The Darkness II - Xbox 360

The Darkness II Review: A Lovesick Killer Loses His Soul

Andrew Reiner — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:59:00 GMT

In the comic book business, it’s common for high-profile writers and artists to leave a series before completing a story arc. The change in talent often produces a jarring shift for readers. The plot can head in a direction the previous creative team may not have intended. Alterations to character appearances and dialogue can give them entirely new personalities. Even if this comic is technically picking up where it left off, its tonal and cosmetic changes can make it feel like an alternate reality continuation.

The Darkness, a video game series based on the Top Cow comic, is afflicted by a similar creative malady. Developer Starbreeze tapped this license to create a powerful shooter that played out like a slow-moving stealth game with protagonist Jackie Estacado lurking in the shadows, summoning his darkling minions to systematically take down his foes. For the sequel, newly appointed developer Digital Extremes keeps Jackie’s story alive, but the framework for the experience is aimed more toward the fast-paced shooter crowd than people looking for a creepy supernatural thriller. That’s not to say Digital Extremes didn’t create a decent game full of mindless action, but the soul that Starbreeze nurtured and made Jackie’s driving force is nowhere to be found.

This time around Jackie comes across as a lovesick broken record, going on and on about his dead girlfriend Jenny. Two years have passed since her tragic death, and he hasn’t found peace. He’s obsessed with her memory to the unhealthy degree that he sees hallucinations of her and is continually reminded of the great moments they had together. One of the best moments from the original was Jackie’s quiet night on the couch with Jenny. Digital Extremes tries to evoke this same feeling from players on numerous occasions, but they all feel forced and disingenuous. No offense, Jenny, but I feel like Digital Extremes is beating a dead horse.

A new antagonist and reason for Jackie to seek vengeance are introduced early on in this tale, but as you’ve probably gathered by now, loverboy’s head isn’t exactly where it should be. As he becomes unhinged, Jackie’s mind lapses into a reality without the Darkness where Jenny still lives. These sequences have Jackie talking to his mob buddies and Jenny, adding humor to the grim tale, but the gimmick is revisited too often. The resolution to the entire plot hangs on Jenny, and sadly doesn’t reach closure until after the credits, where another ridiculous Jenny revelation awaits.

The gameplay struggles to find its pulse just as much. Combat relies on reflexes more than strategy this time around; Jackie can rarely get the jump on an enemy, and the Darkness is just a weapon rather than a tool. Most encounters begin when Jackie passes an invisible trigger point in the environment. Foes crawl out of the woodwork, descend from rooftops, and almost always rush his location, resulting in more close-range encounters and challenging battles.

Jackie can quad-wield weapons (two guns and two Darkness serpents), allowing for a variety of grisly kills. Placing two bullets into an opponent’s leg makes him reel, giving Jackie enough time to lift him off of the ground with a serpent. As the foe dangles in agony, the second serpent can rip off his head or puncture his chest. The gunplay and serpent mechanics are beautifully implemented, and once mastered, empower the player with the sensation of superiority on the battlefield.

Feeling powerful is fun, but combat encounters lack the necessary variety in design and enemy types to remain fresh. Even with an extensive upgrade system in place, the action doesn’t evolve from its initial form. I must have summoned my serpents to perform the grotesque wishbone kill (ripping a foe in two from the crotch to the face) at least 100 times in the seven or eight hours it took to complete the game.

The only diversion from the repetition is the rare instance where control switches to a darkling. This foul critter occasionally sticks his fingernails into human eye sockets, but mostly performs boring actions like scurrying through vents and disabling fuse boxes. His most memorable accomplishment is peeing on dead enemies, which isn’t a good sign. I should also point out that this darkling is always onscreen playing the “follow” role seen in the Call of Duty games, motioning you in the right direction. The odd thing about this handholding technique is that the game already offers a light-up breadcrumb trail waypoint system. If you use it when he’s on screen, the trail goes right below his feet. I have to ask: At what point did we become so bad at navigating linear environments that we need two redundant “Help me! I’m stuck!” systems?

The Darkness II is more of a rebirth for the series than the sequel it’s trying to be. The action is mindless and fevered, and Jackie has transformed from a vengeful protagonist into someone who probably listens to “Dream Weaver” as he cries himself to sleep. I found it to be an interesting journey, mostly just to see how different it is from the original, and also to see how a demonic superhero can be whipped by a dead woman.

