A great game with slick visuals and addicting action, tied together by an engaging story that will stick with you.
The game is not devoid of flaws, but by the games end you will find them all to be forgiving. Character lip motion is non in sync, and in fact Jackie's mouth barely moves at all with what he is saying. It seems he is the LEAST in sync, which is bizarre since he has more dialogue than any other character.
Other animations seem very slick. The way he pivots his guns around obstacles in a firefight seems very authentic and just plain awesome. However, small things like his long hair seem very poorly animated, often looking more like straw, never really moving fluidly. This is understandable, though it is hard to comprehend why they didn't just give him shorter hair to avoid this problem.
The Darkness powers are easily the best part of the game. By the end, you will be striding into the middle of a gun fight tearing up your enemies, hurling cars and leaving bodies littering the floor. Hearing your enemies go from overconfident to terrified is very empowering, and is a great touch.
The voice actor behind The Darkness is quite possibly the best voice actor of the game. He is altogether creepy sounding, and definitely the best voice imaginable for such a character.
The issue with the Darkness comes in the form of its powers. There are really only two powers you may find useful, the other two are just kind of novelties.
The creeping dark, your first ability, is basically just used for stealth and for reaching things out of your range. Somewhat useful, but not all that cool to watch or perform.
The darklings are useless. You will find yourself summoning them and then discovering they somehow died, and you have no idea how. Their AI is non-existent, often leaving them running into dumpsters while you get shot.
The Dark Tentacle is probably your best power to use, and it is surprising this power was not given earlier on. Impaling enemies, cars and objects and then hurling them away with ease is just as addicting as it sounds.
The Black Hole is your ultimate power, and will level basically anything thrown at you, including helicopters.
As stated, the biggest disappointment with your powers is how they don't seem to come at a time that is convenient. The first half of the game is spent basically using the Darkness as a shield, and then the latter half it becomes a deadly weapon.
The story is one of the more involving stories to date. A classical tale of love, revenge and redemption told from the perspective of a Mafia hitman who will do anything, even sell his soul, to avenge the woman he loves. Very deep.
This came is HIGHLY recommended for anyone who enjoys a good FPS with a good story line.