The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is not only noted for one of the longest game names in recent memory, but being one of the few very good movie tie-in games ever. Developer Starbreeze knows this, which probably explains why they're remaking it for the Xbox 360 and PS3. To keep us occupied until more prison escape escapades, we've been provided with The Darkness, based on the comic book of the same name.
It seems Starbreeze like making games where you play as people who are generally not very nice. In Riddick, you played a vicious convict with a list of offences longer than a 747; in the Darkness, you play a 21-year-old Mafia hitman by the name of Jackie Escatado, who, on his 21st birthday, is betrayed by his adoptive uncle Paulie Franchetti for some reason or another. But as this betrayal takes place, Jackie's genetic family heritage is revealed in the form of The Darkness, a demonic manifestation that takes the form of two black demon heads and several black tentacles protruding from Jackie's body.
Since the game takes place in New York (and, as such, features no Japanese schoolgirls), Jackie uses the Darkness and the powers it bestows to take violent revenge against his uncle Paulie.The story is the game's strong point, not only in its concept, but also it in its presentation. Told from a first person perspective, you see everything through Jackie's eyes and how he experiences his tragedy and transformation.
The way the cutscenes are directed and presented is extremely well done, which can be seen from the opening ambush piece; but the direction become even better as the game progresses into some more tragic scenes, as well as elements of the normal gameplay sections. A particularly memorable scene is when Jackie returns to the orphanage where he grew up with girlfriend Jenny, and starts remembering events that happened years before. These scenes are haunting (in more ways than one) and made Gamestyle feel really close to the protagonist.Unlike most FPS games, which are fairly linear in their progression, The Darkness uses two subway stations as a hub to which Jackie can travel between the game's various areas. While a novel concept, it does provide some annoyance, as many main and sub-missions require you to move between the two stations and see far more loading screens than you would like. Probably due to this issue, the loading screens often feature Jackie spouting humorous anecdotes or comments relating to the mission you're performing. The method of progression also means you'll often be running around the same New York streets repeatedly, especially during the optional side missions, which gets tedious very quickly.
The combat fares better, but due to Jackie's trudging pace, it feels slightly clumsy and unresponsive. Still, for the most part, the normal gun combat is quite decent, and if you manage to get close to an enemy, Jackie will perform one of several execution moves depending on the weapon he's using. It's a novelty, yes, but a fun one to kick an enemy in the crotch then shoot him in the head as he doubles over.
However, the combat really takes off when 'the Darkness' comes into play. At first, the Darkness only provides three abilities: a bullet shield, where the tentacles take the hits for you; the ability to see in the dark (a la Riddick); and the creeper ability, which allows one of the demon heads to slither forward and stealthily bite the faces off enemies. However, all these abilities and subsequent ones are powered by darkness and shadows, so taking out any lights in the vicinity is needed in order to fully utilise them. Another ability that eventually manifests is the tentacle, which can be used move objects, impale enemies, or break lights. There are also the Darkness Guns, powered by the shadows (saving the regular weapons ammunition), and the Black Hole ability which creates a portal to hell and sucks any enemies into its wake. Not only this, but with the Darkness activated, Jackie can summon various different Darklings, tiny rampaging imps that do their master's bidding, such as violently beating, shooting, electrocuting or simply blowing up any nearby enemies. Using these abilities is a lot of fun, but many of them fell under-utilised, especially considering trailers show Jackie using the Darkness to swing over holes, destroying helicopters or toss still living enemies around like rag-dolls, which only happens in cutscenes. It's a shame, because these abilities always look their best when you have no control over them.
The Darkness also features your standard multiplayer modes for FPS games, but quite frankly they're not worth mentioning. There is absolutely dreadful lag in every aspect of the multiplayer side, rendering it so unplayable that it makes us think the developers just shouldn't have bothered.All in all, The Darkness is a decent fifteen hour single player experience, featuring a brilliant story and even better presentation. However the enjoyment is slightly tainted by the under utilisation of its best features, sluggish movement and horrible multiplayer.