The Darkness II Gets Torn Up In Executions Trailer

Ben Reeves — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:04:00 GMT

If you needed any proof that the Darkness II is a bloody game, look no further than 2K’s latest trailer.

Watch Jackie dismantle his enemies with a variety of finishing moves: Neck Tear, Wishbone, and Daisy Pop.

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The Darkness II Launch Trailer Gets Industrial

Adam Biessener — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:23:00 GMT

The Darkness II goes down the trail so bravely blazed by Quake all those years ago with this launch trailer and its Nine Inch Nails soundtrack.

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Are you ready for The Darkness II? It doesn't matter which of the three HD platforms you own; the ability to brutally murder scads of bad guys with your choice of tentacle or gun can be yours at the game's February 7 launch. There's no reason you shouldn't read the in-depth previews of the game that GI's Kyle Hilliard has been cranking out to give you a better idea if The Darkness II is for you if this pre-rendered CG trailer isn't answering your questions, though.

The Super Violent Love Story Of The Darkness Continues, Now In Color

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT

In the two years since the end of the first Darkness, Jackie Estacado has been holding off on using his demonic abilities, not allowing himself to succumb to its addictive power. That all changes when a car comes barreling through his restaurant, killing his two dinner guests and mangling his leg seemingly beyond repair. This is how The Darkness 2 begins, and much like its predecessor, it effectively starts the game off with a very exciting bang. Out of the chaos of the car flying through the wall, one of your men approaches you and offers to carry you out of the restaurant, but you will have to do the shooting because he can’t do both. As Jackie, you are pulled through your restaurant, gun in hand, picking off the mysterious villains who decided that the best projectile to try to kill you with was a car.

Your leg is sickening, with no skin and missing toes, and it’s in full view as your partner drags you through the crumbling restaurant, leaving trails of blood. You make it all the way to the exit in the kitchen only to be blown away by a gas explosion. You can see the alley next to the restaurant care of the giant hole in the wall that the explosion created, and as you crawl towards your escape a man with a cane appears offering only the comment that you seem stronger than your father. He walks out of view and an average thug appears, goading you to crawl toward him.

It’s here that the Darkness speaks up and says, “Use my power or die,” in Mike Patton’s familiar schizophrenic and chaotic pitch, which you’ll recognize from the first game. And then you press “X” to unleash The Darkness. The tentacles extend from your arms, killing the thug who was goading you. The arms lift you up, pull you into the alley, and make quick work of the other men waiting there. Some get ripped in half, and some get the heads pulled from their shoulders. You catch a quick glimpse of the Darkness magically fixing your leg, and then you have control of Jackie and his incredibly violent power.

From there, it’s up to you and the crew of mobsters you command to figure out who attacked you, and why. Your mobster crew doesn’t actually help you in the field. You’re on your own out there, but they are skilled at chasing down leads and finding information that can send you on your violent path. And The Darkness 2 is incredibly violent.

Not only do the bad guys (bad being a relative term in this game) of The Darkness 2 spew about twice as much blood as the normal video game enemy when shot, but using the powers of the Darkness opens up a diverse and grotesque set of instant kills. With your demon arms, you can slice people in half, grab enemies and rip their heads off, or – my favorite – position the enemy horizontally and push one of your demon arms through their chest in a very obvious homage to Alien. You can also use the arms to grab things like ammunition and rip car doors off of vehicles that can be used both as a shield and a decapitating projectile.

After successfully escaping the restaurant, I found myself at my luxurious home. I spoke with the man who dragged me through the restaurant and he offered me some leads about who hit us at the restaurant. I explored my home, making conversation with the assorted hitmen, and even caught two guards saying that their boss (Jackie) was crazy. I confronted them about it, and they quickly changed their tune. Up in Jackie’s bedroom, I found a small shrine that had been constructed for Jenny, Jackie’s girlfriend, who was killed during the course of the first game. He lights a candle for her and says how much he misses her.

On my way out of Jackie’s bedroom, I get confronted by his aunt Sara, who tells me that I need to get over Jenny, that she’s gone now. Jackie reassures her that he is totally fine and perfectly capable of moving on, but she sees right through Jackie and knows that he will never be able to truly move past Jenny.

This becomes even more apparent during the first true level of the game. Jackie sees a ghostly version of Jenny, and runs to catch up with her. Suddenly he finds himself in the diner that Jenny used to work at. He knows this is all an illusion, likely perpetrated by the reemergence of the Darkness, but he doesn’t care. If it means more time with Jenny, even a ghostly illusion of her, he will take it. Jenny and Jackie spend some time together and it reminds me of the memorable moments you spent with her in the first game. It succeeds without feeling like an attempt to simply recreate what happened, and does genuinely feel like an extension of their relationship.

