The Darkness

"Wicked cool mixed with a sprinkle of glitches."

Starbreeze made the incredible Chronicles of Riddick for the Xbox. I've been dying for a sequel ever since. While not the sequel I was looking for, I got the next best thing. Starbreeze has been quietly stashed away making The Darkness for us patient, yet eager gamers. The wait was long. The drive back home was longer. It's safe to say The Darkness for the most part lived up to most of those expectations. It had a lot of expectations to meet considering Chronicles of Riddick was the previous game made by this developer. Of course, it doesn't quite stack up to Riddick, but at times it gets close. And looking at it from a wider perspective, I can easily say this game is steaming with action. To top it off, it's atmosphere sends powerful shills down your spine – much like Riddick did. The biggest problem with the game isn't how the game plays or its graphics, but the amount of glitches present in this game.

Estacado be thy name!

You're Jackie Estacado, an orphan turned supper assassin. Dangerous as that is, more came to the unexpected Estacado. He comes from a long line of descendents who inherit the powers known as the Darkness on their 21st birthday. Jackie Estacado works for Paulie; the local head of the mafia. Paulie decides to pull a fast one over you by betraying you. Estacado is left with few friends and hunted like an animal. The Darkness powers soon emanate and show itself. Eventually it becomes not only a battle against mobsters, but also against the darkness within. The story for the most part was very well scripted. There are few first person shooters where the story was a strong aspect of the game's enjoyment. For The Darkness, the story had plot twists and meaningful events that made me care about the characters and the outcome of the storyline.

In the opening moments of the game, you're treated to a very hectic firefight. The opening sequence was done very well – to a point that is set high expectations. Soon after, you'll be engaged in firefights and other miscellaneous aspects of the game to help the player familiarize him or herself. The Darkness plays and feels like any solid first person shooter, but it differentiates itself with its darkness powers. By utilizing these powers in combat it enhances the creativity of the game play. More importantly, it helps separate itself from other fps by providing a fresh perspective onto the genre. And of course, comic book fans will get a kick out of it as well.

There may not be a plethora of weapons available, but the smooth transition of moving the reticule from one target to another gives off a feeling of power. In a sense, it puts you in the zone. You can move from one enemy to another quite easily, allowing you to get a sense of being this powerful force. Although the lack of variety among the weapons may seem detrimental at first, the addition of darkness powers negates this issue.

Enter the Darkness

Darkness powers take form in serpent like creatures that are attached to Estacado. These creatures have certain powers. For instance, creeping dark gives you stealthy abilities. With creeping dark, the player can have the serpent reach distances for scouting. To make things interesting, it also has the ability to bite your enemies. Aside from that, the powers also range from creating black holes to possessing Darkness guns. Darkness powers revolve around how dark an area of the game is. For example, if there is too much light, the powers won't manifest. The game thus forces you to shoot out streetlights and lamps in order to manifest these powers. It makes things a little more strategic on how you plan to attack enemies.

The manifestation of Darkness powers is beneficial for the most part, as it enhances the game play mechanics. There are times however, where certain powers nearly make Estacado invincible. The black hole for instance is an ability that is overpowered. In a dark room, Estacado is pretty much invincible, as he can start tossing black holes left and right. The powers also let you devour your enemies' heart for a gruesome, yet satisfying gesture of brutality. In some instances, this brutality is absolutely necessary because some enemies regenerate and come back if their hearts aren't devoured. Aside from this, Estacado also has the ability to summon darklings. Darklings are creatures with special abilities. For instance, summoning a Gunner Darkling will bring forth a creature with a massive gun to unload on your enemies.

Melding things together…

Level designs for the most part felt solid, but there were times where the different streets in this game felt recycled. What I mean by that is after a while; the dark, eerie environment that encompasses each street becomes somewhat tiresome. The ultimate saving point however, is the game's cohesiveness. The design was simply cohesive. Each street or section is connected by a public transport system that allows you to move from one place to another with relative ease. Of course, there is the underworld that you have to visit for a few chapters, but even then, those chapters featured levels that were very involving.

The biggest complaint about the game is its glitches. This is the one area that drags down the game in a major way. I really liked the game. I had a very good experience. The atmosphere was riveting and the game play was nothing short of great, but the amount of glitches in this game is ridiculous. There was many times where my game froze. Not only that, I had to restart an entire chapter because of a glitch that prevented the next set of event from occurring. With a little refinement, this game would easily be an 8.5+ game. What is left now is a very good game marred and brought down by glitches that could have been prevented. The only other complaints aside from this are the recycling of enemies and the lack of boss fights. Enemies throughout the game pretty much consisted of 2 kinds of humans. One was the mobster and the second were World War soldiers.

One of strong points of the Darkness is its story. One of the reasons why that are so is because of the game's incredible voice acting. Any cringe worthy lines were negated by the amazing voiceovers. The voice acting throughout was very strong. The creepy voices from the serpents also added suspense and a feeling of evil to the game's already dark atmosphere. The story was well scripted and the voiceovers did nothing short of enhancing that further. The music did a great job at reinforcing an eerie feeling that fit the mood and atmosphere of the game. These two aspects made the game's sound a strong selling point. In fact, it was done so well that it made the game better.
The graphics for the most part in the game is quite good. The character models were a big plus. It was highly detailed. The animation and physics were a little off though. For example, when I am in creeping dark mode, some of the bodies of dead enemies made it difficult for the serpent to maneuver. The serpent didn't push the body out of the way, nor did it go over it either. There are also times when the frame rate has a slightly noticeable drop. Again, it's nothing major, but it's little nuances like these that kept it from being a great game.

Lasting anywhere between 8-12 hours, The Darkness offers a strong quest for single player purposes. It was a perfect rental. It was intense and atmospheric. There is an online mode that is included, but because my Xbox Live isn't working for reasons beyond my knowledge, I didn't get to experience it. However, with a solid, lengthy quest for a first person shooter along with online components that Riddick lacked, The Darkness has these things going for it. Even then though, the amount of glitches present doesn't really justify a sixty-dollar purchase.

Forget all that you know.

All in all, The Darkness has plenty going for it. Unfortunately it has some major issues present as well. It plays extremely well. The game flows very well as well, and the atmosphere can only be described as absorbing. It has so much going for it: story, game play, music/voice acting, and its atmosphere. I can even forget about some of the issues like the recycling of enemies or lacks of boss fights, but the amount of glitches that are present are simply inexcusable. Starbreeze should have a better quality assurance team to find and fix these issues. This is the biggest gripe. Unfortunately, this gripe is big enough to drag it down from a very good to solid game in my books. As mentioned before, a rental will suffice.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/07