The Darkness 2 Review

I’m going to put it bluntly: If you enjoyed The Darkness in the slightest, then you will definitely like this game. It’s got everything from the original story, atmosphere and gameplay — just a bit more twisted than what was given to you in the first one. If that doesn’t pique your interest yet, then I guess I should elaborate on what makes this game work so well. But seriously, you should probably go buy this if you are a fan of the original.

Now, if you haven’t played the first one, there is a nice “Previously on…” recap of the events that lead up to where you are now. I’d strongly recommend you play The Darkness yourself, as it’s a great game. This is more to freshen people up on the plot, since it has been a few years since The Darkness was released. For those who have played it, as soon as the game starts up, you’ll notice a drastic change in the art style of the game. Instead of going the realism route that Starbreeze Studios went , Digital Extremes opted for more of a cel-shaded look to better match the comics. This pays off in the action scenes when using the darkness. The way the tentacles look, how the enemies are executed … everything is quite enjoyable to the eyes. Not sure what that says about my psyche that I enjoy dismembering my foes, but I’d rather not discuss that right now.

Actually, I would like to talk about the dismembering specifically. This game is delightfully gory. You can even rip spines out of enemies’ asses.  For the most part you’ll go out of your way to attack enemies with the tentacles instead of just shooting them outright. There are roughly half a dozen different execution animations that you’ll end up cycling throughout the game, all of which are a lovely blood-fest to watch. The executions are not only there to provide the game with it’s appropriate mature rating, they also serve a purpose for your powers: Every kill provides dark essence, which is then used to purchase upgrades for your characters. The more creative the kill, the more points you get. Since executions can only work on nearby, stunned enemies, they naturally provide the most dark essence points. These points can be spent on a variety of abilities and upgrades like weapons, armor and tentacle powers (including different bonuses for the execution moves).

He might be getting a little ahead of himself here...

The enemies are more varied than the first game. You’ll have the standard grunts, but there will also be people who will throw flash bangs (grenades) at you or use giant flood lights to prevent you from using the darkness. Other enemies seem to have their own darkness powers, which they can use to steal your weapons or teleport around the battlefield. In favor of the variety, the story takes a backseat here, as the narrative offers no explanation as to how these people acquired their own darkness ability apart from being part of a group called The Brotherhood that seeks to control the darkness.

The story is still enjoyable, even though it drives down the crazy road a bit more. While The Darkness was more about one supernatural person fighting a bunch of regular mobsters, this one felt like filling the entire story with the supernatural. There will be a few times where you’re wondering what the hell is going on and begin to question your reality within the game. I won’t spoil anything, but the answer to those questions is satisfactory. For those wondering, the game does tie up nicely at the end (for the given plot) but definitely hints that there’s going to be another game. I certainly hope that they make another one, as playing as the darkness has got to be one of the most satisfying experiences that I have had in gaming.

By far my most favorite aspect of the entire game: the banter between Jackie, the darkness and the darkling. The voice chosen for the darkness is by far one of the greatest voices. Numerous times the sound it makes sends chills down my spine. The darkness truly is a dark entity that Jackie is always in conflict with, despite relying on it for his battles. The darkling, on the other hand, provides some much needed comic relief in the game. He’ll always have something to say to Jackie during any encounter and can lighten up the mood even in the middle of a chaotic gun fight. He also serves as a useful distraction as he jumps on the enemy and starts harassing him.

Alas, the game is not perfect. Considering every button is used for this game, I kept getting frustrated because the game grabbed a weapon off of the ground instead of a heart to replenish my health. Also, when you’re not being hit with nonstop violence and gore, the game does throw the brakes on hard! What are essentially cut scenes are broken into walkable areas where you need to go find the people to talk to. For a game that all about over-the-top violence, being jerked out of that so suddenly just feels wrong. I JUST WANT TO RIP MORE SPINES OUT!!! Finally, the game is rather short. It can easily be beaten on a long Saturday afternoon, but it has a new game+ mode, allowing you to keep your upgrades to the next play-through, allowing you to feel like a bigger badass from the get go.

Seriously, if you’re still reading this and not convinced to get this game… then you must not love ripping a spine out of an enemy’s ass.

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