Review: The Darkness (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. Starbreeze Studios, 2K Games.)

If there's one inescapable truth in gaming, it's that licensed games, be they TV, movie, or comic book adaptations usually tend to suck. There are of course always exceptions to the rule such as the recent Scarface (2006) effort, which avoided categorisation as a crappy movie tie-in, by being a pretty solid GTA clone with some good ideas thrown into the mix. Then we’re subjected to stagnant bilge like the new Transformers game and we remember why licences receive such a bad rap in the first place.
So it's with pleasure that we report that The Darkness, based upon a cult Top Cow comic book is actually a really good game. You may frown upon learning that the game is yet another entry in the overly crowded First Person Shooter category. But wait a minute, because The Darkness features some distinctive gameplay devices that raise this above the usual sub-par fare that we’ve come to expect from lazy shooters content to trade upon the same unimaginative shooting galleries starring legions of cloned goons.
Playing as young Mafioso hitman Jackie Estacado the game hurls you headfirst into the action riding in the back seat of a car with two fellow wiseguys up front. It’s a breathless introduction, grabbing your attention and immediately making you want to pursue the narrative. If the game doesn’t manage to live up to its explosive opening sequence it’s because there’s an interesting story going on here, with Jackie experiencing some big changes with the advent of his 21st birthday. You see, our hero is the host for a malignant force called (you guessed it) The Darkness and as such he finds himself developing strange, macabre powers, which manifest themselves in the freakish tentacles and toothy heads that sprout from under his big, leather trench coat. Initially this allows you to send out a snaking head to scout out ahead, crawl through small gaps and bite off the faces of unsuspecting villains. Don’t forget to devour your enemy’s juicy hearts too as this builds up your darkness level increasing the potency of your power. Keep chowing down on the aortic pumps and it’s not long before you’re running enemies through with a whip-like tentacle, tossing cars and other debris through the air or sucking hapless henchmen into portals, spitting them out deader than they were before. The Darkness succeeds in being compulsively playable due to these inventive abilities at your disposal and the opportunities for mucking about that they represent. We spent ages just flinging dead bodies around, seeing if we could roast them over a flaming oil drum or whether we could get them over a roof. Yes and yes in case you were wondering.
However, clever powers count for nothing in a FPS if the shooting is broken and thankfully Starbreeze’s previous experience developing The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004) shines throughout The Darkness. Firstly, there’s a decent range of weapons to wield, including a pair of funky darkness guns and most importantly the gunplay doesn’t disappoint. Squeezing off a few rounds is as enjoyable as it should be and dual wielding twin pistols and uzis is exactly as you’d expect. Our only qualm would be the omission of being able to mix types of gun when dual wielding as we’d have loved to rock an uzi and a pistol at the same time, but then you can’t have it all.
Graphically, The Darkness more than lives up to its title. It’s dark all right and you’ll need to keep it that way in order to summon your demonic innards. When exposed to light, you’ll hear your slithering buddies hiss like a steak on the barby. That’s your cue to extinguish any sources of illumination in the vicinity, an activity that can rapidly prove tiresome after smashing your 900th light bulb. Return to an area and you’ll find that an overzealous caretaker has ran around replacing all of the lights you broke meaning you have to bust them all over again. A tiny niggle rather than a game breaking flaw, but irritating nonetheless.

Atmosfear
The Darkness drips with urban gothic menace as you skulk around the deserted nighttime streets of New York. Lighting is spot-on as you cast tall shadows on the walls and hide away in the shadows to replenish your health. However, the streets can appear a bit samey after a while, with little to separate them. If each of the districts were unnamed, you’d have an extremely hard time finding your way round, as there are no distinctive landmarks or spots lending the area its own identity. There’s the graffiti of Grinder’s Lane, the Church of Trinity Cemetery and the orphanage at St. Mary’s but that’s it. All of the other areas look virtually identical. Between the missions you’re presented with hub area where you’re unable to call upon the darkness and your guns remain firmly holstered. It’s in these talk only subway sections that the game’s momentum grinds to a halt as you’re forced to slowly plod between rubbish NPCs to get the next part of the game going. Try interacting with the majority of these characters and you’ll be met with a boring stock phrase like “We good?”, “Everybody good?”, “You good?” It’s lazy scripting when that’s the best you can come up with for your peripheral characters, especially when every other cast member is so well catered for.
Another thing the game could do without are the patience testing loading screens featuring Estacado spouting some sort of exposition or aside. These aren’t that bad an idea until they start repeating and it’s upon hearing Jackie’s story about racing 90mph in a taxi with his buddy ‘Crazy Abdul’ for the 9th time that you’ll get up to put the kettle on every time.
Another shortcoming is the game’s slender run time, which clocks in at about a good ten hours, meaning we had the game finished inside a week. Usually, there’s a reason to go back to a game like this, but there’s little replay incentive beyond the usual collectible concept art and other gubbins. There’s a perfectly serviceable online multiplayer, which extends the game’s lifespan slightly but there are other more enticing online pursuits currently available.

The Darkness stands out as a largely well thought out and clever use of a comic book license that is for the most part an extremely fun and interesting shooter with a twist. With a mesmerizing, cinematic narrative that grips right from the off, The Darkness features some of the best voice acting we’ve ever encountered in a videogame. Its flaws are numerous, but none are so significant that they manage to ruin what turns out to be one of the most enjoyable and compelling games currently available. It may not be as accomplished a blaster as the likes of Half Life or BioShock but it’s still more than deserving of your attention.
Submit to The Darkness: 8/10