REVIEW: The Darkness 2

Jackie is back and his battle with the darkness is renewed as he faces a new enemy ...


The Darkness was one of the first titles I played on PS3 and enjoyed it thoroughly. Mainly the idea of going around ripping people apart with evil tentacle-like arms and exacting your revenge was a tempting experience. So with arms open, it was time to embrace The Darkness again but this time, a lot more shooting at the same time as ripping people apart.

As far as the narrative is concerned, Jackie has pushed The Darkness deep inside him and become the head of the mafia. However, a group called The Brotherhood are out to suck The Darkness from Jackie and use it themselves. The Darkness wants to keep within Jackie and admits it is holding his old lover's soul inside it, therefore using it as blackmail to control him. Jackie uses The Darkness and goes on a killing rampage. The story, and visuals, are straight out of a comic book and works on a completely ridiculous yet enjoyable level.

What I enjoy most is the classic redemption, Jackie as a character works because he's the classic anti-hero. His little soliloquies during loading screens give an insight into his persona that's better than a usual 'Loading....' screen. The other characters are quite boring and classic archetypes. However, his relationships with these characters are mirrored in the asylum scenes that add an intriguing dimension to the game.

Narratively, it holds up, even when getting ridiculous it's self-aware and doesn't apologise for being a classic, fun shooter. The gameplay is smooth and varied enough to keep your interest throughout and it gets increasingly tougher the more you move on. The tactical part of shooting out lights and having to take out enemies at the same time and in different order means that you are constantly on edge and never comfortable, which makes for a more exciting experience.

Overall, the game is a bit of fun that is a lot better than a lot of fodder out there, and although isn't anything particularly new or different, it knows what players wants and plays up to it. It doesn't try to do something it knows it can't and keeps it simple, which is definitely best for a game like this. The story might be cheesy and a bit stupid, but is definitely worth spending some time on.

 Rating: 7/10