A great story , good gameplay , but lacks in some aspects...
User Rating: 8.3 | The Darkness PS3
The Darkness is a nicely immersing, story driven, first person shooter. You start out as Jackie Estacado , a low level mobster who does dirty work for his boss Uncle Paulie. The Darkness shows its cinematic presentation right off the start, opening with you escaping from the police after a failed hit attempt . The game continues on from there and you eventually discover your darkness powers . There are 4 powers you unlock which let you do everything from sneak up and kill people , unlock doors, pick up objects , and eventually create a very cool looking black hole. These powers will help you tremendously throughout the game, but you'll have to be in the darkness in order to use them effectively , which means your gonna be shooting out lights, alot of lights. This isn't a huge problem but can be a little irritating if you are in a hectic gun battle. Other than your darkness powers you can summon darklings. There are 4 types of darklings from ones that melee your enemies to shootings out lights, to carrying a chain gun, or kamakazying into enemies. While cool, the darklings arent particularly effective. The gunner often will shoot you , the kamikaze might blow you up, or the light killer will miss a bunch of lights. Other than your darkness powers and darklings The Darkness has pretty standard fps weapons and controls.(handguns, shotguns, machine guns etc.) The graphics in the Darkness are pretty good, but with some flaws. The textures are really good in this game and the amount of detail is very nice. The lighting as you expect is equally good. There are a few noticeable differences between the 360 and ps3 versions (i have played both). The biggest difference between the two versions immediately is the lack of motion blur on the ps3 version . Also on the ps3 version the framerate dips a but more than on the 360. *it is noted that motion blur can hide some framerate drops* These graphic issues are pretty minor unless your really picky and neither version will disappoint graphically. The sound in The Darkness is fantastic. The voices on the characters are done especially well . The voices were also done with simalntaneous motion capture to make each character believable when they speak. The other sounds and music also fit the game as well, with the in-game music supplementing the action nicely. The biggest gripe i have with this game is the multi player. It feels really tacked on and is really laggy even if you have a great connection. I found the multiplayer to be really fun and original since you can change into a darkling at anytime and climb on walls then turn back into a human, but the lag really ruins it. Both versions exhibit equally bad lag . Overall the Darkness is a good game with a great story . The single player will keep you busy for 10 to 12 hours maybe more or less depending on how many side missions you do, and if you can put up with the lag the multiplayer can be a fun addition . Give this game a rent and play through the single player ... it doesnt have enough value in my opinion to warrant a purchase. 
