Darkness II Review (X360 - Single player): Eye of the Needle

It was the second time that I played through chapter 4 when it happened: opening double doors to reveal a pool hall, goons with eyes on the door and guns raised. My response was gloriously violent and cool. That's right I said it, "cool". I picked up a pool stick with my Darkness arms, waited for two of my opponents to cross paths and then released it. The action on screen slowed to a crawl as the improvised projectile pinned both men to the wall in an explosion of crimson. Once the impact of my violent act had sunken in, I could then hear Tone Loc's rendition of "Wild Thing" on a nearby radio.

Like I said, "cool."

The Darkness II is loaded with ridiculously violent sequences of varying length where the player character, the returning anti-hero, Jackie Estacado is the perpetrator. It should be difficult, if not impossible, to relate to a man capable of such actions - even if they are carried out at the behest of a supremely-evil weapon. By putting the protagonist in the hot seat (read: in front of the camera) in between acts, however, you're comfortable that there's a person underneath the deceptive, symbiotic beast. Sometimes you think he may even be a person worth saving. The Darkness itself, which is once again expertly voiced by Mike Patton, is the true star of the show, but Jackie and select members of the supporting cast also deliver convincing performances. It's a predictable tale, but it's also oddly moving.

The pace of Jackie's second adventure rarely lets up, but an expansive range of "talents" ensure that you're never overwhelmed. By the end of my "New Game +" run, I could summon a swarm of killer bugs, suspend goons in mid-air and see as well as shoot through walls... all at once. Even without a great deal of "essence", however, I could still impale and eviscerate enemies with pipes and fan blades, use my Darkness tendrils to hold a car door to shield myself from enemy attacks, and swipe anything that crept into close quarters. With the Darkness as your ally -- or master, as it were -- no challenge is too great. 

Seriously, even on the hardest difficulty, there's nothing that can't be overcome with the right selection of talents. I found myself following the same enjoyable routine, regardless of the difficulty level selected: shoot the lights, stun enemies with Darkness powers (if charged), then spray the area until clean. Checkpoints are doled out pretty generously (even popping up in boss fights) and the campaign runs pretty smoothly as a result. In my experience, a second playthrough is pretty much mandatory.

Boss fights are the weakest aspect of the campaign, with your opponents posing no match for a decent set of talents. Combining Swarm with Gun Channeling ends most encounters pretty quickly, and average goons are thrown in to allow you to regenerate health and stock up on ammo. Raising the difficulty level does change the dynamics of these battles somewhat, but a calm nerve and steady hand (and Swarm and Gun Channeling) should see you through.

I should also mention that there's quite a lot to distinguish this game from its predecessor. Yes, they both boil down to hyperviolent first person shooters, but the sequel features striking cel-shaded visuals, a (for the most part) different set of abilities, and it even provides a satisfying follow up to the events of the original. The Darkness II is a truly great sequel that's well worth the hard-earned cash and time of any fans of the first game.  It might only take about five hours to reach the conclusion, it's explicitly violent -- to the point where I don't know what right-thinking individual would afford it an MA15+ rating -- and you'll guess the ending well before it comes, but I thoroughly enjoyed my second stint enveloped in the Darkness. 

Blogstipation

For the last few weeks, I have been struggling to write. I've been struggling to focus. I've been struggling full stop.

There's something about trying to return to normality after disappointment that's utterly distracting. I could just label it "depression," but I'm operating under the assumption that as a writer (or at least, an aspiring one), I should be able to dress it up as something more complex or sexy. Although, sometimes it pays to be concise: things didn't work out. 

What this means for me is that, above all, writing to a structure is proving exceedingly difficult. I've had half of a review written for The Darkness II for a few days. I've been struggling to come up with even a subtitle for my Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed review. I know what I think about these games, I'm just having trouble articulating that in a way that doesn't read cliched (feel forced, etc, etc). 

Funny thing is, I think the two, aforementioned titles represent some of the best released in 2012. The Darkness II is not only a worthy sequel to one of the better early "next gen" shooters, it's also a really good sequel in that it retains what worked from its predecessor and adds enough new stuff to feel worthwhile. There's actually quite a lot to fit under the "new" marquee: a vastly different visual style, new powers, "quad-wielding," and some solid character development (wrapped up in a thoroughly predictable plot). There is a multiplayer offering too, but I'm finding it hard to commit to anything that involves more than myself of late. Something to do with the need to believe that I'm making some progress. 

Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed (henceforth referred to as Sonic Transformed for the sake of my sanity) is the best kart racer I've ever played. Sorry if I cut to the chase too quickly, but it is. Haven't even been able to find live opposition (I'm rocking the Vita version, FYI) and I'm prepared to commit. If you have any love of racing, vibrant visuals and old school Sega magic, pick it up now. 

That's muhfuqqin' Joe Musahi ridin' a motorbike, dawg. 

I'll try and formulate something more rigid in terms of opinion on these games on the near future. 

The Demo Downlow: Asura's Wrath and The Darkness II

Welcome to the third instalment of The Demo Downlow. Today we'll be looking at trials for Capcom's oriental space-opera, Asura's Wrath and 2K Games' follow-up to Top Cow comic-inspired The Darkness.

Asura's Wrath (Played on Xbox 360)
I've read a lot about Capcom's upcoming action game, but I've never watched any gameplay footage. I wish that I had, because then I wouldn't be feeling the sense of disappointment that I feel now. Don't get me wrong, the portion that I played looked amazing and the score perfectly suits the bat shit crazy action on screen. The problem is, no matter how nutty the titular character looks, or how many giant swords you're being stabbed with, the game handles like an interactive cut scene. Even when the action is taken off rails, it feels as though you're going through the motions until the director has something more ridiculous to show you. I certainly hope that the full game pits the player against grunts instead of boss fight after meticulously-directed boss fight. Still, the scale of the action and high-quality animation deserves to be seen (if not played).

Not pictured: The rest of this deity's giant thumb.

The Verdict
I love the game's oriental sci-fi motif and the fantastic soundtrack, but the action feels like a shallow interruption to the wonderfully-rendered cut scenes. Worth a download, but I'll probably wait for this one to hit the bargain bins.

The Darkness II (Played on Xbox 360)
I was a big fan of Starbreeze's - of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay fame - first quasi-open world effort based on Top Cow's comic, The Darkness. It was short, shockingly-violent and truly horrifying in some scenes. Digital Extremes - which handled the PS3 port of Bioshock - is at the helm with the sequel, and what I've seen looks promising... and violent. Like ridiculously violent. Like "seriously, how the fuck did Mortal Kombat get banned in Australia and this game sails through uncensored" violent. With your Darkness powers you can eat hearts, rip men in half, impale your foes with all kinds of improvised weaponry and almost literally paint the town red. It's quite a meaty demo - all things considered - and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the final release in a few weeks time. The shooting itself is a bit loose, but the Darkness powers allow for enough improvisation that you won't often care. It's also worth noting that the new cel-shaded visual style is a great fit.

Dear OFLC....

The Verdict
Do you like gore? Do you like the idea of a twist - however superficial it may be - on the tired FPS genre?  Do you like solid shooting mechanics and beautiful, cel-shaded graphics? If you answered yes to any of those questions, the demo for The Darkness II may manage to sell you on the full retail release.

It's probably worth noting that I would've bought The Darkness II regardless of the demo's quality, but I was expecting more from the trial for Asura's Wrath. If the weight of critical opinion is in the affirmative my balsa wood will may break, for now though.... I'll wait.