' independent “hell” for consumed souls. Here you battle zombie-like soldiers doomed to a perpetual World War I. It feels hopeless and bleak but disappointingly empty, like an undead Call of Duty minus the assault on the senses. The novelty of being dropped into this ominous realm wears off quickly once you realize that it all seems more like an effort to break monotony than an attempt to flesh out the story. Rail-shooting, a simplistic boss battle, and a drawn-out quest for a cannon shell are the main elements that make these levels feel more like a pointless endurance test, and that's when you aren't on the verge of getting lost. As a matter of fact, the whole purpose for one of these levels is to find the futile Darkness Guns. This purgatory isn't terrible by design (maybe it's a deliberate metaphor for hell after all), but it doesn't offer anything new and may have been better off as a series of backstory cutscenes.

Since many consider an FPS lacking multiplayer as unfortunately deficient, Starbreeze saw fit to whip together their own brew of online fun. Although this mode features ordinary deathmatch and capture the flag (and the levels are very small), it does offer a pretty fun mode called Survivor where one person plays as a Darkling while everyone else is human. It feels like a goofy version of Alien. Humans that die then become Darklings themselves, and the last human standing wins. This mode is definitely the most fun, but the widespread lag to be found in most matches can and does ruin it all.

The Darkness is a worthy title simply for its creative contributions to the FPS genre but is a bit too reliant on unholy powers, and should have either remained more firmly rooted in the mortal world or been more creative with its displacement from reality. Ultimately, if you can accept demonic powers taking the “shooter” out of “first-person shooter”, then you'll find The Darkness a rich and satisfying experience that lets you be a near-unstoppable killing machine.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/07