Darkness Review

Discussion in 'Reviews' started by Trebor, Aug 8, 2008.

  1. Trebor

    Trebor Dolphin Fan

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2007
    Messages:
    1,221
    Likes Received:
    45
    Location:
    West Yorkshire
    [​IMG]

    This is my personal review of a game called The Darkness on the Xbox 360. It's also out on the PS3 as well. The basic premise is that you are a 21 year old hitman called Jackie Estacado and you work for your uncle Paulie (you are an orphan and Paulie takes you in). On your 21st Birthday you go to this construction site to take out the head foreman but Pauli’s henchman and cop buddies try to take you out. Seems Paulie thinks you'll get in the way of his business and doesn't want you around anymore. You eventually come across the foreman and Paulie tries to blow you up (this scene is quite amusing). You wake up in an alleyway to realise there's something inside you called the darkness. It has been passed down through the generations of your family and it's now trying to consume you for its own purposes.

    [​IMG]

    The Darkness is kind of like a parasite that you can use to take down Paulie, his henchman and his cop buddies. It is weakened by light so you’ll need to be careful when you use the darkness, take out any lights when you see them or flipping light switches. When released you gain these two tentacles at the side of you that help shield you from enemy bullets. These tentacles also have the ability to devour human hearts (this comes with a few funny animations also) and by doing so you increase the power of the Darkness so that you can kill enemies more easily.

    Later on you’ll come across new abilities. The creeping dark is a useful ability, allowing you to control one of your tentacles to creep up on enemies and take them out. They can also be used to take out lights, open locked doors from the other side and can get to hard to reach areas. The demon arm is used to impale enemies with and to also grab objects that might be in your way. You can also use it to throw objects at enemies. Nothing beats squashing some gangsters with their own car.

    [​IMG]

    There is one more thing the darkness helps you with and that is the summoning of darklings. These creatures are imp like and help you in various situations. The berserkers are the first type you’ll encounter and they basically jump on enemies and tear at them. Sometimes you’ll find certain equipment around that the berserkers will use themselves such as pneumatic drills. They can also help unlock doors for you and get into areas you can’t much like your creeping dark ability. The next type is the gunner and they do exactly what their name suggests, which is gun down people with their minigun. The kamikaze darklings can help clear blocked pathways or rooms filled with enemies. Be careful using them though as they can harm you as well. The last type is the lightkiller. If there are no enemies on screen they’ll go around breaking lights with their special lightning ability. If there are enemies they’ll use this ability to shock and kill them.

    [​IMG]

    There are a lot of side missions to the main game and most of them are enjoyable. They consist of taking out rival gang members, confronting people who’ve done something wrong or getting money from people who owe it to your family. It’s a bit clichéd I guess but seeing as you’re a member of the mob and you have a family name to uphold, I thought the side missions were well done. The game play is great as there are so many ways to enter a situation. You can decide what weapons to use, what powers you might like to try or maybe summon some darklings and watch the havoc unfold. The graphics look good and as I’ve mentioned there are a lot of funny animations. The story is quite good for a game and it had me hooked. If I didn't bother helping people on the side quests to get achievements and extra content unlocked I would have just gone straight through the story.

    There are some bad things I found though. Even on easy setting if you don't unleash the darkness you’re as good as dead so you’ve always got to be thinking on your toes. The AI can sometimes be a little bit stupid and objects can easily block your path and get you killed if you aren't careful. Even on the easy difficulty some of the enemies will surprise you. The multiplayer comes with death match or capture the flag as standard. You can be a human, darkling or both depending on how the match is set up. If it allows for you to be both human and darkling you can switch between the two in game. Humans can get armour and use weapons whilst the darklings can jump at their opponents faces, legs, whatever other body part you can think of and they can also walk along walls and ceilings. You’ll need to find a good connection or the game lags too much. Reminded me when Doom 3 came out and people were advised to play with only 4 people. Personally I’d only play the multiplayer if you want the achievements.
     
    InsaneNutter likes this.
  2. xzKinGzxBuRnzx

    xzKinGzxBuRnzx The Feature Man

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2008
    Messages:
    1,875
    Likes Received:
    1,245
    Location:
    Space
    Great Game, I've played it before. I never did finish it though. This game kinda reminds me of doom 3. This game gets a score of 7.0 of 10 from me.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2009
  3. Rustwick

    Rustwick Resident

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2007
    Messages:
    129
    Likes Received:
    5
    Good review, Trebor!

    Why didn't you finish the game and how does it remind you of Doom 3? Its too bright and you actually come into contact with people! Anyway I think that it is a solid game but the multiplayer was a bit of a let down - it had some good ideas but I don't think that they where executed very well if I remember correctly. Does anyone know if a sequel has been planned or anything like that?
     
  4. xzKinGzxBuRnzx

    xzKinGzxBuRnzx The Feature Man

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2008
    Messages:
    1,875
    Likes Received:
    1,245
    Location:
    Space
    Didn't like it that much, I played the first two levels and that was it.
     
  5. InsaneNutter

    InsaneNutter Resident Nutter Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2007
    Messages:
    12,252
    Likes Received:
    3,724
    Location:
    Yorkshire, England
    I can understand not liking it, I think it starts off good but then I lost interest in it.

    I’m fussy with games though and it takes a lot for a game to get me hooked on it, this game just didn’t really do that for me.
     
  6. xzKinGzxBuRnzx

    xzKinGzxBuRnzx The Feature Man

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2008
    Messages:
    1,875
    Likes Received:
    1,245
    Location:
    Space
    I know what you mean...this is just one of them games, ok, but not great!
     
  7. RazzleDazzle

    RazzleDazzle Elite Member

    Joined:
    May 15, 2009
    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    16
    Seeing the bullet holes left in your foes was great, not many games do it. It was like playing Soldier of Fortune again.
     
  8. ronaldmonster

    ronaldmonster Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2008
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Oh the memories from that game.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. KillerWhiteMan

    KillerWhiteMan Burnout Racer

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2009
    Messages:
    1,460
    Likes Received:
    81
    Location:
    Salinas, California, United States
    Soldier of Fortune...the king of gore and violence in games. Nothing like a shotgun blast to an enemy's stomach to reveal their entrails.
     
  10. robert_kendo

    robert_kendo Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2010
    Messages:
    44
    Likes Received:
    3
    to bad that i only played the demo of this game.looks very sceary sometimes,but i dont know if its worth to buy the full game.....
     
  11. Trebor

    Trebor Dolphin Fan

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2007
    Messages:
    1,221
    Likes Received:
    45
    Location:
    West Yorkshire
    robert_kendo likes this.
  12. robert_kendo

    robert_kendo Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2010
    Messages:
    44
    Likes Received:
    3
    hm..its very cheap..i think i will buy it for xbox 360 or ps3
     

Share This Page