"The Darkness" Review (Xbox 360)

My review of "The Darkness," written around the time of the game's initial release...

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"The Darkness," from the studio that brought Xbox fans "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay," is a first-person shooter based on the dark comic book series of the same name. And like the aforementioned "Riddick," it further proves that these guys know what makes a cool video game adaptation.

You assume the role of Jackie Estacado, adopted nephew of Mafia boss Paulie Franchetti, as he reaches his 21st birthday and stumbles blindly into the dark destiny of his family line. The opening sequence is a knockout, and thrusts you headlong into the gritty world of organized crime in this fictional version of New York City. The ensuing police chase, car crash, and demise of your companions, a couple of Mafia thugs, is by itself worth the price of admission.

Jackie soon finds himself on the receiving end of his Uncle Paulie's wrath, which brings him into contact with an evil entity known as The Darkness. This demonic parasite latches itself to Jackie, and simultaneously aids and defies him in his quest for revenge -- a quest with many shocking twists and turns that I dare not spoil in this review.

The first-person gunplay of "The Darkness" is itself quite extraordinary. Shooting people is rarely this satisfying, thanks to copious amounts of gore, better-than-average rag doll physics, and a satisfying real world arsenal that never grows stale. But Jackie's Darkness powers certainly add the icing to this already tasty cake, allowing him to sprout serpentine tentacles that devour the hearts of his foes (for the purpose of leveling up Darkness powers)... and that's just the beginning. Other Darkness abilities allow you to impale your foes and swing them wildly around at the end of a glistening appendage, creep across the floor as a serpent and put a hole through an unsuspecting victim, and open up black holes that devour several enemies at once. It's all extremely gratifying, and provides ample means to destroy the opposition.

Some Darkness abilities are less compelling than others, however. The Darkness Guns, for instance, rarely serve a useful purpose, while the aforementioned black holes act as overpowered grenades, and can sometimes shift the balance too far in the player's favor. Nonetheless, in a game where just shooting guys would be great, these alternatives do their part in further distinguishing the gameplay and making you feel like a real, bona fide bad@$$ with a sick, sadistic evil streak.

Of course, the game isn't complete without the ability to summon Darklings -- funny gremlin-like beasties that will back you up in a pinch. With multiple varities, such as Gunners (equipped with massive chain guns), Berserkers (who ambush opponents and cut them down to size), and Kamikazes (they go BOOM!), things don't ever seem to get old.

Production values are great across the board, from the near-flawless sound effects to the strength of the visuals, which depict a grimy New York City connected by subway tunnels and desolate streets under a sky of seemingly endless night. Maybe the streets are too desolate, point of fact, given that the City That Never Sleeps seems to be very asleep indeed, but it all adds to chilling atmosphere.

The game takes a stab at the slightly open-ended nature of "Butcher Bay," but doesn't quite nail it. This also results in lots and lots of walking between key action setpieces, and backtracking is never all that fun in any game. This game's attempts at non-linearity come across as tacked on, if anything, and will only do it for those who desperately want to drag out the experience.

Despite a strong, compelling storyline, the Mafia element of "The Darkness" never met a cliche it didn't like. The Godfather meets Goodfellas dialog can be groan-inducing at times, especially all references to "respect." There was a better way to handle this material, but this is a mere nitpick at worst.

“The Darkness” is one of the best games available on the Xbox 360. Do yourselves a favor and join the dark side.

FINAL SCORE: 8.5 (Exceptional)