The Darkness

Graphics, Controls and Mulitplayer

The graphics of the game are another impressive feat and on a high-definition TV each and every effect is both gorgeous and gripping. Character models like that of Jenny, Jackie's girlfriend, are extra-ordinarily detailed right down to the faint, fading scar across her upper lip.

Environments are detailed too, though they suffer somewhat from being constantly drenched in darkness and too similar to the levels before. The lighting effects are what it's all about though since the conflicts between dark and light form an integral part of the gameplay and plot.

Thankfully then the lighting effects are delicately handled and even the subtlest change in lighting is enough to change the way players might tackle a battle, with the shadows and interaction between player and light source being both radiant in its beauty and important to the gameplay.

A nice effect the game features is the interactions between Jackie's hands and the scenery. In an added touch of realism, Jackie doesn't point his guns straight forward when bumping into walls and such, instead pulling his guns up and out of the way or pushing his hand forward through openings or broken windows. It's a little thing, but the little touches count for lots and it's something we've not seen in any other game in recent memory.

Control wise the game comes perfectly naturally and the auto-aim sensitivity caters for the n00bs and the l33t alike. It's the usual set up, with movement and viewing getting a stick each while actions and reloading are mapped to the buttons and The Darkness is controlled with bumpers. The D-Pad is left for weapon selection.


The action button is context sensitive, as you'd expect, so that the one button controls everything from talking to people to changing the channel of the TV. The latter is actually very interesting as the game boasts several hours of TV content for players to view, including what appeared to be the full movie of To Kill a Mockingbird. We're not entirely sure if it's the full version though because the idea of sitting down in front of a TV to play a game in which we sat down to watch TV and not play a game, well to be honest, it scared us.

Multiplayer isn't something we get to have a decent look (the game isn't out until the end of the week), but having a gander at what we could let us know how the multiplayer gaming side is going to round out and it's nice to see that the developers, Starbreeze, has gone above and beyond its previous game, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and actually included multiplayer modes.

There's the standard deathmatch, team deathmatch, CTF and survivor modes of play with up to eight players supported and a whole host of player models provided for both the human, darkling and shapeshifter teams. Eight players is going to be a bit small for some online or system link fans, but it's more than enough to get some nice fragging going in all honesty.

Conclusions

There's no doubt in our minds that The Darkness is one of the best Xbox 360 games we've played in a long while and, given that we started it on the Friday and then had to go the weekend without it, it's a testament to its qualities that we actually missed it over that time.

Of course, The Darkness isn't perfect and has some definite flaws, some of which we've already touched on. The fact that Jackie never immediately questions his new-found abilities is something which, while obviously deliberate and for the benefit of the greater story, feels a little foolish and will serve only to irritate the impatient.

Another problem is that a lot of the environments, especially from the early levels, can be hard to navigate and feel a little recycled. The subway stations in particular, which are a nicely realistic way of using a central location as a hub, can be a little confusing and the fact that the majority of side-quests take place within the subway is a little too obvious and convenient.

Completionists, who need to get every achievement and every collectible will definitely be attracted to the game's replay factor and the sheer number of collectible phone numbers, though having to go through them one at a time when you finally find a phone after hoarding numbers for a level or two is a bit of a pain and could easily have been solved by giving Jackie a mobile phone like a respectable hitman.


We also got the strange feeling that the game is a year or two late as well and that it would have been better served if it had seen a release earlier in the 360's lifespan when it was a bit more fashionable to have games which used light/dark conflicts, like Doom 3 and Splinter Cell. The game still looks good and plays great, but it feels a bit like it's wearing last season's clothes and it's something which will probably affect a lot of buyers even if they don't realise it.

Which is a shame because underneath the simple light/dark gameplay is a game which successfully tackles some adult themes in a serious and responsible manner, blurring the line between story-led realism and supernatural action. At the same time the game walks the fine line between creepy horror and all-out action so that it feels very similar to F.E.A.R in terms of how it plays, though the horror element is somewhat more muted.

As it is though, The Darkness is a fantastic action game which would have been a must-have title if it had only been released six months or so ago. Instead, it must now cope with simply being an utterly fantastic game that Xbox addicts will still want to pick up and play for sure. Just be wary that it's wounded by a few relatively minor flaws.

It's a hard life, eh?