Review: The Darkness 2
The Darkness was a surprise hit from Starbreeze that endeared itself to a fan base that has been baying for another chance to step into the shiny Mafia shoes of Jackie Estacado and Digital Extremes take on the mantle. Having worked on the multiplayer portion of Bioshock 2 and the slightly underrated Dark Sector, there were a few concerns that they couldn’t carry the torch of The Darkness in a way that would please fans of the comics and the original game. How did they fare?
From the opening scene, it’s clear that the dark and gritty tone of the original is still very prevalent. Jackie, who is now head of the Franchetti crime family following the brutal trail of revenge he tore across New York, has been suppressing the power of The Darkness for two years. Despite his reluctance to use the power of the Darkness, it’s the only thing that will save him after an attempt on his life.
The Darkness tears a bloody swathe through the scum, and it’s business as usual; whacking mobsters and cutting them to pieces. It’s not long before a new threat reveals itself in the shape of the Brotherhood, an ancient organisation that was sworn to protect the world from the Darkness, but has now become obsessed with using the power of the Darkness for their own devious purposes.
The storyline is cut and dry; revenge, loss and violent rage are the main motifs in The Darkness 2, but it doesn’t need much more in the way of motivation. Despite the change of pace from the original, the Darkness 2 manages to incorporate the same touching moments that we witnessed in the original. While not as effective for new comers, there are plenty of subtle nods to events in the previous game.
The story campaign will take around six or seven hours to complete, and while that may sound short, there is plenty to kill. Its inventive combat system, that brings true quad-wielding to the forefront, allows the player to become an instrument of doom. The system works extremely well to the point where it’s possible to reload a gun, shoot another, knock an enemy to the ground and throw another back at his buddies simultaneously.
On paper it sounds hectic, but it works. The movements are fluid and almost graceful, in a mass murdering kind of way. It’s a system that becomes second nature after half an hour of play and when complimented by the upgrade system, the player becomes capable of pulling of some really insane kills and handling any situation the game throws them.
Black holes, execution upgrades and more practical gun skills are available for the price of dark essence. This is gathered by murdering your foes in the most inventive way possible. Death is a by product of everything you do, but how you get there is a matter of taste. Executions are gruesome to the point of disgusting and not for those with a weak stomach.
One of the major issues with gameplay is the repetition of enemy types. Constantly handling the same groups of enemies can become tedious, but the variety of killing techniques keeps combat rolling on. The game is punctuated with boss fights that, for a change, never seem unfair and are not so tough that they break the flow of the rest of the game.
Visually speaking, the change from gritty realism to the format that Digital Extremes have called Graphic Noire has worked really well and it helps tone down the level of gratuitous gore to a point that’s more acceptable rather than being over the top. The same issue with gameplay plagues the visuals, as a lack of enemy variety can mean that it can look quite samey from time to time, though it’s not a deal breaker.
Dingy pool halls, a seedy brothel and a carnival fairground are just some of the locales that you’ll make a gory mess of. Environments are detailed playgrounds of destruction, with a slew of usable objects like poles and blades, all useful for slicing and pinning enemies to walls.
The character models are highly detailed, and that’s a good thing considering how close-up you’ll see some of your foes before their spine is ripped from their anus. They call that an assecution. The graphic noir art style works extremely well and compliments the franchises comic history. Any doubts about the new art direction are dispelled quickly.
The Darkness itself is voiced once more by Faith No More front man, Mike Patton. His performance leads the cast in a fantastic display of voice acting that’s rare for the FPS genre. Accompanying the stellar acting are all the squelchy, gory splatterings of blood and bits. It can be quite sickening at times as your enemies gargle and scream through blood choked throats, but it’s more than effective.
As well as the single player element, the player can take on the Vendettas campaign or the Hit list missions. This becomes an extension of the campaign from the view of a group of Jackie’s stereotyped hired guns. It can be played solo offline, but where would the fun be in that?
The secondary campaign follows Big Jimmy, Shoshanna, JP Dumond and Inugami, each carrying a heavy stereotype and a weapon infused with darkness powers. It’s a great addition to the single player element that fills in plot holes that are mentioned in the campaign. You’ll see darklings running amok and black holes pulling victims to their death, all of which leads to hectic and violent fun.
The Hit Lists are a range of bite-sized missions taken partially from the Vendettas co-op, and are nice little time wasters if you need to collects dark essence to build your characters skills. In saying that, the skill trees in co-op are small in comparison to the single player experience, and on occasion focus on team specific bonuses.
The online aspect feels like a natural addition that’s not tacked on and it’s worth your time once you’ve completed the main campaign. It’s designed for multiple players so played with friends it’s a lot of fun, but played solo and it can be a pain.
The whole package delivers short bursts of carnage, violence and some genuinely touching moments. Each mode compliments the other and provides lashings of bloody good fun whatever way you decide to play.
The Darkness 2 is a worthy successor to Starbreeze Studio’s classic, and while it may seem too ‘extreme’ a change for fans of the original, it’s more direct approach to combat is satisfyingly cathartic, so embrace the darkness and revel in the massacre.
Overall: 8.5/10