Embrace the Darkness!

     The Darkness. Many people fear it while others want to embrace its powers. If you're the latter of the two you'll love this game. I'm talking about The Darkness II. It's been out for about a month, but with so many gamers still playing Skyrim, MW3, ME3, and other blockbuster titles I feel that this game kind of got overlooked. This game follows the events of the first game and you continue to play as mobster boss Jackie Estacado. For several years Jackie has been able to keep his dark powers under control until an attack by a sinister organization brings your inner demon (literally) back to life.

     To me, I thought the story in this game was good. Throughout the game Jackie has visions of his lost love Jenny. The developers did a good job of portraying the sadness and despair Jackie feels from loosing her. This is the main drive in the story, but of course you have the evil organization who wants to steal the darkness powers from Jackie. All together this makes for a good and different story than your mainstream military or alien invasion fps games. 

     The combat in The Darkness II feels much more polished and complete than in the first game. You still have your two demon arms as well as your human arms. This allows you to duel wield guns while attacking enemies with your demon arms. One thing I like about this is that both the demon arms function differently. The left demon arm allows you to pick up objects like car doors, lamp posts, and other objects at (or through) your enemies. It also will eat the hearts of enemies to heal you. The right demon arm will act as a whip and let you flail enemies into the air and basically slash them into pieces. If you can't already tell, this game is pretty violent and full of gore.

     Just so you don't feel that all this slashing and heart eating is senseless, the developers have crafted a nice point or experience feature to your kills. The more creative you are the more points you'll earn. These points, or essence, are used to unlock new abilities in various skill trees. This adds a slight rpg element and gives the player a reason to want to progress with their character. Graphically the game has taken a turn to a more cell shaded, comic book feel and I think it works very well. Environments and characters are all very colorful. Voice acting overall is pretty good, but it is Mike Patton's amazing voice talent as The Darkness that steals the show!

     The Darkness II also has a pretty cool multiplayer mode. Instead of taking the same route as the first game, the developers have made a co-op multiplayer experience. You can play as one of four of Jackie's henchmen who also have Darkness powers. The missions you are sent on tie in with the main story line and will add even more hours of fun to the game. My only complaints with the game is that sometimes the enemies seem to be on the rinse and repeat cycle. Also, the campaign is a little short but you can replay it with all your earned powers if you want. I don't see this game winning "best shooter of the year" awards, but it's definitely a fun game that you should take a look at.

Final Verdict: 8.5/10

Written by: Alter Ego 83