In fact, a high standard of cinematic quality is maintained throughout the game. The biggest strength of The Darkness, despite its First Person Shooter ‘clothing’, is in its storytelling. This is largely due to how well the game presents its characters. Jackie Estacado, the guy you’re playing as, is instantly likeable. He’s young, he’s got an element of cockiness about him which is largely through confidence rather than arrogance so he’s easy to warm to. Despite being what is essentially a mafia hitman, it’s obvious he’s not a bad person. There are certain people in his life that he cares about, and without going into details that would spoil things, you will care for them too.
You see, like in The Chronicles of Riddick – Escape from Butcher Bay, developer Starbreeze’s previous game, great care has gone into creating a believable world at its core. Away from the main story arc, the whole game is tied together by this living, breathing subway network. It’s not exactly Grand Theft Auto, or particularly big either, but it makes you feel a part of something. One of the reasons Riddick was such a critical success was how it used its prison setting to the best of its advantage. Everything branched off from your cell whether it was a simple meeting with a fellow inmate in one section of the prison or a violent fist fight with another somewhere else; the intertwining hallways were healthily populated with believable sounding prisoners, all with something to say or a favour to ask.
The 'demon arm' is lots of fun.
The Darkness takes this idea and pushes it further by recreating the New York subway. Not an easy task by any means but Starbreeze have managed to pull it off. Whether it’s a simple harmonica player on the station steps or a group of break dancers on the platform, the subway is packed full of touches of realism that help make you feel part of a living world rather than the world just being one that solely exists around you. In addition, trains are constantly running providing you with a means of transport for getting around the city. The well signposted stations show you which platform the next train is calling at so you simply walk onto the designated platform and you’ll be quickly met with the next arrival. Although it’s obviously scripted so that it’s always there exactly when you need it, it somehow doesn’t feel false.
Small details within the environment itself further the level of immersion you’ll not fail to appreciate. For example, phones play a big part in the game. Throughout your adventure you’ll find many, many phone numbers that you can use at call boxes to unlock content. By ringing these numbers you’re often met by an amusing answering machine message, a disturbing crank caller or often a mix of the two. Also, you’ll find TV’s dotted around the city, each packed with multiple stations to watch, and in the case of the PS3 version, hours and hours of films, cartoons and music to enjoy. Whether you watch these is entirely up to you but there’s something strangely alluring about sitting down to watch an episode of Popeye just minutes after you’ve killed a warehouse full of mafia goons. Again, it all helps created the illusion of a living world rather than something constructed for your benefit.
Having this ‘city’ living in the background means that from the moment the game begins to the moment in finishes, you’re never taken out of the story. Even the loading screens are covered up using a series of stylized cutscenes that you thought were just part of the game until you realize about 2hrs into the game that they’re just disguising the loading between areas. There’s never a ‘mission select’ screen where you choose the next level either. Instead it’s up to you to gather information from around the city about your next destination and then travel there yourself. Think of it as a linear, condensed GTA kind of setup. It doesn’t share the freedom, or anything near the size of Rockstar’s games, but it has essentially the same effect.
Rocky must be around here somewhere....
Of course, all this would be for nothing if the gameplay wasn’t up to standard, but thankfully this isn’t the case. Although it appears to be an FPS, The Darkness is a very different creature altogether. Fans of the Riddick game will remember how actual weapon based combat wasn’t really a large or important aspect of the game, and although the game features a decent selection of guns ranging from dual pistols, SMG’s, AK-47’s and shotguns, the same applies here. While Riddick involved a lot of close quarters melee combat, The Darkness is all about its namesake. ‘The Darkness’ is a demon-like entity that posses our main character Jackie Estacado. It feeds off darkness and provides him a set of unique powers and abilities at your disposal, like the shield for example. When ‘The Darkness’ is activated you are shielded from bullets for as long as you stay in the shadows. Of course, subjecting ‘The Darkness’ to light is fatal so it’s worth taking out a few light bulbs if you want to create a ‘safe’ path towards the enemy.