Visually, the game looks closer to Borderlands than the original game. In an attempt to look more like the comic the game draws its inspiration from, The Darkness 2 has a cel-shaded look. It gives the game a stronger sense of color throughout, which is good and bad. The Darkness 2 doesn’t look as drab and monotone as the first game looked from time to time, but I ran into trouble when I didn’t realize that I needed to shoot out lights. The Darkness hates the light, and throughout the whole game you must shoot out lights in order to take full advantage of Jackie’s power. With the game being as colorful as it is, shooting out lights doesn’t make the environment seem that much darker. I found myself walking up to an enemy or exit, only to be thwarted by bright overhead lights that I had neglected to shoot out.

The Darkness 2 is being helmed by a different group of developers than the first game, but after spending some time with the sequel, I see no reason to worry about the new credits. The designers and coders may be new, but the writer of the first game is on board, and the story was one of the best elements of the original. It looks different now, but the brutality, gameplay, and strong voice acting and story have all made it over to the second game. I want to know what happens with Jackie’s continuing struggle with The Darkness, but more than anything else, I want to know what happens to Jenny. Without saying too much, it seems like Jenny will be just as important to the story this time around as she was last time.

A Deeper Look At The Darkness II's Co-op

Kyle Hilliard — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:15:00 GMT

The Darkness had multiplayer, but it was superfluous and few took the time to check it out. The original game was all about the singular experience of Jackie Estacado as he came to grips with The Darkness, the death of his girlfriend, and a million other terrible things happening to him all at once. To throw in a mode that tasked players with murdering others infected with the dark powers seemed odd and out of place. Digital Extremes realizes the multiplayer misstep of the first game, but doesn’t want to discount players who are interested in shooting guns with dark powers while in the company of others. Vendettas brings cooperative multiplayer to The Darkness in a way that makes narrative sense.

In Vendettas, players are able to play through an entirely separate cooperative campaign that goes alongside the single player experience. There are four characters to choose from, each with unique abilities and back stories explaining what has led them to work with Estacado as they fight against the evil Brotherhood. We spoke to Seth Olshfski, a producer at 2K working with Digital Extremes on the Darkness 2, about the inclusion of co-op. “The narrative co-op experience of Vendettas came out of early pre-production where one of our core pillars was that everything we do is going to be in service of story,” said Olshfski. “Narrative co-op was something that naturally fell out of that as another way to make the world more rich.”

Players can tackle the co-op game with up to three other players online. Otherwise, in an unusual design, you can play through it completely alone, without even any AI buddies to watch your back. The banter shared among the four selectable players will change depending on who you choose, but the main story will remain consistent, no matter whom you are or are not playing with. The new characters have been created exclusively for the game, and are not characters that have already appeared in the Top Cow-published comic. When asked if these characters would appear in future Darkness comics, Olshfski replied, “We have a really good relationship with Top Cow.”

The new characters don’t have the same powers as Jackie, but they are able to take advantage of Darkness-infused artifacts. Inugami wields the powerful Kusanagi sword. The sword itself has an impressive back story; having supposedly been used to kill ten thousand innocents, the deadly blade demands more victims or it will kill its user. Inugami can also summon a swarm of miniature demons to immobilize his enemies.

Olshfski also shared a little about the other three multiplayer characters with us. Shoshanna is an agent for Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Agency. She uses the Arm of Night, and a Darkness-infused gun that looks like it originally belonged to a pirate. J.P. DuMond uses a weapon called the Midnight Stick, and can create fatal vortexes using his Box of Tricks. DuMond created his Box of Tricks by filling a literal box with dark magic that he came across while healing patients as a doctor using voodoo powers. Jimmy Wilson is an alcoholic from Glasgow, Scotland. He doesn't remember how he came upon his weapon, the Dark Axe. He is also able to summon Darklings that he calls Little Jimmies.

The co-op game takes a more comedic approach to storytelling, being called a “dark co-op comedy” by Olshfski. Both the Darkness and its sequel tell dark, emotionally disturbing stories, and the co-op game is being implemented to help offset the dreary tone of Jackie’s story. “What you need is moments of humor,” said Olshfski . “It's dark humor which works best for us. Those moments of humor – it’s like you're at a wine tasting and you eat the little crackers between the bits of wine. It just resets your palette.”

