The Darkness - complete and successful video game package, which only weakness is that it ends too quickly

User Rating: 9 | The Darkness X360
By EvilSelf | Review Date:
The Darkness is a first-person shooter/crime drama, which, unlike most FPS nowadays, has a very well-told story and an outstanding presentation. I have never read the comics, but I decided to give this game a shot. And in the end, it turned out to be one of the best games I have played this generation. The first thing I look for in a video game is an engaging story and good characters. Well, The Darkness does have an excellent story and presentation, along with the best voice acting I have witnessed in a video game, not to mention the outrageously good soundtrack.

Story
The Darkness revolves around a theme of the Italian-American mobsters in New York City. Jackie Estecado is newly accepted into the "family business", but on his 21st birthday something strange happens – he is possessed by a demonic presence (simply called The Darkness), which gives Jackie a tremendous amounts of supernatural power. The story is very engaging, well-paced, despite being somewhat predictable. 8/10

Graphics
The Darkness has a deep and very dark atmosphere, which is natural as majority of events happen at night. The graphical presentation is outstanding for the time the game came out. The character models are close to being perfect. 9/10

Sound/Voice Acting
In my opinion, even until now (2013 is the last time I revised this review),The Darkness has the best soundtrack and voice acting incorporated into a video game. With stars like Mike Patton (Faith No More) and Kirk Acevedo, The Darkness is a worthy chart-topper in the sound/voice acting department. 10/10

Gameplay
The title's gameplay urges you to combine Darkness powers and traditional armory (guns), which in turn provide a great flexibility of approaching different situations. One can argue that the gun mechanics are not very strong, hence forcing the gamer to use The Darkness powers more often, but they are supposed to be stronger and more effective. Or I tend to believe so. There are also a series of side mission going along with the main quest, missions that further expand the greatness of the game. I am not sure why the developers decided to add a multiplayer component. I tried it and it was very mediocre, something that i find very hard to write about. 8/10

Overall
The Darkness is truly a sleeper hit, which if you have not played, you should. Despite the fact that the game is on the short side when it comes to longevity, the emotional, dramatic campaign and the dark atmosphere make this game an unforgettable experience. Great job Starbreeze Studios! 9/10

EvilSelf

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