the-darkness
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Demo for The Darkness postponed, perhaps after release
If you're a subscriber to The Darkness' bulletin via MySpace or whatever, you may have been alerted to some news that's quite the disappointment. Initially, there was planned a demo prior to release, however, that seems to have changed. The developers issued this statement, in character: "The wicked embodiment of Light and Order, the Angelus, must be corrupting the Darkness somehow because the demo is not ready."Yes, that's exactly why the demo isn't ready. In any case, they promised that "there will be a demo. I cannot guarantee that it will come before the game releases." We keep complaining about the lack of demos and this doesn't help. We know we'll get one, but getting it after the game is released almost defeats the purpose. Regardless, we'll be happy when it arrives because we simply can't fall on either side of the fence for this game.[Thanks a lot, Ben!]
The Darkness demo gets held back
We just received a tip that The Darkness demo has hit an unforeseen road block and may not make it to the Marketplace before the game ships later this month. Being a subscriber to The Darkness' MySpace group, Ben Furneaux says that he received a subscribers only bulletin message from Lord Sonatine stating that the demo has been delayed, but will release as soon as possible. Again, we aren't cool enough to be subscribers to The Darkness' official MySpace page, so we didn't get the message to confirm its contents. But you can take Ben's word for it and check out the bulletin message he received, posted after the break. The Darkness can be stopped ... by Microsoft's certification team.[Thanks, Ben Furneaux]
Achievements come out of the ... er ... Darkness
Xbox 360 Achievements, the sly dogs, got their hands on the Achievement list for Starbreeze Studios' comic book adaption, The Darkness. Upon looking at the 50 Achievements available you can tell that there is a heavy emphasis on the multiplayer aspect of the game which we definitely like to see, although we can't tell if these require to be in ranked games in order to be unlocked, or if they can be performed in public matches. Our favorite from the list, would easily be "Knuckle, Meet Face", for indulging in your first melee kill. What's yours?
Developing The Darkness for 360 and PS3 was "bordering on stupidity" says Starbreeze
In a recent Q&A with Gamespot Jens Matthies, Art Director at Starbreeze, discussed voice actors, in-game advertising and developing a game for two next-gen consoles. When asked what sort of technical limitations Starbreeze came across when developing The Darkness for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 Matthies responding saying that "this game as a whole has been the single most challenging experience of my life. The fact that we did it for two new platforms that are fundamentally very different is bordering on stupidity." Whether that's simply from an art perspective or not is unclear, but it begs the question of why so many games are deciding to go multi-platform if it is as difficult an undertaking as Matthies says. We reckon that in a year or so this will be happening less and less as developers start to make concrete decisions on which system to support. By then the PlayStation 3 will be at a point in its lifespan where it will be showing what it really has to offer.Read the full Q&A for more of Matthies' views on the development process for The Darkness. Including some discussion on real world video being placed inside a video game world and what implications that could have on game pricing in the future. It's fairly light on actual information, but we suppose it's still quite an interesting read. If you've nothing better to do.
Video: Hell as seen in The Darkness
Literary depictions of Hell vary considerably from person to person. Dante described the 9th circle of Hell as a frozen wasteland, made so by the chilling wind created by the Devil's wings. Meanwhile, Hell as depicted in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (truly a masterwork of the 20th century) gives its inhabitants a wide array of personalized punishments from which a sinner must choose. In The Darkness, it seems, Hell and its appearance are completely at the whim of the Devil. In the video above it is depicted as a war zone (reminiscent of WWII) with a blackened sky and withered landscape. We have to admit, listening to the Devil say "this is my dream of you" is pretty damned creepy. Check out another video (featuring Pestilence, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse) after the break.
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 22
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.)New for PSP: Get selected videos delivered automatically to your PSP via our new RSS feed. The Darkness [PS3, 360]Download MP4 (6.54MB) | Download JPG The following videos are featured after the break: Manhunt 2, Rise: Blood Hunter, Evening, and the feature length film "Night of the Living Dead."
IGN interviews The Darkness writer Paul Jenkins
With the release of The Darkness less than a month away IGN have seen fit to interview a certain Mr. Paul Jenkins about his role in the development of the game. British-born (and therefore automatically cool) Jenkins worked on the comic of The Darkness for Top Cow and is now working on the script for the game. Other game credentials include the God of War series and the Legacy of Kain series, the latter of which happens to be a particular favourite of mine. With games like these under his belt we can be sure to get something great out of the story of The Darkness. The interview discusses his experiences in the industry -- both comics and video games -- as well as what it has been like writing for The Darkness and developing the game with Starbreeze. It's an interesting read, by all accounts, though there's little information on the game itself except a wee bit of regarding implementation of 'invisible' loading screens. Be sure to check it out, regardless. If you find yourself hungry for more The Darkness goodies then keep in mind that we should be seeing a demo on the PSN within the next few weeks. We can't wait, can you?
