The Darkness II Review

One of the first things I noticed about The Darkness II was thematically how much it has in common with the Max Payne series: both titles are crime dramas featuring protagonists tortured by the loss of their loved ones, struggling with their inner “demons”; both characters use extensive narration, Payne through monologued comics and Jackie Estacado through interrogation room soliloquies; both are very cinematic, with actual gameplay segments being relatively short; both have an incredible amount of detail, particularly with background dialogue; and both protagonists have access to otherworldly powers, Payne with his bullet-time and Estacado with The Darkness. The level progression even follows similar beats, such as fighting your way through a subway, exploring an abandoned fun house/carnival, and laying siege to mansions. This isn’t a condemnation of The Darkness II, but merely an interesting aside. For The Darkness II is a strong enough game to stand apart from other titles in the genre, as well as apart from its predecessor.

The game takes place two years after the events of the first The Darkness title. Jackie has used his powers to become head of a crime family, but still reeling from the loss of his beloved Jenny, has since had his dark powers sealed away with the help of an eccentric occultist. Of course, that wouldn’t make for a fun game in a title about demonic magic powers, so Jackie is again the target of a failed assassination. During the getaway his powers return and the game quickly becomes a fantastic slaughter of mobsters and cultists. Really, it’s fantastic. The gameplay of The Darkness II allows you to do such things as use your demon arm to impale people upon walls with pieces of rebar, or tear off grating from ventilation shafts in order to grab the fan to throw at enemies across rooftops, slicing them in half. You can even slap people up into the air with your other demon arm only to send them flying backwards with a shotgun blast.

It’s as if you’re playing a first-person shooter with four arms, each offering a different way to slay enemies. Your human arms hold your guns, allowing you to use rifles or dual-wield smaller weapons, as per traditional FPS rules – compared to the first game, guns this time around are a lot more useful and interesting. Your Darkness powers grant you an additional two tentacle arms: your left is used for grabbing objects and characters (who you can then execute in increasingly violent ways) or throwing them, while your right is used for melee attacks, aimed with the joystick. You also have a Darkling companion, an imp-like creature that helps you on the battlefield; you can throw him at enemies, and at times even control him directly. Furthermore, you have access to a few other powers activated with the face buttons: Swarm, which stuns enemies with a cloud of insects, and Gun Channeling, which lets you fire Darkness-infused bullets through walls. The powers are acquired and upgraded by spending points at specific checkpoints. Points are earned by collecting relics throughout levels and killing enemies in grotesque ways – the more violent the kill, the more points earned.

There are a couple of problems that come with having so many awesome abilities. For one, it’s overwhelming at first. When it comes together, you feel like a proper god of darkness, but when it doesn’t, you feel ashamed. Also, the Darkness only works in the shade; it’s especially embarrassing if you’re not paying attention, step into a light source, get blinded, have your powers recede, drop whatever weapon your demon arm is holding, and get shot or clubbed to death while you’re backpedaling away, firing your guns wildly.

The other problem is that once you get used to all this power the game becomes too easy. Even on harder difficulties, you won’t find yourself terribly hard-pressed. Worse, enemy AI isn’t that advanced. There are many enemy types, which keeps the game interesting, but each one behaves in a very specific way; once you’ve learned their patterns you won’t be challenged. This is especially disappointing as the game is rather short. It can be prolonged by listened to all the background dialogue, or exploring Jackie’s mansion between missions, but once you get to the meat of the game you’ll find it’s over all to soon. This is due in part to the linear nature of the levels, unlike the open world design of the first The Darkness. The game does come with a New Game + option, but it only makes the short length more obvious, as you’ll find yourself skipping conversations to get back to the fight. New Game + doesn’t add much other than the chance to replay the campaign with all the abilities you unlocked.

Multiplayer extends the life of the game somewhat, and unlike the first title, is fun and doesn’t feel like an afterthought. You choose from one of four characters, and though they aren’t as fleshed out as Jackie, they each have their own backstory, unique attack, and limited Darkness powers. The multiplayer portion has its own campaign that runs concurrent to the main story, complete with its own cutscenes and bosses, though the singleplayer maps are reused. Afterwards, there are a number of Hit List missions that can be completed, many needing two or more players. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun, and some of the abilities are a blast to upgrade and use (particularly Inugami’s sword ability). Unfortunately, the missions are short and all of them can be completed in a single night without trouble. Difficulty is a problem too, as four super-powered assassins make short work of enemies even on the hardest setting. The different characters add some replayability, but their ability trees are much smaller than Jackie’s and quickly maxed out. There’s no other scoring or ranking system, meaning the replay value comes primarily from how much you enjoy the co-op. Though there’s no split-screen option, meaning you can only play by yourself or online with friends, the multiplayer winds up being a huge improvement from the first game and a welcome addition.

The Darkness II is also a treat to play thanks to its design. The sound arrangement is great, with wonderful voice performances (major and minor characters included), music, and effects. Add that to the gorgeously rendered cel-shaded graphics, and you’ve got a game that is extremely aesthetically pleasing. Aside from the whole demons vs. mobsters angle, the story isn’t the most original: your magic powers are better than this other guy who also has magic powers, so you fight back as he attacks you and your family in an attempt to steal them. However, there’s a twist in the game that makes you question whether the whole thing is real or a figment of a diseased mind (to an extent, the game lets you choose as well). The most interesting bits of story were the lore learned from the optional relics found throughout levels. The ending was intriguing, though I’ve heard complaints that it was a cop-out or came out of no where. I disagree, and felt the ending made sense thematically. It’s telegraphed pretty heavily in the data gained from relics though, so if you aren’t collecting them I could see how you might miss it. Playing New Game + is interesting in that it becomes apparent that The Darkness was trying to warn you about the ending all along.

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Digital Extremes have put out a wonderful title with The Darkness II. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a notch above most games currently on the market. It’s fun to play, looks and sounds good, and has a solid multiplayer mode. The biggest knocks against it are its short length and easy difficulty. There’s a lot to like here though, underneath all the blood and cel-shaded guts, especially if you’re a fan of Max Payne-esque crime dramas.

The Darkness 2 was reviewed with a copy rented through GameAccess.ca.