The original Darkness title came out back in 2007 from both Starbreeze Studios and 2K Games. It followed the journey of Jackie Estacado through New York City as he tries to evade several people who are out to assassinate him. Throughout the course of the game the power of “the Darkness” awakens in him, and as you progress more abilities become available to the player.
The Darkness II game begins two years after the first Darkness title has ended. Jackie has kept his Darkness powers under control for this entire time, but when Jackie was attacked by a new enemy while at a restaurant, his Darkness power is unleashed again. These new enemies are known as The Brotherhood, and they are attempting to steal the Darkness power from Jackie. Originally The Brotherhood was a good organization, but over time the power of the Darkness corrupted them, and made them turn evil and only want the power for selfish reasons.
The gameplay has been upgraded a lot, seeing as how you can now control your dual-wielded weapons and your demon arms all at the same time. This makes taking on multiple enemies a little easier. Considering the name of the power being the Darkness, it hates the light, and that plays a very important role in the game itself. You must calculate your moves and look where the light currently is so you can keep your Darkness power away from it. If your Darkness does so happen to enter light, it will disappear and you will be stuck with only your main weapons.
Although some of the light will get you regardless, and that is out of your control. This is because your enemies know your weakness, and will throw things at you such as light grenades that emit light, thus making using your Darkness power impossible at that given time.
The game features new abilities and executions that are a great addition to the title. Some of the executions include “daisy pop” which is where your demon arms decapitate your enemy – it is very brutal. Certain abilities–such as “gun channeling” allows you to shoot through walls to take out enemies–are upgradeable with “dark essence”. The “dark essence” is attained by simply taking out your enemies that you encounter throughout the game.
The Darkness II also offers some comedy along the way with your darklings that you can spawn to help you out. These little minions will do your bidding as you are progressing through different areas, and they are quite funny. Not everything is fun and games with your Darkness power, in fact Jackie and the power itself do not get along a lot of times, and you will hear them arguing about various things. This is because the Darkness power wants to control Jackie, and he will not allow it.
Graphically the game looks far superior than its predecessor. The developers referred to it as a “Noire” style that they implemented. The game offers bright colors that really pop out at you without losing its dark and gritty feel that is needed for a game like this.
The game is slated for release this October.
