Keep in mind that Starbreeze no longer holds the creative wand, now it's in the hands of Digital Extremes. With a new developer comes a new enemy, 'The Brotherhood', a group that wants to capture Jackie's power for themselves. The first game, for anyone unfamiliar with it, allowed players to wield unique abilities. These included stealthily biting the head off an enemy, capturing guards in fierce gravitational holes, among other brutal techniques. Your strength was boosted by eating hearts and you could only dish out these violent atrocities under the cover of...yes, darkness.
The subway, a home to many strange people...
We saw a trailer showing a character called Victor Valente, head of the brotherhood. Victor will talk to you throughout the game, taunting Jackie and giving him another reason to kill. Minor, yet significant changes have been made to the gameplay. Dreaded light sources will be more common, further restricting your powers. The enemies have learned a few new tricks too, this time around they'll run at you with high beam torches to weaken you. Not only that, but they've even managed to learn a few darkness powers of their own since 2007. But Jackie hasn't been lazy either, his time has been well spent
By killing enemies, Jackie will acquire 'Essence' (essentially experience), which will be utilised at 'Talent Shrines' to buy upgrades. One power shown at E3 was 'gun channeling', which on higher levels will allow you to see and shoot through walls like an x-ray vision tough guy. The most instantly recognisable power from The Darkness has been enhanced - your dark arms (the ones that have the munchies for hearts). One arm is used for slashing and the other is for throwing; they're more versatile and can now pick up objects and use them as shields, adding a more strategic element to the gameplay.
Visually, The Darkness II has moved away from the more realistic approach of its predecessor, favouring a stylish and distinct look. The choice was deliberate, as the developer wants to be as faithful as possible to the graphic novel. It's a testament to the source material, but how the visuals affect the atmosphere remains to be seen. The Darkness II undoubtedly looks pretty; the textures in the game are all hand-painted, giving it a striking feel, although it does appear to be very detached from the original. Although that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it might take some getting used to.
He asked for no anchovies!
The graphics might have changed, but the brutal, often shocking violence has not. The Darkness II is a very, very violent game. You're going to be serving out plates of dismemberment and mopping up gallons of blood. That level carnage can be a result of some other new additions to the gameplay. Jackie can dual-wield different weapons at the same time, an ability that sits nicely alongside those harmful arms of his. So far, it's looking like more violence and more style, both positives for any fan of the series.
What remains unclear, and potentially worrying, is the story. Jackie Estacado's voice actor won't be returning, although Mike Patton (that crazy chap at the front of Faith No More) will be playing his role as Jackie's inner demon. What we saw at E3 left us on a cliffhanger, where Jackie is stuck in a mental asylum. Straight away, you've got a very different sort of plot with complicated themes to deal with. A confidently written story is essential if The Darkness II has any chance of living up to its unquestionable potential, but will the new team be able to do the original justice?
The Darkness II will be available later in 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
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