2Game or not 2Game? The Darkness II

2007’s The Darkness was a critical success for Starbreeze Studios, a developer previously famous for last-gen blockbuster The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Despite a few complaints, the tale of hitman Jackie Estacado waging a one-man war against the mob boss who killed his girlfriend proved incredibly popular, and not least because of the central conceit: possessed by a powerful demonic entity known as the Darkness, Jackie is able to combine gruesome supernatural abilities with a quick trigger-finger to lay waste to his enemies.

Thanks to the exceptional lighting effects originally developed for The Chronicles of Riddick and an oppressively grim atmosphere, The Darkness was incredibly immersive. It was also very affecting, thanks largely to a scene involving Jackie, a lovely lady named Jenny and classic movie To Kill a Mockingbird. Although some complained that The Darkness occasionally flew too close to out-and-out depressing, the overall experience was excellent.

The sequel, developed by Digital Extremes, is due for release next month. With the demo now available for download, we took it for a spin and dissected The Darkness II into five good points and five bad (as we previously did with Aliens: Colonial Marines). Here’s why we’re thrilled and not-so-thrilled about The Darkness II. Warning: there may be spoilers ahead…

WHY WE'RE EXCITED…

Not afraid of the dark, are you?
The Darkness II remains unflinchingly violent

Yes, that gleefully-brutal joy gained from ripping mobsters apart and eating their still-warm hearts is as prevalent in The Darkness II as it was in the first game. In the opening moments of the demo, we’re treated to Jackie being crucified (along with a graphic view of the stakes being driven through his palms), and an air-head bimbo getting a third eye socket blown through her skull whilst flirting over a dinner table. This, like The Darkness before it, is a truly adult game – and there will be sudden, often brutal shocks and messy deaths galore. The improved art style along with its cel-shaded, comic book sheen (achieved by hand-painting a vast portion of the gameworld) only helps to embolden the graphic blood and gore on display.
 

Dark matter
The source material is excellent

Based on the Top Cow comic created by Garth Ennis, David Wohl and Marc Silvestri, the universe of The Darkness II has no shortage of lore. Set two years after the events of Starbreeze’s game, The Darkness II picks up the story with protagonist Jackie Estacado now the Don of the Franchetti Family. Haunted by the violent murder of his girlfriend Jenny at the hands of his “Uncle” Paulie Franchetti (as seen during the events of The Darkness), Jackie has been trying to control the Darkness and perhaps rid himself of it completely. The enigmatic, scarred villain Victor Valente intends to take the Darkness out of Jackie on behalf of a mysterious sect of corrupted occultists known as the Brotherhood – but his violent, extremist methods have ignited a full-scale war against the Franchetti family, and Jackie will have to rely on his connection with the Darkness if he is to survive.

During the demo we learn that Valente has Jackie’s Aunt Sarah as his prisoner – and his threat to brutally murder her twists the knife in Jackie’s heart. He already failed to save Jenny, an innocent who died because of his actions, and now another one hangs in the balance. It’s safe to expect sudden twists and shock deaths throughout – especially given the fact that Marvel and Top Cow writer Paul Jenkins (who worked extensively on The Darkness comics) is the lead scribe on The Darkness II.
 

Shadow work
There’s a new upgrade system

Every enemy killed and every heart devoured increases Jackie’s “Darkness essence”, which is saved up and used at special fonts as currency to purchase upgrades and abilities that range from health upgrades to offensive and defensive talents. It adds some depth and player control to proceedings, since character progression will now be dependant in part upon the player’s upgrade choices.

Nowadays it’s common place to see minor role-playing elements incorporated into first-person shooters, and while it can subtract some of the immersion inherent with such a story-driven game as The Darkness II, it’s great to be able to shape Jackie to a certain extent around your preferred style of play, as opposed to having to bend to a set of predetermined rules. It’s not exactly “RPG-lite”, but it’s a welcome addition that increases replayability and gives you a reason to rip out all those hearts – y’know, besides your own sick tendencies.
 

The dark knight
Combat has been refined

While combat was a large part of The Darkness, it was a little stale because you could only develop skills as the storyline dictated. The darklings (Jackie’s little demonic “helpers”) were a finite resource, the Darkness tentacles and the “creeping dark” weren’t freely available outside of combat situations and you couldn’t mix blasting with tentacle work. Now, the “quad-wielding” ability allows you to control both Darkness arms and wield a pair of pistols all at the same time. This is made of awesome – especially when you consider that the left-hand snake-headed tentacle can be used to grab and throw objects whilst the right-hand beast is used to smash and slash at whatever lies in your path.

Using LB you’re able to pick up signposts and car doors to impale and dismember your unfortunate opponents – or pick up the goons themselves and sling them around – while RB can break down fences, smash walls and slice mobsters into lumps of bloody gristle. Combined with Darkness powers that increase the damage of your bullets or allow you to create mini-explosions by supercharging the extracted hearts of your foes, these abilities make combat in The Darkness II an exciting, varied and, above all, visceral affair. The “light vs. dark” mechanic plays a greater part here, too, as standing in the light will now not only cause the Darkness to retreat into Jackie, but will also disorient the player by making the screen shake and de-saturate, and actively weaken Estacado.
 