Demon Arms are evil and know how to kill
A few days ago The Darkness awoke from its slumber and released a new teaser video featuring those imitating little Demon Arms. And as you can see in the video above, the Demon Arms simply rock. Not only because they deal out death, punishment, and pain, but because their eyes glow red and they drool too. Around here we call them the tentacles of fun. Take a look at the video above and tell us, will you be embracing The Darkness this Summer?
SGD '07: 2 new The Darkness screens are like a chainsaw to the heart
Not a lot new here. With the game due for release next month, we've seen a lot of what's to come already. These screenshots show that it's still looking beautiful, as well as showing a good reason not to let a Darkling near you with a chainsaw. But I guess that's common sense. Where are those videos we were promised, hmm? Will you be grabbing this game when it releases?%Gallery-3226%
The Darkness demo slated for early June
A bulletin recently posted by the official MySpace page of the upcoming 2K title, The Darkness, has clarified several details about the new release. The juiciest of these tidbits is the revelation that a demo is slated to be released before the game hits store shelves. The bulletin notes that the demo won't be finished in time to make any magazine covers, so it will download only. Currently, the demo is scheduled to arrive approximately 3 weeks before the title debuts on June 25th, so it should be on Marketplace in the first week of June or so.Also mentioned in the bulletin, a new video has been created, though it has yet to escape the evil clutches of the "certain voluntarily regulatory agencies." We can't imagine what sort of agency would prevent the distribution of horrifyingly violent material, but then again we're to desensitized to judge anymore. The bulletin also reveals that those who pre-order the title from EB or GameStop get an exclusive 2K Sports Darkling that wields a baseball bat. Nice.Here's hoping the demo comes out sooner rather than later.[Thanks, Ben Furneaux]
What's waiting in The Darkness? New multimedia info, that's what
Fancy some new details about The Darkness? Go on then, you've twisted my arm. If you've been keeping an eye on the Myspace page for the game then you'll probably already know this, but for those who haven't I'm here to relay Lord Sonatine's message. Here's the skinny: Release date: Confirmed for the 25th of June Demos: No cover discs. Expect to see a downloadable demo on the PLAYSTATION Store three weeks before release. Videos: Three in the works. One is ready and is working on being approved. Apparently we'll LOVE it. Two other videos, showing off multiplayer and 'supernatural elements' of the game, have started being produced. Pre-order: Doing so at EB or Gamestop will net you an in-game 2K Sports Darkling. Sounds great to me. It should be a couple of months filled with The Darkness, all the way up to release. Give in. The Darkness is coming, and it's bringing friends.[Thanks, Ben Furneaux]
Box Art unveiled from The Darkness
DAKing420240 got his grubby paws on the box art for The Darkness, which looks mighty fine, albeit slightly on the small side. None the less, we love the art direction on the cover, from the golden glow from all the eyes and logo, the muted palette with the bluish-black overtone. All in all it looks very sexy, and we can't wait to get our hands on this game in just shy of two months. That, and we can't post about The Darkness without mentioning how badass Mike Patton is, as the voice of the title character. Will you be brandishing this on your gaming shelf or does the spiritual successor to Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay not interest you?
Eating heads for fun, The Darkness video interview
We've all been relatively in the dark (yeah, we're lame) when it comes to The Darkness' features, gameplay, and what we'll be getting into this Summer. That is until yesterday when IGN posted an exclusive video interview with the game's producer featuring not only gameplay footage, but an explanation of the Darkness' powers and what you'll be able to do with them. Think of the Darkness as a consuming force, something that is using you to showcase its super powers. Got it? Now, with it you'll be able to use it Dr. Octopus style on enemies by lifting objects, reaching new heights and biting off other's heads. Players also control little Darklings who have different personalities and are just ... evil. Not only that, but the player can strategically shoot out lights and move about in the dark with no problem, because you have super heightened senses. Makes sense huh? They also touch on various multiplayer features and other interesting tidbits in the video.There's a boat load of new information and gameplay footage in this video interview that we can't possibly touch on and we highly recommend giving it a watch. Just be sure to come back and tell us what you think. The Darkness will be hitting retailers June 29th, so be prepared.
