The Darkness II

The Darkness came as something of a surprise for me. My mom got it as a gift for me a couple of years ago, and while you probably won't hear many people going wild over the gameplay, its considered by many who've played it to have one of the best narratives you'll find in a video game. I definitely recommend it; you can generally find it for about $5 dollars. Unfortunately, not many people actually played this hidden gem.

Or so I thought.

Apparently, it sold well enough that a sequel is now in the works. Normally I'd be excited at this news, seeing as how the first game ended on a somewhat disappointing note, but there are a few things that give me trepidation.

First, it's being developed by a different studio. The first game was developed by Starbreeze, of Escape from Butcher Bay fame. Now it's been handed to Digital Extremes, who most recently developed the mediocre Dark Sector and Bioshock 2's multiplayer.

Second, they're changing the art style. The first had that distinctive Starbreeze look: long shadows, harsh lighting, grimy textures, these are the things that helped cement the original game in my mind, and a big part of what gave it such a fantastically dark feel. Now, though, they've gone with a more comic book look, making the game resemble Borderlands somewhat.

Spoiler:

Lastly, they've replace Kirk Acevedo, who did an excellent job voicing the protagonist Jackie Estacado, and replaced him with none other than... Nolan North.

NOLAN FUCKING NORTH. AGAIN.

Look, the guy's pretty talented, I'll give him that, but he's in just about everything these days, and generally he can't sound like anyone but himself. Here is him attempting an Italian accent in the teaser.


It just doesn't fit.

So at this point I'm not exactly optimistic. I will wait until it comes out before passing judgement, but at this rate... it may be a good game on its own merits, but it doesn't look like The Darkness I know and love. At least they're continuing the same storyline. And hey, the cover art looks pretty cool.

Am I going crazy ? I thought we had a thread for this already, but couldn't find it.

Yeah, I liked the first game. I'm not a big shooter fan, but it had some interesting innovations that elevated it about the standard.

Mike Patton is voicing the Darkness again, and that's just a damn good thing for everyone. I'm surprised it has the same main character though, as the comic book series has the Darkness meeting a number of main characters. They could've taken it anywhere, but look to be making a continuation of the original story. Not bad, necessarily, but seems like a bit of an opportunity wasted.

Uberman wrote:

Am I going crazy ? I thought we had a thread for this already, but couldn't find it.

I thought the same thing, but I typed "the darkness" into the search bar and, sure enough... nothing.

Im not super exited about the game, but Im sure I will buy it eventually.


I have not read the comic its based on, but I liked the feeling of being an unstoppable Eldritch Abomination in the last game. And the voice of the darkness was awesome. And any game with a theme like that deserves credit.


In the sequel, I want to do more evil things, have cooler powers and better shooting gameplay basicly.

Edit: those demon heads still look awesome.

So, I watched a few gameplay vids on gametrailers.com, and heres some personal opinions:


I like the brutality. Ripping people in half and ripping out spines and heads from your enemys is the kind of thing I want to do when playing this type of game. I also like the variety, this time you can apparently alternate between powers directly, instead as changing heads first as in the first game.

The one thing I dont like so far is the ghraphics. It looks to cartoony. And yes, it is based on a comicbook, but I still want some real life looking coulors and people, instead of the prince of persia 2008-look they seem to be going for now.

Still, Im interrested in the game. As I said what I mainly liked about the first game was the feeling of dark power, and theyve seemed to have turned that up a lot.

^Basically sums up my opinion.^

I saw the gameplay, and I thought it looked very fun, but I still don't like the comic book aesthetic.

And again: Nolan North? Why? Could they not get Kirk Acevedo back?

I just replayed the darkness 1. It honestly isnt very good from a gameplay perspective, but eating hearts and impaling mafia goons is cool.

The darkness itself never really struck me as actually....doing anything. I mean isnt he possessed by it? Yet it seems he can controll it just fine, and even use it to fight itself. I hope that the darkness in the next game does something more than talking in a (very) cool voice. Like....Plan to take over the world or something?

Now the darkness 1 has some really gruesome montages in the begining and the end of the game showing The Darkness go apeshit on mobsters.

Those still makes me go and wish I could use it like that.

Ok, now I think I want the game. B.R.U.T.A.L



Its strange that such a small thing as being able to throw cardoors at people, splitting them in two, makes me want a game.

It seems that they have gotten rid of the different powers and replaced them with physical attacks, but I could be wrong ofcourse.

Im still not crazy with the visual style, or jackies voice, but I cant say i really mind either.

A new trailer I really liked.

The darkness don't like producer logos

I hope the whole "pick random shit up and throw it at people" is as fun as it looks.

I re-read the whole darkness comic series.
I just love it. And I do wait the game.

The only thing I know about the comic is that Batman was in it one time.

A one time badass team-up.

The Batman can team up with ancient evils if the Batman wants to.

Because he's the GODDAMN BATMAN!

Im pretty damn exited about this game.

I dont expect it to be great, but I think ill enjoy it based on gameplay ive seen lately

Cheers for that!
But I do hope they'll add some chars from the comic book.

Seriously, THIS LOOKS FUN! I wonder if the game goes in slow-motion or if its just the trailers way of showing the violence.

Ok, now here's a minor thing that bugges me about the gameplay:

It seems to have call of duty-style "points awarded" messages wenever you kill someone.

Like, if you shoot someone in the head, it says "headshot".

Now, the thing I dont like about how this game seem to do that is that the message is in the middle of the screen, instead of like, in in the corner of it.

I dont mind the way the game comes up with fun names for the execution of your enemies(pulling someones cranium out of their ass is called an "ASSecution") but I would prefer it if it wasn't in your face like cod mp, but more like Infamous or the force unleashed.

I hope the final product wont have that.

I don't like it either.
First - it's distracting.
Second - for the love of the cheeseburger. To make game brutal you don't need to write word "Brutal" all over the walls.

Yes, totally agree.

So, just to show that Im alive: Heres the "artfully executed trailer".


Again, I love the moves themselves, I don't love the text.
They seem to realise that it ruins the experience a bit, they dont show it very often in trailers.

Good news! According to a recent interview on the darkness site, there will be an option in the game to turn of those annoying messages that bothered me. Phew.

I havent been posting for a while(unlike the rest of you).

But if anyone have 3 spare minutes and are uncertain if they want the darkness 2 or not, check this SHIT OUT:

SHIT-I-WANT-TO-DO-NOOOOOW!