Meet Jackie Estacado – romantic, traditionalist, brooder, hitman.
See, ol' Jackie boy here is turning 21, and his adoptive uncle, Frankie Franchetti, is gunning to make sure he doesn’t see 22.
So on his big day, our anti-hero just so happens to stumble across a bomb and is blown straight out of an apartment window.
There’s only one problem for Frankie, however; Jackie’s not exactly your average contract killer. Soon after surviving the fall, he is possessed by "The Darkness" – an evil force that provides him with demonic super powers – and sets out for vengeance.
And to think, on my 21st birthday I only got some DVDs and beer.
From Starbeeeze Studios, makers of the Xbox classic "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay," "The Darkness" seamlessly blends intense gun battles with awesome dark powers and a gritty, compelling story that will leave you begging for more.
With complete ease, gamers can impale bad guys with tentacle arms, control eel-looking demon heads through air ducts, lift and throw cars, open black holes, summon demon buddies and then top it off with a healthy dose of John-Woo-style gunplay. This is some of the best action to grace the Xbox 360 so far.
Part of what makes "The Darkness" work so well is it gives gamers a variety of options for tackling any situation that may arise. Do you enlist the aid of your demon buddies and run out guns blazing? Or do hang back and control one of your eel-looking demon heads? Or do you try something completely different? The choice is yours.
Light also plays a huge factor in the gameplay. By sticking to the shadows, your darkness powers will continually regenerate themselves, keeping you strong. Step out into the light and you're easy pickings for the baddies. As a result, you’ll need to remain conscious of your surroundings.
As the game progresses, players build up Jackie’s darkness powers by devouring the hearts of his enemies. The more you eat, the more powers you receive. Mmmm… tastes like chicken.
With these elements coming together so strongly, it’s tempting to refer to "The Darkness" as the evolution of the first-person genre. Unfortunately, some small problems prevent the game from reaching its full potential.
For starters, enemy AI can be downright dumb. Most of the time they’ll shoot you on sight, but on more than one occasion I’ve caught them daydreaming. Good help is so hard to find these days.
Perhaps I’m being too picky though. After all, you can’t expect mobsters to react intelligently when the best trash-talking they can come up with is, "Hey, Jackie! Stick out yer face so I can shoot you in da face!" I’m going to guess these guys weren’t exactly honour students growing up.
The game looks fantastic, but does suffer from the occasional graphical glitch – bodies can disappear before you get to eat the heart and I’ve even seen bad guys floating a solid foot off the ground.
Though the story mode provides a compelling 12 hour experience, you won’t be rushing out to play through it a second time.
Still, these minor gripes aside, "The Darkness" is one of the best games you’re likely to play this year.
I’ve seen the light and it’s dark, very dark.
WHAM! Rating: |
9 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
M (Mature) |
Official Web Site: |
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