The Darkness

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I first downloaded the demo from the playsation store and couldn't put it down. I finally picked up a copy and was impressed with what else wasn't featured in the demo.

You play as a mafia hitman double-crossed and looking for revenge. Your character has also been cursed with some sort of demonic possesion, adding some extras to the gameplay. The game itself is very dark and gothic. Reminds me of Underworld or Spawn meets Max Payne. Gameplay itself pans out like a John Woo movie.

The controls are very basic, and more ergonomic than other FPS on the PS3 to date. You will need to use your various demonic abilities to advance passed locked doors or clear a path, etc. But there was never a point it became too overwhelming or frustrating. The demons you can summon are much more of a novelty. Aside from the handfull of times they are needed to open a locked door or clear a path, you can use them as a forward scout to look around corners and attack opponents from behind or flank enemies you're engaging.

The multiplayer is surprisingly good. It's extremely fast paced like Quake. By far the best feature is being able to swap from human to demon form with one button. Humans carry the firepower, where the demons are extremely fast on their feet with only a melee attack to defend themselves. Online multiplayer comes with all the gameplay you'd expect in deathmatch, team deathmatch, CTF, etc.

One final thing worth mentioning about this game is the violence. You would assume any FPS would have it's share of gratuitus violence, but this game is very over the top. Game developers seemed to put extra attention to the blood and gore spilled out of an enemy after unloading so many rounds into him. There is also a type of execution move offered at anytime you sneak up behind an unexpecting AI in the story mode. It enables a small variety of random kills like putting the barrel of your gun into their mouth or just simply unloading both pistol clips into the opponent's chest. It's very overkill and extremely graphic.

Overall, the gameplay is a very solid 5. The offline game is very addicting, and the online multiplayer is a nice change from standard FPS. The only reason I gave the overall game a 4 is because the demo was a bit misleading. Not all the gameplay takes place in a New York underworld setting. I was very surprised when it takes a turn to a completely different time and place. I much prefered the gritty shooter the game started out as. The other half played is still visually stimulating and fun gameplay, just not what i expected or really interested in.

I highly recommend downloading the demo in the very least.

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Cool game, kept reminding me of the old Max Payne game especially the way your enemies hear the slightest noise from you and all come charging in and you bury them. This game is definetly an experience...get close to your HDTV and crank up the sound and enjoy. The minute you blow someone away at point blank range with your 12ga you'll be in love. Great sound, graphics and blu-ray finally comes to town with really big levels with lots of nooks and crannies. You have several powers of darkness at your disposal along with conventional firearms so it makes for a great time. This game is money well spent. Here's my beef with it. Granted I haven't played it all the way through. First the darkness creep power is too easy, it alone almost has basically got me through the first half of the game. But it never gets old so that's kind of good. Second, why do I have to shoot an enemy 37 times from 10ft away with dual handguns? Especially when they're head shots!! The only other minor thing is you can't see your health bar. You just die after so many shots. One cool thing I was really impressed with was the cutscenes! Really cool how the main character narrates and moves through the story for you. And the load screen animations with the main character are cool too. Good game, go buy it.

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Forget what bad reviewers have to say on this, here's how it really is.

An OK game that can be really good if you give it a moment.

Con: you fire with the R2 buttons instead of the traditional R1 buttons. If 1/4 inch of finger placement is too much effort for you, you shouldn't own a PS3.

Pro: The R1 buttons feature different attacks so you can shoot and use special attacks.

con: Darklings aren't that powerful, helpful.

pro: this might be true in the beginning for all those that will give a game 5 mintues before declaring it a "bad game". Level up and they will level up with you. All the damage they take from light is also greatly reduced when you get the "light killer" darkling, 3/4 through the game. My only quarrel with darklings is that they'll kill innocents that you might not want dead yet.

Con:shooting out all lights. You power is in darkness so you are limited when standing in the light. Being set in almost current day setting, there are lights everywhere. And the lights respawn upon entering or exiting areas.

Pro: Deal with it you pansies. If everything in the game was set to your greatest convenience, it would be no fun at all. it was meant to be realistic, and I find it to be that very much so.

Con:loading screens and wait time is about a minute or two between areas.

Pro: a neat concept during loading screens is that the main character tells little stories or just hangs out singular streetlight purgatory. A novel idea instead of just having you wait and watch that load bar slide slowly to the right.

con: other things between action gameplay. The way things work is you go kills some people, talk to some people, kills some more people, talk to more people. This cuts down on the actual amount of gameplay during the game, and adds greatly to the "walking around" factor. you also cannot attack anything during this inbetween time in the subway stations.

pro: this is only done to increase the idea that your character is a real person with an actual live besides offing mobsters and police.

side notes: the darklings deface the dead: urinating on as well as knocking the bodies about. When you enter the theoretical hell, the bad guys have warped or skeleton like faces, and the good guys are all stitched together. Not to mention, the game flashes guys on the screen then takes them away just to mess with you. The voice of demon: darkness, is a bit disturbing as well.

personally, I really enjoyed the game. Wish it had more unlockables, and I could see an updated installment having much more to offer. Don't be pissy about the game price. I picked up a used copy from gamecrazy for less then $16 WITH the 1 year replacement warranty.

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I am a big fan of first person shooters, mostly playing games like socom, hitman, medal of honor, etc. The darkness is the second PS3 game I have purchased, resistance being the first. I really loved this game. The graphics and music are great. The gameplay is open-ended in you can decide how to react in certain situations and can decide to take on side missions. The environment is interactive allowing you to smash and shoot stuff, throw cars, turn stuff on and off. Becuase of all this, gamers who normally don't get into first person shooters will definitely like this game.

I normally don't get into the stories in video games, but this one is great. The story is just as much fun as playing the game.

Overall great graphics, great environment, great story, great FPS gameplay. Not a long game to play, but you will want to play it more than once. Definitely one of my favorite games. Check it out you won't be dissapointed.

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The Darkness has a creative concept though sadly the developers didn't capitalize on it as well as they could have. The story is based on the graphic novel series (though I'm not familiar with them) and it's unique in that you're a mob guy that is suddenly possessed by demonic powers but it can also be incredibly predictable at times. You meet certain characters and can immediately guess their fate. The graphics are decent, most notably the backgrounds but often characters speak without their mouths moving, including the main character. Mob ventriloquists, I guess. The voice acting is also okay for the most part though unless they are pivotal to the plot, many characters just repeat generic comments. There are also a few really goofy comments made periodically and often the main character is a bit over the top though again, maybe that is true to the comics. There is also a good bit of backtracking as you progress through the game, which tends to get old.

The Darkness powers are the saving grace of the game, though some are far more useful than others. I wish the developers had explored the powers a bit more because using them is really what makes the game fun. The voice work for the Darkness and summoned creatures are quite good and the comments can be quite amusing. I'm not sure why there are so many complaints about the controls, they seemed very basic and easy to pick up. If your biggest issue is the fact that you use the L2/R2 buttons instead of L1/R1 to fire your guns, get over it and move your fingers a fraction of an inch. Also, for those complaining about having to knock out the lights...the game is called The DARKNESS? What were you expecting? You even get a power and a darkling that does the work for you. I mean, really.

The game managed to hold my interest throughout and while it certainly has it's fair share of flaws, I still found it to be fun. You can easily find this game in the bargain bins and for what you'll pay for it, it's worth it.