The Darkness 2 Review

Jackie Estacado is back in full force with this year's sequel to the Darkness, and after spending a week with this game I can confidently say that this is one roller coaster ride that you don't want to miss.  Despite the fact that The Darkness 2 is a basically linear, story driven first person shooter, it proves to be the most entertaining new release that I have played in 2012 so far.  Let's pick it apart though, shall we?

Story/Visuals 

If you didn't play The Darkness, there's no need to feel like you are out of the loop.  The Darkness 2 does a very good job of bringing you up to speed on the history of Jackie E. and his cohorts through in game dialogue and a few flashbacks that don't hit you over the head with rehashed plot.  Even though The Darkness 2 is a direct continuation of its predecessor, Jackie and the ever present "Darkness" have been pitted against a new enemy and the story stands up on its own without much help from the original.  The in game dialogue and chapter end vignettes are very well scripted, and the voice work is convincing despite the fact that most of Jackie's mob buddies sound a bit like canned, Italian stereotypes.  However, when someone mentions "this thing" of Jackie's, they don't mean the mafia.

I was just admiring the.....AHEM......art style.  Yeah....that's it.

Of course, The Darkness 2 follows the lore of its comic book counterpart, and the presentation style does a better job of pulling this off than most video games or even movies have managed to do before.  The world that Jackie lives in is gritty and visceral, and the depths of his own psyche are even more dangerous.  The Darkness 2 is not without its plot twists and turns, and the story will often leave you scratching your head, but don't let that dissuade you from playing it through to the end.  Eventually, everything makes complete sense.

In keeping with the comic book presentation of Jackie's story, The Darkness 2 is rendered with the cell shaded, hard outlined visual effect that many other titles have used in the past.  At first I was skeptical about what effect this would have on the immersion effect of TD2, but it really works for this game.  All of the hard edges are softened somewhat by the textures and lighting that are used to build the game's environment.  It never felt like the game looked too cartoony or that the color palette betrayed the darker tone that the game was trying to convey.

The art style did tone down the effect of the extreme brutality a bit which isn't really a complaint.  Most games put too much emphasis on making viscera too realistic while abandoning any sound reason for including such gratuitous imagery in the first place, but TD2 finds balance in this area.  TD's animation system helps tie things together nicely by keeping things reasonably realistic, but by adding a bit of visual flair that ratchets up the entertainment value at the same time. 

Gameplay

It um......doesn't end well for this guy.

TD2 is technically just another linear FPS, but having the "Darkness" on your side adds a dimension to the control scheme that other titles lack.  As you progress through through the story mode, every kill builds Jackie's essence pool which can be used to buy attributes or level up existing abilities.  TD2 uses an attribute wheel that is broken into 4 sections.  One section essentially builds your attack powers, another increases the amount of health or ammo you are awarded for specific kills.  The other two sections either augment existing powers or open up style techniques that increase essence output. 

Jackie's darkness tentacles are responsible for adding the most variety to the way TD2 plays as they provide three dimensions of attack during any battle.  The left tentacle is used to grab enemies or environmental elements that can be thrown or manipulated.  The right tentacle is assigned for melee functions and executions.  The combination of the tentacles with Jackie's ability to dual wield a variety of weaponry brings more excitement to every battle sequence.  Also, TD2's dual wielding function is probably the most effective use of the mechanic that I have experienced in an FPS since Halo 2.  Whether you are toting dual 9mm handguns, twin SMGs, or a combination of both the results are more than satisfying.  On top of that, Jackie moves the pistols around and even crosses his arms after prolonged gunfire further enhancing the coolness factor.

Boss battles are few and far between in TD2, but the sheer number of varied enemies you confront in later parts of the game fills the gap nicely.  The bosses you do come across will test your mastery of the "Darkness" as most of them know about your aversion to light, and the arenas force you to choose your plan of attack carefully at higher difficulty settings.  The only weakness that I found in this area was that by the time you reach the end of the game, your darkness powers will likely be leveled up to the point that later boss battles won't feel as challenging as the earlier ones.  In fact, the final boss battle provided little to no challenge when compared with most of the normal enemy confrontations throughout the campaign.  Then again, I suppose this reflects Jackie's growing mastery of the "Darkness" itself.

Final Thoughts

The Darkness 2 is just what gamers need to spice up the otherwise dull winter 2012 release schedule.  The combination of solid storytelling with multi-dimensional first person gameplay goes a long way toward making this title a tough one to top for this year's release lineup, but TD2 is far from perfect.  I didn't experience any frustrating glitches or frame rate hiccups, but TD2's hangups come from its own action's fluctuating peaks and valleys.  During the first few chapters of the game, players are encouraged to explore Jackie's powers, and while enemies are challenging they never felt overwhelming.  As a result, TD2 gives you a chance to experiment and acclimate yourself with its control scheme.  In later parts of the game, it just felt like there were so many enemies in various points that you are more likely to hack and slash wildly to survive the onslaught rather than playing strategically. The effect is short lived, however, as the game's ending resets the pacing for the last few chapters. 

Nonetheless, The Darkness 2 provides everything I look for in a worthwhile FPS campaign.  Jackie isn't your typical silent protagonist, and it is clear that the game developers want their audience to connect with the struggles he is experiencing.  The story mode takes around 7 or 8 hours to complete if you take the time to collect all of the dark relics hidden throughout, and the ending suitably ties up the story while leaving the option for another sequel wide open.  The game does feature a multiplayer mode called "Vendettas" that allows players to play through co-op missions, but I haven't had the chance to dig into this mode yet.  Expect to see a gameplay video that highlights Vendetta mode later this month.  It's also nice to see that once the game is completed, you have the choice to select a "New Game +" option that allows you to play through the game with all of the abilities you unlocked at the expense of erasing your existing save file. 

Long story short, The Darkness 2 is one game that I'm glad I didn't pass up this season.  Although TD2 may seem like a vanilla shooter on the surface, there is a level of potential depth here that will keep you coming back for more darkness time and time again.

It ain't easy having hair like this.

Overall Score: 9/10 (Great)

Look for reviews of Syndicate and Asura's wrath in the weeks to come.  Also, we should be posting some gameplay videos in the near future. Until then, keep your thumbs limber my friends.

~KGB