The Darkness 2: Gamer Gush

I’ll try and make this a regular disclaimer for newbies, but these Gushes are very SPOILER heavy. Read at your own risk, and enjoy!

Still not a firm schedule on these things. Don’t think there ever will be since I just do them when the mood arises, so here we go.

I’m gonna gush over The Darkness 2 today. I have mad love for the first entry in the series, and I think it’s fondly remembered as a great PS3/360 launch title, but I wanna talk about it’s sequel, which I like even more.

As you may have noticed, the past couple entries are about games that aren’t exactly front and center on the minds of the gaming community. I like to think of them of the underdog games, the ones that are better than most others out there, but sadly don’t get the attention they deserve. The Darkness 2 is one such game. Sure it wasn’t without it’s share of flaws, and it’s short length may have been a factor, but I ain’t here to talk about flaws. So let’s get to the fun stuff.

The first Darkness had alot of really cool shit going for it. The realistic graphics intensified the dark tone of the game and the grungy back alley environments set off a really weird and creepy vibe. The gameplay was also pretty great in it’s handling of the standard FPS controls and the monster abilities you obtain.

The Darkness

The Darkness 2 took both of these elements and turned them on their heads. Most noticeably the graphics were changed drastically. This I think may have been another factor in the lukewarm sales. It traded teh gritty realism for a more comic-booky look inspired by the games’ roots. I loved that about it personally. I think the cel shading worked really well and gave it a very stylish vibe. It wasn’t as creepy or foreboding as the first game, but it made up for that with it’s great gameplay.

Now in the first game you don’t really get that demonlike sense of power until maybe the last hour or so into the game. Now take that last hour of insane strength and stretch it over the whole of The Darkness 2. Our anti-hero, Jackie Estacado, is able to use The Darkness in some very versatile ways and the game gives a unique spin on standard FPS games. Each trigger button controlled each of Jackie’s limbs. That is to say two buttons shot your guns and the other two controlled the demon heads that loomed over Jackie’s shoulders.

Yeah there they are

This made for thrilling gameplay throughout the entire game. While the game itself couldn’t be more linear, the choices in ways to dispatch your enemies was plentiful. Slice them in half with a tentacle, shoot bees at them, decapitate them wth car doors or just simply shoot them to death. The whole thing is a gleeful playground of death.

Another thing that made this game amazing was the return of Mike Patton as the titular Darkness, a disembodied voice commanding Jackie to let the beast within out. Most probably know Patton as the frontman for Faith No More. His voice acting here proves just how versatile those cords can be.

Looks much more silly here than in-game

Now the first game focused on the tragic love story between Jackie and his girlfriend Jenny. It didn’t end well, i.e. The Darkness forced Jackie to watch Jenny get her brains blown out by Jackie’s surrogate father and mafia boss. Did I mention Jackie was part of the Italian mob? One of the cooler things I liked was the fact that both games are basically mob stories. You’ve got your stereotypical Goodfellas type characters getting shredded by supernatural forces. Those two things aren’t typically seen inhabiting the same space. It makes for an interesting dynamic.

Now the sequel doesn’t have the emotional punch as the first game does storywise, but it does a capable job of engrossing the player and setting up what probably could have been an awesome series. It introduces the Angelus (the Darkness’ arch enemy) from the comics and goes full on supernatural.

After Jenny’s death, Jackie never fully gets over it, and The Darkness takes advantage of this, holding her soul hostage. The Darkness basically blackmails Jackie into carrying out it’s orders in order to free Jenny’s soul. Turns out just as The Darkness has latched on to Jackie, so to has the Angelus attached itself to Jenny (or… her soul I guess.) Alright so the story gets pretty bonkers in this game, but that’s what I love. I don’t expect a game like this to stay grounded in any sort of reality, something I felt they did a little too hard in the first game. They went full crazy in this one and I think what could have come from it would have been a fantastic sequel. I don’t like to think it’s dead, but just like I said in my Darksiders Gush (I like dark stuff I suppose) the industry likes sure bets. I hold out hope that we may well see another great game form this series, and I hope they actually do another dramatic change to it like this one did from part 1. Only time will tell!

That’s my bit for this entry, stay tuned in the future for some Nintendo love and some cross media Gushers.