The Darkness II - Limited Edition (Xbox 360)

I absolutely loved "The Darkness" and was thrilled when I heard of the sequel. I wasn't too sure about the brotherhood storyline so I delayed buying it at first, and I purchased a brand new special edition game for less than £20. After playing this game I would have happily paid full price for it at the release.The story is not brilliant but is by no means mediocre. The asylum levels of the game are very "Shutter Island" and I feel they the concept was a stroke of genius and the execution even better. The introduction of Johnny Powell and the Darkling companion are great additions to game, and Johnny is a great device for explaining the history of the Darkness without you having to do a lot of research.I'd have to say that the writing (especially during Jackie's Dark Room cut scenes) is some of the best i've ever seen, both from gaming and films. The quad wielding makes combat fast paced and action packed as when you combine two Darkness abilities with a pistol and an uzi it takes combat to a whole new level. Furthermore the new ability tree, in which Jackie spends the harvested "dark essence" for new abilities, is a very welcome level advancement system as you get to tailor the fighting experience to suit you.On top of this the "Vendettas" mode add's some great campaign gameplay to what is a rather (unfortunately) short campaign. These four characters are all brilliant in their own right (especially Jimmy) and I never get tired of playing them. The only problem with this is that you can only play the multiplayer Vendetta missions online, so you can't play against your friends unless you both have the game.The collectibles in the Darkness 2 are immensely better than the phone numbers in the first game. Even though the phone calls were very amusing and a great addition, the large quantity of them, the fact that they were so difficult to find, and the annoying person who kept upping the phone numbers neeed made them very frustrating to acquire. Yet there are only 29 relics in the main campaign, and they are very easy to spot. As an added bonus, there Johnny gives some great descriptions of the items you find.There are a few disappointments however -*Butcher Joyce has been demoted to extra, and he was one of my favourite character's*Jackie's "Hitman" executions are no longer available (but they are replaced by a wide range of brilliant Darkness executions)*The creeping darkness ability has been taken out (which irked me at first as it was my favourite ability), but without it you are forced in the middle of all the action instead of just skulking around corners, which makes for much more interesting gameplay and so could very well be an advantage.*There are no side missions and the game is very linear which is a bit of a disappointment after the little side missions of the first game, but the upside is you don't waste time walking long distances (and enduring long loading scenes) to complete them.* SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER - SPOILER*The fact that Jackies father owned a huge mansion, which is still in pretty good shape, and the fact that aunt Sarah seems very capable of looking after Jackie, raises many questions as to why he was just dumped in an orphanage when his family clearly had enough money to put him with Aunt Sarah. But apart from this plot hole the story seems pretty solid (as always, just don't expect it to follow the same story as the comics)BONUS ITEMS REVIEW*The Darkness poster, about a metre tall with the game cover on the front and a brilliant piece of artwork in a collage style on the back.*2 free comic downloads from the Darkness comic book series (brilliant content, would be worth buying the limited edition for this alone)*2 new abilities available, Gourmet hearts adds 20% onto the dark essence harvested from eating hearts, relic hunter points out relics for you so you don't have to keep searching to find them (very helpful ability)*A new darkling costume (haven't seen this yet to my knowledge so I can't really comment on it.Overall, a brilliant game with great characters, battle system, script writing and graphics. Only real downside is that it could be longer.Cannot wait for the The Darkness 3!

This is a good one player game if you like to do lot of killings. There is some scope for creative massacring which is initially rewarding but not long-lasting.It starts off quite easy because your guy has weapons as well as demonic appendages with which to tear puny human enemies to pieces. However it gets more difficult when you have to fight other no-human entities as well and this is where my interest waned.

I was a big fan of the original game, it stood apart from many FPS games at the time by virtue of its excellent story telling at the time as well as being a fun game to play. It took me a while to pick up the sequel as I was worried that the new developers would have lost the magic of the original and the new art style didn't interest me. Both turned out to be foolish concerns and with the game now available for only a tenner I thought it time to give it a try.It is different from the first game in that it lacks the open areas from the original that connected the various levels. In this one the mansion acts as a hub, but the game unfolds in a much more linear fashion. That doesn't matter too much as it retains the original's capacity for telling the story, in particular it keeps the monologues from Jackie during the loading screens, they're still a nice touch.The story continues a few years after the first game, Jackie Estacado is now the boss of a crime family and has suppressed the darkness that dwells within him. In his case the darkness is no metaphor for his internal rage, it is a demonic entity that grants him supernatural gifts.These powers add another dimension to the game, as well as the usual FPS shooting action you can access the Drakness' powers, although only when you are in the dark. This is a violent game, some of the finishing moves are quite gruesome. Killing enemies grants dark essence that can be used to gain new powers and improve existing ones.The gameplay is solid, but as with the first game it's the storytelling that elevates it. I also respect the fact that it's willing to take you away from the action to a slower pace, the hospital sequences were well done and provided additional interest. The story itself is a little predictable, I predicted the ending early on, but it's well told and sets up a new sequel well.All in all it's a fun game and a well put together experience.

I was very excited when I heard that the sequal to the original Darkness was coming out, but unfortunately this one is a real let-down.The original was a moody dark game that really played up the horror angles, was an open-world format (to a limited extent, not like some of the games nowadays), had side quests, the first-world-war hell scenes were just amazing, you could detach one of the demon arms and slither off in stealth mode, etc etcAll that is gone in this sequel and what is left is a totally linear FPS, even to the extent of a door closing behind you, or you pop over a ledge you can't climb back up etc, so that you literally move from one set piece to the next. No side quests, no slithering, only 2 scenes as the darkling (and how annoying is his dialogue ??). The demon arms are now just glorified powerful melee weapons, although when you're using them, there's so much going on on screen that you lose track, and eventually wonder where everybody went (and then realise you're still holding half a torso). But still, at least you get a cuddle at the end.Don't bother.

I'm afraid this hasn't aged well and was annoying to play on the Xbox 360.