The Greatness in The Darkness
By Goddess of Pointlessness Aug 2, 2007
Pros: Enthralling story and characters, wonderful graphics, great voice acting
Cons: Annoying little bugs throughout certain elements of gameplay, some might find it to be too short, Darklings extremely hard to control, gory
I picked up "The Darkness" as a rental from my favorite gaming store, excited to get it home and try it out. Four days later, I had the game completely beaten, but such a short length doesn't take away from how much fun and interesting ...this game was. First off, the graphics and the story in "The Darkness" are completely stellar. From the cut scenes featuring Jackie telling his tale from the actual gameplay itself, you will find yourself sucked into this dark environment almost immediately. The characters are also awesome, as are the voice talents who gave them the ability to speak. Jackie, the dark and broken-hearted anti-hero who seeks revenge on his Uncle Paulie, is a great character. The Darkness itself, the being who takes control of Jackie early on in the game, has an evil and benevolent personality as well and at certain points, hearing the voice of the creature may send a shiver through your body. Another pro to this game is using the Darkness itself when you allow it to take control of your body. You have the ability to use five powers...everything from Dark Tentacles to the dreaded Black Hole, which pretty much destroys any enemies you use it against. The abilities you have are quite fun to use and by the time you obtain Black Hole, you may find yourself sticking more to the Darkness powers than to your actual guns. This game will also be guaranteed to startle you at some points. Especially when visiting the bleak version of Hell (later to be known as something else as the story progresses). This dreamlike world will have horrible creatures popping up right in front of you or causing about ten angry enemies with guns to show up around you, which could definitely get your heart pumping. As for the cons...first off, this game does deserve the 'M' rating that it has received. Anyone squeamish about blood should avoid this title because there is a lot of murder and suffering to be found in this game. This could be a pro or a con, as I happen to like a bit of graphic violence in my games. Also, at a certain point in the game, you will be able to call minions forth to guide you in your quest. Called "Darklings", these guys do everything from mauling enemies to gunning them down and clearing a path for you. However, I found them to be very hard to control, so if you call them forth, don't expect them to obey your every command. As mentioned before, I beat this game in about 4 days, and I didn't even dedicate a lot of time to it. For those who like 100+ hours in their FPS genre, you may want to think about renting this one instead. And, enemy A.I., at many points, just isn't there. Sending out your Creeping Darkness appendage may either cause them to shoot at you...or just to gaze at you in confusion until you rip their heart out. Along those lines, one problem that I experienced was a very, very particular aiming system. You could aim for the crotch of the baddies or the heads and if you didn't have the allignment perfect, the hit wouldn't register. Enemies also don't get harder as the game progresses...even at the end, you're still going against the same bad guys, just with more powerful handguns. All in all, even with the setbacks of the game, I found it to be incredibly enjoyable and could not wait to beat it, just to find out how the story ended. And even the cons that I mentioned before take very little away from the gameplay...this game, even with a few issues, was still awesomely fun. I highly suggest that all fans of the FPS genre play this one, as it's incredibly unique and makes a great addition to the library of 360 games. Read more Less
Was this review helpful? Yes - No