It’s not a new concept in storytelling. “Every Shakespeare tragedy has comedic players in it, because you've got to have moments of like, not the same emotion in order to make the emotion you're trying to convey continue to work through a long show. And this is a long, long show,” said Olshfski.

If you skip the co-op game, or even the single-player game, you will still be left with a rewarding experience. Both stories, though connected, have standalone narratives. There is a much richer story to be experienced by playing both games, and an even richer experience if you’ve played the first game, but it is by no means required. “The whole plot will make sense and be rewarding if you never played the first game,” Olshfsky told us. “The whole plot will make sense and be way more rewarding if you did.”

The Darkness 2 is set for release on February 7 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Click here to check out our original story about Vendattas.

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Jackie Brings His Buddies For Darkness II's Co-Op Mode

Jeff Cork — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:09:00 GMT

Jackie Estacato is never really alone, ever since the Darkness jumped into his soul on Estacato's 21st birthday. Even so, he can always use some additional help in his latest campaign against the Brotherhood. That's where the co-op Vendettas mode comes in. It's a team-based experience that shows what's happening in the world as Jackie is off doing his own thing.

The trailer shows off the mode's four playable characters and sets up its overall atmosphere. It's not for the squeamish, either, and not because of the blood. If you are at all sensitive to lame stereotypes, this video (and the official character descriptions below it) could very well be franchise kryptonite.

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Inugami: Wielding the mythical Kusanagi samurai sword rumored to have killed 10,000 innocents, Inugami is a dark and mentally unstable character with revenge-driven motives against The Brotherhood and their allies for the slaughter of his entire family. He can also use a swarm of miniature demons to attack and immobilize his enemies.
Shoshanna: Shoshanna is an ultra-efficient agent for Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Agency, who was sent to New York to combat a spike in Brotherhood activity. Her obedience and devotion to her superiors makes her a perfect operative, and she harbors a passion for hunting and destroying evil in the world as part of her legacy. Shoshanna wields the Arm of the Night, a powerful weapon fueled with Dark essence and the power to fire multiple rounds of gunfire at one time.
Jimmy Wilson: A product of inner-city Glasgow, Scotland, and a notorious alcoholic, Jimmy believes The Brotherhood is simply another form of the hated English that persecuted his family in the past, and he travels to New York to torment them to the fullest extent. He wields the Dark Axe, and has the ability to summon Darklings that he commonly refers to as “Little Jimmys.”
J.P. DuMond: A former doctor from New Orleans, DuMond is burdened with guilt for using a form of Louisiana Voodoo to heal his patients. The use of dark magic drew the attention of The Brotherhood, an organization which J.P. is now forced to combat in order to halt their pursuit of evil relics. J.P. wields the Midnight Stick and can pull enemies into an anatomy-crushing vortex when he tosses his Box of Tricks – a black metal box filled with dark power – into an open area.

The Artfully Executions Of The Darkness II

Ben Reeves — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:56:00 GMT

Jackie Estacado has been possessed by an ancient power called the Darkness. This elemental force allows him to dismember his foes in a number of ways. Need proof?

The Darkness II releases on February 7. Here is a taste of what’s to come.

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New Videos Introduce The Brotherhood, Quad Wielding

Jeff Marchiafava — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:50:00 GMT

Today 2K released a couple of new trailers for The Darkness II, which introduce the secret organization Jackie Estacado will be up against, as well as how he'll deal with them.

If you haven't been following our coverage, The Darkness II is a survival horror/FPS whose main claim to fame is the protagonist's ability to use The Darkness to dispatch his foes. You can see some of the powers The Darkness affords Estacado in the first trailer, which also introduces the organization he'll be fighting off over the course of the game, The Brotherhood. The second video, however, shows off the player's most powerful ability: quad wielding. This allows Estacado to fire two weapons in addition to controlling two demon tentacle things that can be used to rip apart even more enemies.

The Darkness II spreads onto PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on February 7.

Meet The Brotherhood:

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Quad Wielding:

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Darkness II Trailer Explains Entity’s Origins

Tim Turi — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:02:00 GMT

You may have heard of The Darkness. Heck, you may have even played the entire first game. That doesn’t necessarily mean you understand what the toothy, tentacle beast is all about. Check out this new trailer in which a shaky, anxious narrator rambles on about Jackie Estacado’s burden.

Be warned, this game is pretty freaking violent.