Heart of darkness
Jenny is still in it!

Haunted at every turn by the spirit of the girl he loved but couldn’t save, Jackie suffers regular hallucinations of Jenny throughout the demo (and likely throughout the full game). Whether he’s really being visited from beyond the grave or the visions of Jenny are simply being created by the Darkness to torment him remains to be seen (we’re guessing a mixture of both), but the fact that she features at all means more of the emotionally-charged storytelling that made The Darkness so compelling. Very few people who played the first game and indulged in the “couch scene” with Jenny would have witnessed her death without feeling some measure of shock – and her effect on Jackie’s mental and emotional state will once again be a driving force in the narrative.
 

WHY WE'RE NOT SO EXCITED…

Not for the feint
The Darkness II will be too gruesome for some

While we here at Made2Game are grizzled videogame veterans who can witness the brutal murder of literally hundreds of NPCs without batting an eyelid, some people still flinch away from bucketfuls of claret gouting all over the screen. With executions that see you ripping out throats, your darkling peeing acid all over an enemy or your big demonic tentacles actually tearing people into bloody ribbons, some players will find it simply too gruesome – particularly those who come to The Darkness II without having played the original. Brutal cutscenes like the aforementioned crucifixion and bimbo-blasting also have the potential to shock and revile the feint of heart.
 

The Darkness ain’t gonna feed itself, dick-tits!
The new point-scoring system might ruin the tension

Walking hand-in-hand with the new upgrade system is the necessity for The Darkness II to have its own version of experience points, Darkness essence. Now, we’ve no problem with earning said essence in return for messy, creative skills and using the environment to perforate goons – but there’s a place for announcements like “Impaled! +10” and a game that relies on atmosphere and immersion as much as The Darkness II is certainly not it. It could have been a lot more subtle, but perhaps in an effort to encourage players to experiment and enjoy all the gruesome animations they painstakingly created, Digital Extremes have injected a little bit of Bulletstorm into their game. We can understand why, and can even see the merit in it – but we can’t help but feel that we just don’t need it.
 

A game of shadows
The darkling may get tiresome

As opposed to the trio of murderous imps that Jackie could summon in the last game, The Darkness II features only one darkling – a little, Union Jack-shirted nutcase who delights in gouging out eyes, urinating acid all over people and generally being an evil menace. He’s present whenever the Darkness manifests – which in this game is almost all the time – and while he certainly has his uses (including a function as a long-range scout and stealth buddy that Jackie can possess), his repetitive phrases began to grate even while playing the demo and those amusing animations where he leaps onto an enemy’s back or else takes a toxic tinkle on their face will only remain entertaining for a certain length of time. We’re not knocking his usefulness, but he could become irksome after a while.
 

Why so serious?
There’s a very grim and depressing atmosphere throughout

The Darkness was, at times, a horribly depressing game. From Jenny’s sudden death to the crushingly oppressive gloom of the Otherworld, it just wasn’t a game to inspire joy-joy feelings in those who played it. Similarly to the Condemned titles, the world that encompasses The Darkness II is grisly, gritty and grim – and any attempts to lighten the atmosphere, either through the darkling’s silliness, the new upgradable abilities or the slightly-unnecessary trick-shot kill system, will actually work against the immersion. The Darkness II is meant to be dark, adult and gloomy and it does it incredibly well, but it will almost-certainly turn some players away.
 

Only breath and shadow
Repetition could become an issue

Although the demo is only half an hour’s worth of action, it reveals little beyond murdering people and dismembering their corpses. Although there’s a good selection of abilities to unlock and the plot will likely rocket along at an entertaining pace, the action that forms the backbone of a game like The Darkness II will need to throw fresh ideas at us regularly. These days we’re used to shooters like Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3 and Bulletstorm hurling high-octane set-pieces and novel mechanics at us left, right and centre – all the gruesome executions in the world won’t keep us interested if we’re splitting our time between running around nighttime streets or navigating World War 1 trenches for 8 hours straight as we were in The Darkness. If that restaurant scene that opens the demo is any indication of things to come (and we have to believe it is) then a lack of variation is unlikely to be a problem – but repetition has ruined many a good game and a title that shows as much genuine promise as The Darkness II deserves more than that. We have faith, but we’ve been let down before.

So, there’s our tuppence worth. Have you played The Darkness II demo? If so, what are your thoughts? What did you think of the original, and how do you think the sequel will measure up? We’d love to hear your comments and opinions, so drop them in the box below and we’ll get back to you when we’ve finished decapitating gangsters with our giant demon arms.
 

The Darkness II is developed by Digital Extremes and published by 2K Games. The Darkness II is scheduled for release on February 10th.

Words by Mick Fraser (Twitter: @Jedi_Beats_Tank)

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