The Darkness is a mixed bag; it definitely contains some intriguing content and follows a somewhat unique storyline, however the mafia elements are extremely cliche. Its presentation is superb at times, aptly dark and tragic, supported with some of the system's best and most horrific visuals to date, but the gameplay is plagued with some annoying and consistent flaws. The worst part is that the gamer spends most of his time shooting out lightbulbs via a very buggy targeting system, which gets old fast. Enemy AI could benefit from a severe boost in intellect, although the AI might have been dumbed down intentionally to make up for the ease with which Jackie dies in comparison to foes he shoots in the head (foes who get back up, re-aim and shoot through the pain - wish I had those skills). All in all, worth at least a rental.



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Even after reviewing console and PC titles for a decade, I still have those moments when I feel that other reviewers must be playing a different game than the one I've got in my hands. The Darkness is one such title; it has a movie-like quality displayed in gorgeous (and graphic, and by graphic I mean twisted and gory) detail, elements of a tragic love-story, the traditional tale of revenge, functional online play, and adorable little demons that run throughout each level doing the master's deadly bidding. It's also got "The Darkness," a monstrous serpent creature older than time, and this evil, repulsive thing is (ironically) the game's saving grace - it keeps the plot fresh, wards off boredom via its numerous darkness abilities, and adds that extra pizazz that keeps The Darkness from being just another shooter, mafia emphasis or not.

But pretty visuals, rivets of blood, and even a trip to "hell" (no spoilers, promise) fail to cure the title's amusing faults. The very plot that eventually becomes the only worthwhile reason for playing is especially generic as far as the mafia goes: an east-coast based Italian family splits into two camps, one headed by our hero, Jackie, destined to present the kindler, gentler face of the mob (unless he's just been hired to kill you, in which case you're screwed) and the other by Jackie's dear ole' Uncle Paulie, a rebellious, crazy mobster who enjoys the modern drug trade against the family's wishes.

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The two camps collide on Jackie's 21st birthday, and seizing the opportunity to benefit the most from this bloody feud is the darkness, which feeds on Jackie's fallen prey. Neveryoumind that this sinister beast resides within Jackie - literally crawling out of his back to offer its support - because Jackie doesn't even give a damn until halfway through the game, when he realizes that hey, maybe this demon strapped to me isn't a good thing... maybe it's a bad thing that warrants my attention, or I can just run-and-gun until I get my revenge because I'm really mad and killing is fun. Decisions, decisions, yes?

Probably to distract Jackie and keep him from acknowledging that there's a demon inside of him, the darkness goes out of its way to make itself useful. It provides Jackie with demonic arms that toss large objects out of the way and, well, stab people as well as put out lights, and given that the light burns the darkness (reducing your darkness energy) you'll be shooting out or whacking light bulbs from the second area on; hope you don't get bored. The darkness also boasts some magical guns to finish off the undead (and these are Nazi undead, like an evil two-for-one special), a black hole that'll suck up everything in sight (fun for making piles of dead bodies), and a stealth mode.

The stealth option enables the player to slither around as the darkness, biting people's ankles and ripping out hearts in reckless abandon because even if enemies are standing around and observing the massacre in broad daylight less than one foot away, they see nothing. Bad AI screws with this game more than the darkness does with Jackie's head; enemies will stand in one spot and let the darkness consume them, despite the five other bloodied corpses on the ground. The AI for the darklings, those gruesome fashionistas, isn't much better, with most getting stuck in walls or taking the scenic route to a destination as opposed to walking a straight line from A to B (and when they take the scenic route you can kiss their participation goodbye; 95% of the time they won't be back).

When you're not attacking darkness-style you're left to traditional human weaponry. There are lots of guns, some bigger and more effective than others, and Jackie uses them to shoot stuff dead. The usual culprits are here: pistols, rifles, shotguns, and so on. Most of the time you'll catch yourself cycling through guns just to keep Jackie packin' something with ammo, as enemies in this game take awhile to go down. What's really irritating is that there are portions in which Jackie is swarmed by heavily armed bad guys and stealth kills aren't a feasible option; Jackie is going to die a few times in these scenarios because one or two freak hits can send his spirit crawling out of the underworld while repeated shots to an enemy's head leave the bad guy dazed for a moment before he runs and hides behind a box.

The matter is worsened the most by an unreliable targeting system. Bringing down bad guys is possible without carefully aiming for a sweet spot; shooting out lights, however, becomes a steadily frustrating process as the player progresses. I'll be blunt: you can aim and shoot at a light and miss five times before switching to the demon arm and missing five times before switching back to a gun, repositioning yourself directly underneath the light, and finally hitting it. The scenario is repeated God only knows how many times by the game's end, at which point you've died just as often due to losing darkness energy while being shot at by foes because you're running around putting out lights (the lightkiller darkling does help, but it's not always convenient or available when you want it).

All of these annoyances eventually left me running through levels and main "quests" (the active storyline) just to see how the game ended. I lost interest in shooting the same generic baddies, in ordering darklings around only to have them get immediately stuck or killed. The "extra content" - the little gimmies and bonuses, like comic strips and darkling gear - offer little motivation to play and actually annoyed the hell out of me because in order to access this new material you've got to 1. complete a pointless task and 2. call a long-distance number. If you collect six of these numbers from the previous area then that means you have to dial each of them, one by one, and listen to part of some idiot's dialogue before hanging up. Why not give me the goodies after I find each piece of paper? What's the point of this nonsense?

The Darkness isn't a bad game; it's simply yet another next-generation title that looks better than it plays. If you're a fan of the horror genre and/or enjoy a decent FPS, Jackie fits the bill. You two might even grow on each other, much like the snake sticking out of Jackie's back. Just don't expect an awe-inspiring experience until 2K Games and Starbreeze work out the kinks for the next one.

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