The Darkness

"The Light in the Dark..."

'A First Person Shooter. Hmmm...' This was my original thought upon looking at 'The Darkness'. Ever since I first played Goldeneye on my Nintendo 64 and constantly got killed by everyone in multiplayer, I have had an extreme dislike for the genre of games. In some cases this aspect has completely stopped me from charging into my nearest game store and buying 'Halo', 'Call of Duty', Medal of Honour and many others. However, I decided to put my discomfort on hold and bought 'The Darkness'. I took it home and I spent a few minutes looking at it. Just wondering... 'Have I made a mistake? Or could this be the hopes and potential of an entire genre awakening for me?' So I placed the disc in and begin playing and within a few minutes I came to understand something very important and vital to the game. It actually had a story. And what a story it was...

Story 10/10
The story begins on our 'hero' Jackie Estacado's 21st Birthday. After a few minutes of talking, in which we learn that Jackie works as a hitman for the Franchetti Family, we are treated to a car chase that would make John Woo proud. After finally fighting off a combined force of bent cops, and mob hired construction workers, Jackie is thrown from the car, left alone to carry out the last hit of the night. As often happens in -well anything- things don't go according to plan and Jackie finds himself betrayed, left to fend for himself against his former allies and the cops. Luckily, Jackie's 21st doesn't just bring the ability to buy alcohol legally, it also brings The Darkness, a hissing whisper in the back of his head earlier in the game, suddenly reveals itself in an orgy of death and chaos that destroys a group of mob enforcers hunting Jackie. And so begins Jackie's fight to simply stay alive.

Characters 10/10
Honestly, the characters in 'The Darkness' are some of the best and most detailed that I have ever seen in a video game, short of a Final Fantasy game which can have dozens of hours to build up the characters. We really feel for Jackie, we understand his resentment against the family that has betrayed him, his distaste for the work he has done for them and his vengeful wrath as he brings down a bloody swath of retribution on those responsible for his current situation. However, the most important part of the character and the part that made me blink in surprise... was that he was in love. Our hero has a girlfriend. Someone that he loves so much that he is willing to go through anything for her. After about 45 minutes of playing we meet her. And we meet one of the most believable characters to ever exist in any game. Jenny's love for Jackie is the one thing that keeps him going, the name that gives him hope in the darkest places. And we pick up on that. And we long to protect her, just as Jackie would.

The Darkness on the other hand is a hissing whisper that seeks to take control of Jackie, mocking him at every turn, and thwarting his attempts to protect his loved one. In The Darkness, we find the true villain of the game. The one that seeks to destroy as many good people as possible in order to increase it's power,

Atmosphere 10/10
The atmosphere is what you make it. Which type of player will you be? The kind that uses the light to your advantage, charging your enemies, handguns blazing? The kind that uses The Darkness to your advantage, using your guns merely to destroy street lights and give your lethal powers full rain? Or are you a summoner, rising up to four Darklings to attack your enemies while you stand behind and laugh. Whichever atmosphere you choose to create, you will travel through streets that are overgrown with corruption and filth, showing New York as if it was a patient with a terminal cancer that cannot be cut away.

Graphics 10/10
The Graphics in the game are amazing and beautiful. The characters look believable; the enemies react when you shoot them in certain areas, crumpling to the ground when shot in the kneecap or dropping their weapon if they catch a bullet in the arm or shoulder or falling in. However one of the best parts of the graphics is watching the Darklings scurry around, happily maiming and killing both enemies and innocent bystanders and occasionally issuing forth such wonderful words of wisdom as... "Let's go shopping!" or "I like penguins!"

Camera Angles 9/10
The Game's a FPS. The angles are what you make them. Simply point in the direction you want to go and hope nothing comes up behind you to kill you.

Controls 10/10
The controls are simple to understand. Left trigger to fire your left handed weapon, right trigger for right handed weapon. Because I never really got the hang of pulling both triggers continually with forefingers, I tended to use the right handed weapon and then fire the left handed weapon as I reloaded. However it is The Darkness that must be paid attention to in the controls, offering four different kinds of attacks. The Creeping Darkness, a snake-like extension of The Darkness that can slither through vents, over areas unreachable by the much larger Jackie and sneak up behind enemies to bite their faces off. The Demon Arm a large spike that shoots from Jackie's body, impaling his enemy and killing them instantly. Also works very well for destroying the various light sources scattered throughout New York. The Darkness Guns are exactly that. Guns that use The Darkness itself for ammo and can tear through enemies as quickly as you can pull the trigger. And the Black Hole. Oh yes. Create your own little piece of nothingness and watch as your enemies scream and struggle desperately to escape it's unyielding tug before finally being pulled in and destroyed in a small part of collapsed space. Wickedly fun to use.

In Conclusion: The Darkness is one of those rare little gems that you find on every console. Others include Freedom Fighters (Teaching everyone that the key to victory always lies in making a base in your city's sewer system), Fatal Frame (Successfully terrifying horror fans since 2001) and Saint's Row (Proving that it's possible to take a Grand Theft Auto game and still make it original and enjoyable). However the reason I give it such praise is because it showed me that even the most hated genres can turn up wonderful treasures.

But like I've said before... the choice on whether you buy, rent or ignore this review completely... is up to you.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/15/08

Game Release: The Darkness (EU, 06/29/07)