PS3 Fanboy review: The Darkness

Starbreeze's Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay was one of those titles that you really, really should have played. The critically acclaimed game was known for its incredible graphics, atmospheric story and brutal, violent gameplay but was largely ignored by gamers who wrote it off as another cheap movie tie-in or were distracted by Half-Life 2 and Doom 3, both of which had just been released. It's a shame though, because Riddick easily held its own against both of those titles and is considered by many people to be the best FPS of 2004. And now, three years later, Starbreeze has done it again with their latest effort, The Darkness. Though only a little more than half-way through the year, The Darkness is an early runner for best FPS of 2007. A fantastic amalgamation of tight gameplay, mature storytelling and excellent graphics, the title is an absolute must-buy and is an instant classic.

Based on Top Cow's long running comic series of the same name, the story revolves around an anti-hero by the name of Jackie Estacado. Adopted by a mafia Don when a child, Jackie was raised to be the perfect hitman and enforcer for the mob. Things were going swimmingly until his 21st birthday when a strange and evil power within him called the Darkness is awoken. Older than time, this menavolent entity gives its host incredible powers and protection -- but nothing in this world is free and Jackie is about to find out what the cost of ultimate power is ...

Starting off shortly before the Darkness awakens within you, the game opens with a thrilling high-speed car chase through a crowded underground tunnel with cops chasing you. After destroying more cars than the Matrix Reloaded highway scene, you're dumped into a warehouse with a couple dozen really angry mafia guys looking to perforate you. It's a great opening and sets the atmosphere and pacing for the rest of the game.

It's atmosphere and storytelling that The Darkness really succeeds at. With a mature and intelligent script and some of the best voice acting I've ever heard in a video game, the story sucks you in and doesn't let go until well after you've finished the game. Every part of the game seems engineered to maintain and enhance the atmosphere, from the somber and reflective ramblings of Jackie during the load scenes to the phone numbers scattered around on billboards and fliers that you can actually call from any of the in-game public phones. This is video game story telling at it's very best.

Atmosphere will only go so far though, if you don't have the gameplay to back it up and luckily The Darkness delivers in spades. Though you are given the standard accruement of guns like double pistols, a shotgun, a couple rifles and more, but they're not really the focus of the gameplay. They work well and they feel good, but it's clear that the real meat of the gameplay lies in the powers that the Darkness grants you. Through the course of the game you will develop more and more supernatural powers, from little things like being able to send out a snake made out of the Darkness to explore the corridor ahead of you to more fantastical abilities like summoning a black hole to rip apart a room. And the way you gain more skills and power? Ripping out the hearts of your fallen foes and eating them. It's horrible and gruesome and awesome. In addition to the guns and the crazy Darkness powers, you can also summon Darklings, little goblin familiars who will do your bidding and chatter away behind you. Some of their dialogue is pretty funny and watching what they do to dead bodies is both horrifying and hilarious. There are four different types of Darklings and each have a special ability will make one more useful than another in certain situations, which provides a nice bit of additional strategy to the mix.

Overall, the gameplay works the best when you combine all the different methods of mayhem into one big orgy of violence and death. Sticking to just guns or just Darkness powers and you'll get a little bored and have more trouble getting through the game. For example, you could run into a room and try to pick everybody off with your M-16 or you could toss a black hole in there and suck everybody into oblivion, but thats nowhere near as fun as sending in a Darkling to shoot out all the lights while your Darkness snake slithers around to the back and picks off the snipers and you come blazing in with an automatic shotgun, ripping out hearts for energy as you go. Now THAT is just good clean American fun right there.

Graphically, the game looks fantastic and runs smooth as butter. Some sites complained about the framerate problems but I never experienced anything other than a rock solid framerate. Texture quality is quite good, especially during the loading scene monologues where you can count the hairs in his stubble and practically feel the texture of his leather jacket. Some of the environments will look a little bland, but generally there is a good bit of detail in both the textures and the geometry of the levels. There are a couple issues with the graphics though, the NPCs have a lot to say but unfortunately their mouths don't really animate to match what they're saying. It's a small problem and not something you're going to notice after 10 minutes, but something you will notice the entire game is the anti-aliasing -- or lack there of. Overall the game looks pretty smooth, but once you activate the Darkness all the surfaces in a dark room will gain a glowing sheen. It looks really cool and helps you navigate your way around a pitch black room but the entire effect suffers from pretty bad aliasing. Not PS2 level aliasing, but it's not as smooth as some games on the PS3, nor is it as smooth as the X360 version.

You can expect 10-15 hours of gameplay from The Darkness, more if you're trying to get all the hidden items and Accomplishments (the PS3 version's answer to X360 Achievements). The game itself isn't that hard due to the fact that you have all the powers of Hell behind you, but it does offer some challenge -- especially on the Hard difficulty setting. And once you're done with the single player game, you can fire up the multiplayer for some human vs Darkling chaos. It's nothing particularly amazing, but is a fun little extra to what is clearly meant to be a single player focused title.

The Darkness is an absolutely fantastic title and is a must buy for any shooter fan out there. The dark and twisting story is top notch, the game is dripping atmosphere and the exciting and visceral gameplay is a perfect balm to the Summer ennui. Highly recommended.

PS3 Fanboy Score: 9.0

Second Opinion: Andrew
The Darkness is a prime example of great storytelling in video games. Little touches make the game an even more worthwhile experience, from the detailed atmospheric conversation, to the monologues that play during load screens. The incredible variety of video content, extras, and achievements should all be applauded. Although the controls aren't rock-solid, and some of the game mechanics aren't very polished, The Darkness stands out as an excellent game that should satiate any PS3 gamer's need for a solid adventure.
7.5

Third Opinion: Peter
The PS3 has been in dire need of a few stellar titles to flesh out its library and happily, The Darkness arrives with welcome arms. The Darkness offers a rich, and intricately weaved storyline, filled to the brim with interesting characters and spectacularly creepy locales. The audio alone is worth the price of admission, proving that narrative-driven action games can come alive with impeccable, authentic voice-acting and a well-written script. Although the jaggies tend to become a bit more noticeable in darker-lit area and in-between bouts of intense gun play, they hardly deter from the exceptional production values of the game, or its overall enjoyment from beginning to end. For PS3 owners looking for an exceptional single-player experience, The Darkness delivers in spades.
9.0

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