In addition to your shield, you have access to some rather special powers. The first one you’ll be able to use is the ‘Creeper’. This small snake-like creature can crawl on any surface and is not only handy for killing people, but it can also be used for fetching items or unlocking doors, so expect to use your brain a little here and there. As with all ‘Darkness’ power, it uses darkness as a fuel, so hiding yourself in the shadows when using it is always a good idea and avoiding light as you travel with it is essential. By devouring the hearts of victims you’ll soon uncover new powers, the most fun being the ‘Demon Arm’ that allows you to break lights, pick up objects, and most enjoyably, skewer helpless foes through the stomach and throw them to the ground like a rag doll.
Having the power of ‘The Darkness’ also gives you command over an army of ‘Darklings’. These small, gargoyle-like creatures come in four different flavours. The Berserkers offer brutal melee attacks as well as helping you with things like opening gates and pushing heavy objects that are blocking your way. Gunners are the best choice when you don't know where the enemies are coming from. Packed with a chaingun, these guys will start spraying as soon as they spot a target. Kamikazes provide an explosive option to proceedings, doing exactly what their name suggests by suicide bombing the nearest enemy they see, which is mightily handy when clearing out compact rooms. The fourth type of Darkling are the Light Killers, who unsurprisingly, take out surrounding lights.
In terms of presentation, The Darkness is up there with the best of them. The soundtrack is something that will no doubt get completely looked over when it comes to handing out awards at the end of the year, when really it shouldn’t. It’s not something you notice, but that’s because it fits so well that it doesn’t stick out rather than it not being any good. The remarkably wide range of musical styles found here would suggest a messy and disjointed soundtrack, but somehow the mix of metal, jazz and even something that sounds like it’s from Oblivion actually works. The voice acting is of a consistently high quality too and rarely strays from believability, even the swearing (of which there is a lot of) rarely sound false like it does in a lot of other games. But as convincing as each conversation sounds, it’s the voice work of Mike Patton as ‘The Darkness’ that steals the show. Sinister, menacing, intimidating, obsessive, deluded, disturbing – take your pick because all describe the haunting persona that flows repeatedly at you throughout the game.
Ahem, there's no smoking on public transport!
Visually, it’s hard to think of many games that look this good, the subway especially provides some of the most graphically stunning environments ever seen. Despite being set at night, solely in New York, the game does a stellar job of keeping things interesting. You’ll visit churches, snooker halls, boats and even a lighthouse throughout your journey – generic office buildings/warehouses are kept to a minimum here. Most impressive of all though is the lighting. Not only does it look terrific, but you can shoot every single light bulb in the game, nothing is ‘just for show’, and not even Splinter Cell can boast that. Character models look and move with the same high standard too, we especially enjoyed seeing enemies taking cover at a doorframe and carefully peeking around it in a realistic fashion rather than presenting themselves in full view of the door way like in most other games.
Despite the constant praise, The Darkness isn’t quite ‘Game of the Year’ material. Enemy AI is merely adequate and rarely challenges the player. Linearity is a problem with level design seldom giving you the opportunity to try something different. Occasionally it’ll throw options at you. One warehouse for example mid-way through the game offer multiple routes into the building, while an entry to an underground drugs hideout presented you with a few options. Do you use the password to get in, shoot your way in all guns blazing or pull back and use your Creeper to let yourself in sneakily? There should have been more of this, especially given the scope that your special power offer.
Its length isn’t anything to write home about either, clocking in at around the 10 hours mark depending on how much time you’ve spent watching TV or impaling innocent civilians with your Demon Arm. Its length wouldn’t be so much of an issue if the multiplayer was half decent but as it is it’s a laggy mess. Whether a patch can fix this is something we’ll have to wait and see about but at the moment it’s worthless if you can’t even do a simple 4 player deathmatch without the game skipping all over the place, which is a shame because there is potential here for some simple fragging fun.
On the whole, The Darkness is a very impressive package. It is a game that is greater than the sum of its parts as its enjoyment comes from its atmosphere, its storytelling and its set pieces rather than any engaging combat or clever puzzle solving. It’s not without its faults and its distinctive style will leave someone looking for an ‘all guns blazing’ FPS disappointed. But play it in the way it’s intended to be played, soak up the atmosphere of this wonderfully crafted game world and experience all the extras found within in it and you’ll find one of the most absorbing games in a long time.
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