The Darkness Review

Editor's note: in an effort to provide more game reviews for Tom's Games' readers, we have turned our attention to some titles that were released earlier this year and may have gotten overlooked during the crowded fall/holiday release schedule. If you have suggestions for titles that we haven't yet reviewed, please let us know.

The Darkness has been out for several months now and its launch-time buzz has long died down amid this year's fall crop of games. Most of its forgettable status is due to a few flaws that make this game at worst downright tedious to get through. Yet The Darkness is no junk game. Indeed, the game's developers apparently sought to transcend the very tired puzzle-oriented, shoot'em up genre with a good story to tell, which is based on the Top Cow Productions comic book series. The Darkness' story is certainly what makes this title stand out among the hundreds of FPS games that bog you down with mindless and boring action while you combat AI-limited Nazis, extraterrestrial monsters and the like.

Indeed, how many FPS titles exist that tell a good story, period? Half Life 2, which is one the best FPS titles ever made, offers stunning graphics and extremely imaginative levels, puzzles and gameplay. But as for the story, it falls flat. (Is one really supposed to feel any real emotion when Dr. Gordon Freeman is united with the girl towards the end of the game to rescue her kindly father and hopefully take out Dr. Wallace Breen?)

Jackie Estacado, the main character of The Darkness from Starbreeze and 2K Games.

Maybe, the FPS genre, and video games in general, just are not a medium through which dramatic elements such as plot and character development can unfold in a captivating way (could this be due to the interactive element of games in general?). But then wasn't the same comment made about comic books over four decades ago? Famous superheroes like Batman and Superman used to be mostly one-dimensional characters. The superhero battles evil and rescues helpless girl, while protecting his secret identity. But then writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko created the Spiderman saga, which was about a teenager whose adolescent angst tortured his soul and filled him with self-doubt. He not only battled evil, but struggled with his nerdy real-life hang-ups.

Game developers have certainly added more character development and storyline depth to their games over the years, but games with strong narratives are still rare. The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, which was released earlier this year, manages to convey a limited degree of depth that the film offers, replete with great voice-over acting from some of the original actors of "The Godfather," including James Caan as Sonny Corleone and Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, respectively. But does the game offer any significant depth to the movie's characters and story? Not really, and maybe it wasn't the point of the game to begin with.

Yet, The Godfather: Blackhand Edition is one of the very few exceptions to the rule: any shooter, or any other video game for that matter, with a credible storyline is a rare thing indeed. But Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios, which made the acclaimed adaptation The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, tries its hand to taking the successful comic book storyline and adapting it for gaming. It's an ambitious effort, and in some areas Starbreeze succeeds, while in others the developer comes up short.

Like The Godfather, The Darkness' story involves the New York Mafia world. Yet, there is something very different about how Jackie Estacado, the main character, interacts with the hostile world. Early on in the game, you learn that Jackie is an orphan, whom a Mafia boss took under his wing like a son. Now, though, the boss wants to kill Jackie, who's just around the corner from his 21st birthday. With the Don's goons and corrupt cops in hot pursuit, Jackie has a key advantage beside his street smarts and superb shooting skills; he harbors the ability to turn himself into a writhing monster, known as "The Darkness," which draws most of its power in the dark.

Lower Manhattan is given a superficial brushwork, yet the water troughs, looming skyscrapers and gritty streets at least remotely look like the real-life setting.

The Darkness has tentacles that have two monster heads with very long-and-sharp fangs. The supernatural monster also has the ability to transform into a large snake-like creature that can stealthily creep through open grates, along walls and just about anywhere else for sneak attacks. You gain powers by literally eating out the hearts of your opponents after they are dead. A tentacle can sweep and destroy as well. You can also create a black hole with the darkness that sucks in and thrashes the bad guys around like rag dolls.

And players must shoot out streetlights and stay in the shadows throughout the game to keep the Darkness' powers. You can also solicit the help of goblin-like creatures, who utter inane things about the Bolshevik Revolution and other nonsense. They can fire guns, set off explosions and inflict other damage against your opponents.

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