The Darkness Horror Games Review

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Title: The Darkness
Format: Video Game
Score:
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: 2K Games
Hits: 358

Review of The Darkness

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Comments for The Darkness

• Posted on 2009-10-26
  Insanely awsome game for the price!!
  
  I bought this game for about [...] here on amazon and it was waaaay better then i expected!! extremely detailed like if you turn on a tv u can actually watch real life TV shows and movies i was definitely surprised!
  
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• Posted on 2009-08-27
  This game is fun for people who hate fun and have fun hating things.
  
  I wanted to like this game, I really did. But I didn't. The graphics were fine, the story was good and controls were okay and all that crap but it just wasn't fun. Thinking about stubbing my toe on the coffee table the other day brings back fonder memories than I get from recalling this game, but like Kunta Kinte says "you don't have to take my word for it." Now let's be clear, I am not advocating either your purchase or rental of this game. What you need to do is hype it up to a friend of yours who happens to be a little slow in the head. Make him buy it, then just borrow it from him. Then sell it on ebay. Once it's all said and done you will realize that the only value this game has is whatever bidding ends at. There is no non-monetary value in this game, and even that isn't much.
  
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• Posted on 2009-07-31
  Play it for the story, nothing more
  
  The Darkness is one of those kind of games where you got to appreciate having it since it feels so radically different from other FPS games. It's got the slight linearity of games like Call of Duty and Fear yet there's some sidequests and exploration to be found but above all, it's completely geared towards its storytelling and atmosphere which is quite impeccable. But in a way some people might not like its pacing since it's not action-intensive as other games and then you'll not even be touching the controller as you stare at something (and even get an achievement for that very thing) but the shooting plus controlling the Darkness is a blast. Just stay away from the multiplayer...it's pretty bad.
  
  Story: You play as Jackie Estacado, part of a mob family that gets a hit put out on him during his 21st birthday. While being hunted, Jackie gets ensnared by the Darkness, an evil and powerful spirit that allows Jackie some incredible and destructive gifts at the cost of a constant voice in his head and occasionally being manipulated and controlled. But Jackie is out for revenge anyway against Uncle Paulie, the man who called the hit, and his lackey corrupt police officer Eddie Schrote so having the Darkness as an ally is the gift and curse.
  
  Graphics: Graphically the game looks similar to the Chronicles of Riddick with some incredibly realistic and moody lighting and some great art design such as one place you go to during the second act and New York City which for once FEELS like New York City rather than a bunch of buildings that look like its skyline. Character models as well look like actual people however the lip movements are incredibly off and half the time I don't even the see the lips actually moving. The game does look great and is quite memorable because of its unique look though if you were to compare it to say Modern Warfare or other games, it looks good.
  
  Sound/Music: What makes the storytelling work is the voice acting which is, quite simply, phenomenally. From Jackie to his girlfriend Jenny to even minor characters you meet along the way (gotta love the dude who sings part of his sentences) and even Mike Patton from the old Faith No More band does an incredibly raspy voice for the Darkness who will be a constant presence in your ear. As far as the music, it's not as prominent but it's there but the ambience is from the chatter and train rumblings of the subway to the moody place you'll go to at times, game also has a great ear.
  
  Gameplay: For the most part it's kind of basic. You get weapons which you select by left and right on the D-pad but the fun part is using the Darkness powers. There's 4: the creeping dark, a slithering snake you control (rather horribly I might add) to launch sneak attacks on foes, a tail-like move that'll impale enemies or move objects blocking your path, the Darkness guns and the destructive Black Hole which sucks in nearby enemies. They're all fun to use even with Black Hole becoming your trump card but sneaking up on people and biting their faces off never gets old. There's also a slight RPG element where you consume people's hearts (I like when the 2 heads try to fight for it, left never wins) and that'll level up your darkness powers to of course make you more awesome.
  
  Another part of your gift is the ability to summon darklings, little minions you can use to wreck havoc on your foes. From the melee-loving berserker, mini-gun toting gunner, the kamikaze and one who specifically targets lights out and zaps your foes. Speaking of lights, you'll want to shoot them out since they help your powers a lot better and there's even times where you can't take out your powers unless you shoot the lights. This however can make it tedious to always aim for lightbulbs. Another slight flaw I noticed is that Jackie walks.way.too.slow and trying to get close to an enemy to do the awesome execution move and yet he walks like he's got a limp or something. Also at times I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to actually go though at least there's a helpful menu that tells you but more often than not, I'm walking back and forth going "where am I supposed to go anyway?"
  
  Oh, and if you're into boosting, I'd do it with the Darkness and move on since how do I put this...the multiplayer sucks. The lag and just the general boringness of it all, this is clearly a multiplayer that was added on because developers were afraid people would just rent it, beat it and sell it to Gamestop or something. And wouldn't you know it, there's quite a few achievements in multiplayer for a game with a diminishing community by the day so go you.
  
  As a single player game, the Darkness is quite an underrated game with the occasional nitpick but for those into FPS games that are more or less entirely story driven like Half-Life 2 will find some fun here. But longevity, well, that multiplayer still sucks so I'd maybe rent.
  
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• Posted on 2009-06-09
  Read the comic book. put the controller down.
  
  Mike patton. gangster hell. strange powers. even stranger controls. STILL NOT A GOOD GAME!!! How!? I had to cuddle with my virtual girlfriend in front of an old movie for TEN MINUTES till she fell asleep and I could progress in the game!!! That's how!
  
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• Posted on 2009-05-21
  Kids loved the game, I loved the price!
  
  Video games and kids; an expensive mix. This game was less than half the store price. My son loves it and I saved money. No brainer.
  
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