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Meet The Brotherhood In Darkness II

Annette Gonzalez — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:50:00 GMT

The original Darkness told the tale of mob hit man Jackie Estacado who manifested darkness powers on his 21st birthday to stop an evil entity. He took down the mob that killed his beloved girlfriend Jenny, rose through the ranks and became the don. The Darkness II picks up two years after the events of its predecessor. In the debut demo revealed back in March, we see our hero nailed to a cross in a dark torture chamber. A disfigured villain tries to take the darkness powers from Jackie, a mysterious man who was officially revealed at E3 as Victor Valente, leader of a new enemy type called The Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood is an ancient organization with great knowledge of darkness powers that the enemies use to Jackie's disadvantage. The Brotherhood formed 1,000 years ago with the help of a saint and they're goal was to remove darkness from the world (Jackie can't use his darkness powers in the light), but instead became corrupted by the darkness. This enemy type charges at Jackie to engage in combat and utilize light such as flashbangs and flashlights to keep him from using his darkness powers.

The team at Digital Extremes also introduced Darkness II's progression system at E3. Every time you successfully get a kill, deliver executions, or when Jackie's demon arms eat the hearts out of helpless corpses, you'll earn "essence". Throughout the game you'll find "talent shrines" where you can spend essence for advanced abilities across four trees including a weapon tree, mystical tree, demonic tree, and a gun channeling tree. In the demo Digital Extremes showcased gun channeling, which allows you to channel darkness through your guns giving you unlimited ammo and better firepower for a short period of time. As you progress on the gun channeling tree you'll extend the time the power lasts. You can also unlock new abilities such as heart of darkness that allows you to see through walls and shoot enemies in cover.

The Darkness II will be available later this year.

Watch The Darkness II In Action

Matt Bertz — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:05:55 GMT

A new gameplay trailer showcases the series' new art direction and protagonist Jackie Estacado's fiendish prowess for combat.

In taking the reigns from Starbreeze Studios, new developer Digital Extremes is shifting the art direction for The Darkness II, embracing the series' comic book roots with a hand-drawn aesthetic. Check out the new style in the video below.

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The Darkness II doesn't come out until October 4, but look for some hands-on impressions next week when we check the game out for ourselves at E3.

Bloody Battles And New Mechanics Excite In The Darkness II

Bryan Vore — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:05:00 GMT

When The Darkness released back in 2007, it garnered plenty of praise mixed with a few complaints so a sequel was is no way guaranteed. Four years later, I'm happy to say that the franchise is back and it's looking better than ever.

Developer Digital Extremes (Dark Sector, Bioshock 2 multiplayer) has taken the reins from Starbreeze with the intention of amplifying the good parts and fixing or all-out cutting the bad.

The debut demo of The Darkness II begins with hero Jackie Estacado nailed to a cross with large metal spikes in a small, dark torture room. A disfigured villain dubbed "The Crippled Man" is drawing the darkness powers out of Jackie into a lantern-like device and toying with him.

The perspective cuts back and forth to a seemingly brighter times when Jackie is visiting a fancy, bustling restaurant. It's been two years since the last game and in the meantime he has become the don of his crime family. Patrons go on about their business and some nod in respect. He sits down at a table with a pair of ladies for a good time. All of a sudden, one of them gets sniped through the back of the head and the whole wall of the restaurant explodes behind them.[PageBreak]

Jackie's laid out stunned and one of his legs is completely mangled. His mob soldiers are well aware of his powers so a trusted lieutenant drags him towards the back alley for a fresh dose of darkness. What follows is an atypical rail sequence with the player fires off gunshots while he's being pulled backward, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Once he's outside, Jackie can finally start using the darkness. Attacks are fundamentally different this time around. Of the two tentacles onscreen, one is now reserved specifically for slashing while other handles grabs. The slash can instantly slice off limbs and heads and is cleverly controlled by holding down the right bumper and flicking the right stick in any direction. I didn't get to try it myself, but this seems to allow a great degree of flexibility. The grab mechanic results in even more close up graphic attacks that are customized to specific body parts. Aim for the chest and the tentacle will wrap up a goon and burst through his chest and eat his heart. Go for the legs and the tentacles will rip the poor sap in half like a wishbone.

Back in the torture room, Jackie gains strength in desperation and rips his own hand out of the spike. An enemy moves to subdue him and Jackie grabs the other stake and jams it into the guy's head. The disfigured villain escapes Jackie's wrath before vowing that he will do whatever it takes to take the darkness for his own. I can't wait to see him try this fall.