The Darkness shall be unleashed in June
Starbreeze's newest title The Darkness has been talked about over and over again. By us, mostly. Screenshots here, plot outline there, you know. The usual. Anyway, it's been released that June 25th will be the tentative release date. This is good because there's that summertime lull in good games (Lair is in May, and Heavenly Sword is... later) and releasing this title in that frame will give it a better chance to get into people's hands -- even if just for a rental.The funny thing is, this announcement was apparently made via MySpace. I don't like the thing, so I'm not going to sift through the crap to find the announcement, but hey. It's a medium to deliver news in the same way YouTube is, probably. That's all we've got to say about this! We'll keep you up on details as they surface.
The Darkness gets a June birth date
Watch out, we're one step closer to being consumed by The Darkness. Over on The Darkness' official MySpace page (yes, evil is hip enough to have a MySpace too) they've posted the official release dates for the game. The United States will be experiencing The Darkness on June 25th, while our European friends will be playing on June 29th. After watching the game's trailer and witnessing the craziness that is The Darkness, we'll be watching this game closely. The Brotherhood of The Darkness has spoken, now move along.
The Darkness trailer creeps out XBLM
The Darkness trailer that was released on the interweb last week is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. So, if screen-door-quality internet streaming video isn't your cup of tea, you can now download it in glorious High Definition. It's definitely worth checking out in HD, too, as the graphical fidelity is top notch in The Darkness. What we're getting at here is that the game looks nice. Well, nice may not be the proper word. Let's see ... gruesome, that's the word! It looks gruesome. Of course, if you're stuck at work and can't download it now, you can always check out the streaming version we posted earlier. Enjoy.Who's planning on picking up The Darkness?
New Darkness trailer emerges
If you can say one thing about Starbreeze Studios, it's that they know how to make a pretty game. Chronicles of Riddick stands as one of the best looking games on the original Xbox, and Starbreeze's latest, The Darkness, looks to do the same for the Xbox 360. GameTrailers has released the latest trailer for the game, featuring some impressive in game footage. Both the environments and the characters show off some serious polish. Everything is sharp, clear, and clean. Even better, the game looks like it might have a story that's worth seeing (the voice acting is top notch, too). Check out the trailer after the break.
Hands-on impressions from The Darkness
The subject line should technically read "of The Darkness" but that doesn't sound anywhere near as cryptic. It seems comic-book fans (or shall we say "graphic novel" fans) have something to get excited about, as IGN released a very glowing hands-on impression of the title recently. Their subtitle is even "Starbreeze delivers the essence of evil like no other" so you know there's something going for this game. Let's break down what they enjoyed: Semi-famous actors/singers lend their talents as voiceovers, perform well. The opening sequence is amazing... in IGN's words: "The opening sequence is like one long Martin Scorsese car chase with no cuts, all sorts of foul language, car crashes, gun fighting, and a stylistic sense of graphic beauty and sheer intensity." The direction, clarity, and style perfectly compliment the source material. While it was played with the 360, the translation to PS3 controls makes it sound like a pretty easy-to-use control scheme. The demon's eyes are your health bar -- the dimmer they get, the closer you are to kicking the bucket. Also of note is the Halo-style health regeneration: sit still without getting shot at, you'll heal up. You get to shoot out lights -- the demons don't like the light... Lots of weapons, coupled with the demon heads, in addition to summoning Darklings up from predetermined locations really give you the sense of having a lot at your disposal -- almost a bit too much. Supposedly things change in later levels. Multiplayer was a load of fun. Playing as a Darkling, shimmying up walls and waiting in dark corners to pounce on an opponent seemed to be a very pleasant feature. Glad to hear it. Well, it seems that IGN enjoys the game. The 360 and PS3 will have a lot of fun with this one when it comes out. What do you guys think? We've posted a lot about this game, but mostly just screenshots. Now that you've got a little bit more info at your disposal, what are your hands-off impressions?
GameTrailer's GDC video wrap-up
Our 2007 Game Developers Conference has come to an end, we've had a fun ride, but there is still more to see. And the nice folks over at GameTrailers have their GDC section quarantined off and ready to showcase some of the best Xbox 360 media. You can sit back and watch a new Portal video, maybe some Mercenaries 2, a Fable 2 dog demo, or The Darkness. It's every video they have to offer from GDC that is Xbox 360 related. And we definitely recommend watching the Fable 2 dog demo, because it just might make you think differently about this new "revolutionary" feature. GDC may be over, but your video watching has just begun.
The Darkness gameplay video sees the light
Godfree over at Gamertagradio sent us a gameplay video for The Darkness. It looks pretty slick and shows off the great lighting in the game, which, considering the title, would pretty much have to be. It also displays some of the gunplay as well as The Darkness' powers. We're looking forward to seeing more on this from Starbreeze. Are you going to be watching this title as close as we are until its spring release?
