Product Description Developer Starbreeze Studios seem to have found a niche for themselves creating top notch video games based on licensing tie-ins that hardly anyone has ever heard of. The Chronicles of Riddick may have been a film flop but the game was one of the best first person shooters on the original Xbox. This follow-up is based on an obscure comic book about a Mafia hitman with the rather handy ability to conjure up the eponymous Darkness source of seemingly unlimited demonic power. To some degree the game can be played like a standard first person shooter, with main character Jackie Estacado proving a dab hand with a wide variety of standard pistols, machine guns and shotguns. The Darkness powers though are obviously the games real draw, with the ability to use super strong tentacles to fling around objects in the impressively interactive game world or act as a shield or even spy camera. The most interesting of the Darkness abilities though is summoning special imps called darklings. These come in twenty different types, from interrogator to kamikaze to decoy, and ensure theres always more than one way to tackle any obstacle. The only problem with the Darkness as a power is that it doesnt work in strong light, which is where the need for more traditional weaponry comes in especially when shooting out lights to get your demonic groove back on. The graphics are superb (The Chronicles of Riddick still looks better than many low end 360 games) and despite its obscure origins the Darkness itself turns out to be the most interesting thing to happen to first person shooters in years. Harrison Dent .co.uk Review The Darkness video game is based on TopCow's cult comic hit of the same name that was written by famed comic-book author, Paul Jenkins, and co-created by famed comic-book artist, Marc Silvestri. The story for The Darkness video game was also written in collaboration with Paul Jenkins.The Darkness is a gritty, first-person, action-adventure game with a horror twist. On mafia hitman Jackie Estacado's 21st birthday, the awesome and terrible powers of the Darkness awaken within him allowing Jackie to wreak havoc on his enemies. In the game, players experience extremely intense and immersive cinematic action. Players will have an array of dark and other-worldly powers available, including cannibalizing the corpses of slain victims and transforming them into Darklings - impish demonites that commit unspeakable acts.
V**S
Brilliant in every way
I have played countless games in the last 30 years, I rebought this one to play on my xbox X, wow is all I can say, perfect game in every way, story, characters, difficulty, setting, etcThis is better than the majority of games I've played this generation, I just finished playing Horizon zero dawn and that was boring and dull compared to the darkness.For best enjoyment play it on Hard.I love how you have to make phone calls, and use the subway and figure out where to go and what to do, this is great, I hate modern gaming where everything is a point on a map with an arrow telling you where to go at all times.Now all I want in the backwards xbox One is Max Payne 3 and Ill be super happy. Along with Darkness and Alan wake, those are my 3 favourite games of the past 20 years.
P**G
Unfulfilled potential
This is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination but it lacks the sort of depth it seems to try so hard to achieve. I'd imagined a Hitmanesque escapade, roaming New York streets finding out who I had to track down and kill and why etc, and on this level it just doesn't deliver. It has lots of features that are intended to add richness and depth, such as TV channels that show movies in full (a nice gimmick but unless you want to watch the movie a little pointless after a short time) but then the TVs are the only things you can interact with in an entire apartment. Apart from sometimes being able to flush the loo.The Darkness element to the game, aside from being gratuitously gory, adds another element to the gameplay. When you first encounter it it is shocking and unpleasant, then when you get the hang of it it's a whole new way of approaching levels. However, despite this feature, the best tactic for most of the maps is simply to hang back and pick people out with headshots. So an interesting element but ultimately a little redundant later on.The Darkness really doesn't do anything particularly badly. So why the three-star rating? Because it's painfully obvious while playing it that it intended to do so much more. It wants to be an interactive movie with complex gameplay and lots of points of interaction on the map but it just doesn't deliver on this level. It's quickly apparent that what you're actually playing is just another shooter, with a few extra nasty weapons bolted on, but ultimately no better than any others out there. To be honest in many ways it feels more like a PS2/Xbox game than an Xbox 360 title - were it not for the light and dark effects I suspect it could have been ported over fairly harmlessly.That said, some of the levels are a lot of fun and there are some genuinely great moments in the game. If you like running around and savagely killing lots of people and eating their hearts then this is for you. If you like your story-driven games to really let you play a part in the story, then look elsewhere - this one's got the cut scenes but the gameplay is fundamentally very simple.
A**G
Fantastic game from the good days
Pretty good gameplay, a story you will want to follow and great atmosphere. This is from back when games still had lots of depth and quality. The attention to detail. Also back when developers really enjoyed making games too and were passionate about what they were creating. The voice acting is also superb and I love the creative loading screens.I also wonder if I'm the only one who noticed that the Metal music kicks in when you bring out the Darkness in a fight. One of the coolest touches ever.
M**Y
One Star
Game has a bug in it, couldn't get to the end.
L**D
A fairly good game.
I got this game because of recommendation by a friend. At first I was rather apprehensive about it and didn't really take to it, but after playing the first couple of missions and unlocking a few of the abilities for the darkness I started to enjoy it a lot more. A great game if you like tactical killing and shooting games.
R**B
Didn't live up to the hype
Finishing this game was a chore and if it wasn't for the Xbox gamer score I probably would have stopped early on in the game. I wish you could erase games from your history but alas you can't so I felt obliged to finish.Once you'd learnt a new power it quickly became old and the only motivation was leading up to a new one. I also found the speeches during the loading times (of which there were far too many) immensely annoying. I won't be buying The Darkness 2.
T**N
I am the darkness
Good classic !
M**S
Great game, looks real good too!
Well, The Darkness is a FPS with a twist.. Violent, gory and very atmospheric! I am really into this game and if you like FPS and crazy violence like ripping out the hearts of your victims and eating them you'll love this game. Graphics are superb aswell. Top marks from me!
