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'beware of the darkness'
 Developer: Starbreeze
Publisher: 2K Games
Category: : FPS
Multiplayer: X Box Live
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
Might look like: /
Date posted: 1 October 2007
Written By: Nathar
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From comic book to FPS
Coming off the heels of their critically acclaimed yet commercially unsuccessful game, 'The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay', developers at "Starbreeze" venture forth into new territory with their new game "The Darkness".
For all those who do not know 'The Darkness game' is an adaptation of the very successful comic book series of the same name produced by Top Cow Productions. Though the big question now is whether or not Starbreeze’s adaptation will follow that of their successful comic counterpart or be destined to fail like so many other comic book crossovers.
Jackie Estacado
If you have not already figured it out already, you play the role of Jackie Estacado.
A skilled hitman who has been born and raised in the life of a mafia man. At a young age Jackie was adopted by his ‘Uncle’ Paulie Franchetti and brought into the Franchetti mob
Though things were not all peachy for Jackie as he was growing up. Contrary to popular belief being raised in a mob family is full of pain and suffering with death all around you.
Jackie Estacado was constantly beaten both physically and mentally by his ‘Uncle’. So much so that Jackie came to develop a hatred for him. Though as Jackie got older he began to work for his ‘Uncle’ as a low level hitman. He was proficient and brutal, and always got the job done. That is until Jackie’s latest job.
The game begins with you taking control of Jackie as he comes back from a failed job that cost his ‘Uncle’ a large amount of money.
Lets just say that ‘Uncle’ Franchetti is a little mad and is looking to punish someone, and as luck would have it that someone is you. In one of the most unique tutorials I have ever seen, you take control of Jackie as you try to fend off a slew of police cars chasing your car through the tight quarters of a underground highway tunnel. To make things worst the cops on your tail were sent by your ‘Uncle’ to kill you for screwing up the job. I will not spoil what happens, but lets just say it is a very intense sequence.
  
All an all when everything is said and done you make it through and arrive safely back at your apartment. Just when you think everything is over your dear old ‘Uncle’ seems to have left you a little birthday present, C4 wrapped in a beautiful package with a big bow on top. Oh did I mention all this takes place on Jackie’s twenty-first birthday, what a party huh. Just as Jackie discovers the bomb it explodes and throws him through the window and down to the concrete below. Though as luck would have it again you survive due to the power of a dark malevolent force that is as old as time. If that is not luck then I do not know what luck is.
Dark visuals and sound
Now I will talk more about the ‘Darkness’ powers later on in this review, but first as with all Xbox 360 games, the visuals need to be discussed especially with a game called "The Darkness".
With lack of a better term this game is well 'dark'. The game seems to only take place during the night, for there really is not that much light. Everything in the game is rendered to look dirty and gritty. I mean the game does take place in New York City.
Though the game is dark it does look simply stunning. The visuals in this game do not flat out give Gears of War a run for its money, but it does stack up on the top five amazing looking games for the 360.
Now every game with great visuals needs to have audio just as good to complete the whole picture. With this game there is no exception. The musical score within 'The Darkness' is very well done. The moody atmosphere created by the score sets a perfect tone for the game. The dark atmosphere adds to the story and feel of the game. Lets just say that there are no songs about sunny days and rainbows here.
The only songs in this game are some light rock and orchestral ambiance. Both are equally well executed and implemented.
The voice acting is also very well done as well. Especially the voice acting done by Mike Patton (lead singer for Faith No More) as the ‘Darkness.’ His voice perfectly fits the dark and sinister feel of the ‘Darkness’ entity and it adds greatly to the engrossing storyline as the game progresses.
  
Dark Gameplay
Next up on the list is the gameplay. First of all, the game is a "first person shooter" (or FPS). Something developers Starbreeze took to the next level with their previous ‘Riddick’ game.
Therefore, you have your usual armaments of twin pistols, shotguns, and machine guns. Though to mix things up a bit your character also has ‘Darkness’ powers that he discovers throughout the game.
To begin with the ‘Darkness’ is a dark being that is passed down from father to son on the son’s twenty-first birthday. Which so happened to be at the beginning of the game. With these powers your character can do a variety of things. Such things include using a ‘Darkness’ tentacle to impale cars or people, and guiding a ‘Darkness’ head along walls to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies and perform stealth kills.
Though the most entertaining ‘Darkness’ power is to summon darklings who are little gargoyle looking creatures who go out and attack anyone near them. These darklings add a dark humor to the game, for each has a very twisted personality and seem to rather enjoy causing chaos.
Throughout the game your ‘Darkness’ powers can be leveled up to stronger versions of themselves. Making it possible for even more chaos to be created on the streets of New York city. Overall even though the gameplay is similar to other first person shooters, the implementation of the ‘Darkness’ powers and slight RPG elements help to create a truly unique experience unlike any other first person shooter on the Xbox 360.
Laggy Multiplayer
Next up on the list is by far the only crutch to this unique game, and that crutch is the multiplayer.
Now do not get me wrong because the concept of the multiplayer is just as unique and interesting as the rest of the game. This is due to the fact that at any time your character can change into a darkling and back with the press of a button.
Once you are a darkling you are then able to climb up walls and get the drop on your enemies. Other than this special ability the multiplayer is your typical first person shooter multiplayer with the standard death match modes.
Usually I do not have problems with FPS multiplayer, but this game is an exception. The multiplayer modes are just simply unplayable. The lag in every single game makes playing multiplayer more a chore than a fun experience. Though a patch was promised last month to help alleviate this issues but until today, nothing has been released yet. When checking out the webiste of the developer, nothing is announced about the upcoming patch. Just in the 2k forums, a so-called "moderator" said that the 'update' is 'in the works'. But as usual ... no date.
Overall the multiplayer was good in concept, but executed poorly.
Conclusion
In the end, "The Darkness" is all and all a good game.
The visuals are nice, the gameplay is unique and refreshing, and the story is engrossing and very well done. The only two things that hamper the game is the short campaign (around ten hours), and the horribly implemented multiplayer.
Though with these two issues "The Darkness" is still a very good game as one would only expect from Starbreeze. Hopefully there will be sequels to this game, for this series has a chance to become a superb game franchise if Starbreeze fixes some of the issues in the next installments.
-Nathar
Ratings
Manual:
81 % |
Graphics:
90% |
Music & Sfx:
93% |
GamePlay:
84% |
|
This game scores
on our 5-point Rating System
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