The Darkness - Review Xbox 360

The Darkness

Review Xbox 360

2K Games

Based on renowned comic book franchise and developed by StarBreeze, the team behind Chronicles of Riddick, The Darkness is another first person shooter using extensive texture and lighting to create a moody, bloody and sometimes scary adventure into the depths of evil.

The Darkness takes the first-person action video game to new depths on both a visual and a game-play level and brings the graphic novel to grisly new life. StarBreeze Studios have really captured the dark and gritty storyline of The Darkness comic book. You experience The Darkness through an intense and engaging game that will stay with you long after you've set your controller down.

Set in the dark and seedy underbelly of New York City and the ethereal realm of The Darkness, you assume the role of mafia hit-man Jackie Estacado, heir to "The Darkness," an ancient power that awakens within him on his 21st birthday.

Jackie must use traditional weapons as well as learn to command his terrible new powers to seek revenge on his own crime family. The Darkness is based on the best-selling comic book series of the same name, published by Top Cow Productions and created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl.

The game controls in the usual FPS manner. The controls are intuitive as well as being nice and forgiving. The guns aim manually but there is definitely some auto aim help going on.

To keep your darkness levels up you need to be eating human hearts, yes eat hearts! When you kill an enemy and you are rocking your darkness powers you need to finish off the job by eating the heart of your enemy. As well as being a final blow to any mobster or cop this will keep your dark powers fully stocked.

As we all know Chronicles of Riddick set new standards of graphics and sound when it was released on the Xbox. Gamers have been waiting patiently to see what StarBreeze would produce with their next title. I can tell you that you will not be disappointed.

Graphically The Darkness is a triumph. The mood of the comics is defiantly present in the game and the lighting and textures are so good that you really feel a part of the action. The sound is also awesome - the ambient sounds are very filmic and help to further submerge you into the world of The Darkness, plus the game features lots and lots of quality voice acting. An all-star cast adds authenticity to the characters and credibility to the overall cinematic experience, including Kirk Acevedo (Oz, Band of Brothers) as Jackie Estacado, Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) as Jenny Romano, and Mike Patton (Faith No More, Peeping Tom) as the voice of the Darkness.

Innovative features include:

* Varying manifestations of the Darkness allow you to devour, impale or implode your enemies. Use the Darkness to toss huge objects like cars as though they were toys.

* Summon darklings - impish and humorous demons - to do your bidding and eviscerate your foes.

* Cannibalize your victims - Slay your enemies and command the Darkness to eat their hearts and increase your strength and power.

* The light is your enemy - Extinguish any light in your path while seeking the shadows wherever possible in order to feed and replenish the Darkness.

* Insane multiplayer - Shapeshift between darkling and human in online multiplayer games and face other players in traditional as well as all-new innovative multiplayer modes.

* In-game television - Watch select shows in their entirety, including everything from Nosferatu to Popeye. Players can also tune into breaking news that directly relates to the storyline.

Overall The Darkness is a better than average FPS taking the good from Chronicles of Riddick and expanding these details nicely. If you are an FPS fan and feel like a new challenge then The Darkness is going to grip you from the start. It isn't the hardest of games but by the end scene you will feel like you have been on one hell of a journey.

9 out of 10