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An Interesting Concept

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The best thing that this game has going for itself is the concept. You play as Jackie Estacado, a young mob guy. Out doing a job for his Uncle Paulie who has taken Jackie under his wing, Jackie discovers that his Uncle Paulie is out to get him and gives him a a birthday surprise (a real blast... =D) This failed attempt to kill Jackie brings out The Darkness a malevolent force that was deep within Jackie.

Again, the best thing this game has is the concept. The Darkness is intriguing and in the very beginning makes you want to discover all of its secret. Some parts of the game are a little monotonous, but you can always change that by playing around with different strategies of using The Darkness.

The graphics are decent and the environment is very interactive. Because The Darkness likes it to be dark, almost every light can be shot out, which I enjoy because it gives a more realistic feel. The loading screens are not loading screens really. They are most like brief confessionals from Jackie. I may not have been paying attention but I don't remember one repeating. But if you stress the system it probably will. (going back and forth)

When I play games, I am all about the graphics. This game doesn't bring amazing graphics, but the gameplay and the awesome subtleties make me forget about the graphics. Two instances are:
1. In the very beginning of the game, the opening credits and tutorial are put into an interactive cut scene that resembles the cutscenes used in Resident Evil 4. You are in the back seat of a car with two other mob guys. While the scene does on you can look around to see the driver shoving cars out of the way and to see cop cars chasing the car.
2. When you meet up with Jackie's girlfriend, you get the opportunity to sit next to her on the couch. Because you are Jackie's eyes, you get the full perspective when you go to kiss her. Also, the TV is playing the movie To Kill A Mockingbird. While I did not sit to see how much of the movie it has, I sat long enough to get about 7 minutes into the movie. I was impressed for some reason. =D

Overall the game amazing for its innovative approach and the graphics are just something that you will have to get over to enjoy the otherwise amazing qualities of the game.

If you have ever played Indigo Prophecy for the Xbox, you will know the feeling. Not so great graphics, but a game you HAVE to experience.

Great game, but get the PS3 version for better graphics and more content

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 80
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Without a doubt this is a great game. But, you should get it on the PS3 for more content and better graphics.

The Darkness; Is good....Or just plain not good?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 45
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I been waiting for this game for a while. Also has a lot hipe because these are the people who created of that Riddick game. If your Epect something so good, it not what you think. But don't get me wrong it is very entertaining game I enjoy to play it.
The story is not slow but this is all you need to know is this:

There is this dude name uncle paulie who is trying to kill you. And feels like no one is on your side, beside your girlfriend jenny who one know snice you two grew up. But the mob people is trying to and to much to handel. But thankfully ther is a demon on your side to kill all of them.

Now the Xbox Live.. Well I would say the funiest is survior. The game is only 8-10 hours long. So go ahead buy this game. Or not?

Step into the Darkness.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Star Breeze studios has created a good game. Using the acclaimed chronicles of Riddick engine they took a swing at the Top Cow comics Anti-hero the Darkness. I'm happy to report that they nailed it, as a fan of the comics I can tell you the mood and atmosphere is perfect and gritty. The Darkness its self is awesome, and fits well with the games action. Which is fast and furious the gunplay has some nice features like the execution moves which are scripted gun-kata beat downs that add to the over the top comic book style action. The MAJOR drawback is the games total playing time 10 to 12 hours with most side quest included. I can only hope that Top Cow will work with Star Breeze and produce some more level content for the single player.

Ok I know you want to know about the powers. The First you get is the darkness it's self which acts as a shield to keep you a live in combat. As you continue you gain the hilarious and morbidly chatty Darklings each with tools and useful attacks. You can also explore and perform stealth kills with the tendrils that sprout out your back. You gain a demonic arm/spike, guns that use the darkness as ammo, and finally the ability to create a black hole.

The story is a retelling the resurrection story line that brought the character back from the dead. Some reviews are saying the game is too easy because once you get all your powers there are not a lot of people who can stand against the power of the darkness. Well I for one like this because in every other comic action game there is a point were you feel that the character is not strong as they should be but darkness lets you have a long run with the power as apposed to just saving it for the end of the game. Overall it is a good game and has an interesting take on the shooter formula. If you like a violent shooters this is a great choice.

Also the multiplayer as a great throw back to Alien VS Preditor.

If you ever wanted to play the monster for the game instead of being the chased victim, give the Darkness a shot. I was swept into the game and disipointed by how short it was, if you just want to pick up a new shooter I would say rent it.

its fun, it keeps you on your feet, and it looks good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

overall i think this is a pretty good game, i have always liked games like this. probably the closest comparison i could make is if you took the suffering, and chronicles of riddick game and put them together. its a lot of fun, its a little creepy and extreemly violent, so overall i think its really good.

A Very Unique Game 4 1/2 Stars

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I just purchased this game the other day and so far I'm glad I did. First off, the graphics are amazing. The gameplay is really exciting. Its not your typical shooter where you shoot everything you see. You speak to people and your responses affect the way the game turns out. The demons are nasty, devouring hearts of all the people that you kill. You can also use the demons to find secrets or passageways that your character would not fit in. The soundtrack sounds excellent on 5.1 surround sound. I tried playing versus on xbox live and was a little disappointed. It lagged pretty bad, im sure they will fix that soon. My only other disappointment was that it seems pretty easy so far. I recommend renting this game at the very least. Definitely not as good as Gears of War but I think it's the next best thing.

Embrace the Darkness

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 63 / 67
Date: July 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Don't believe the negative hype surrounding this title, it is a spectacular Xbox 360 Next Generation release.
I'm not sure how close the game resembles the comic created by Top Cow, but there are many treats to be experienced both visually and game play wise in The Darkness.
Lets start with some of the positive aspects of this game:

Graphically, this game is absolutely stunning in its graphical beauty.
The dark gritty New York City streets really give off that "real-city" vibe.
Garbage litters the streets and the subway systems, graffiti covers practically every wall (and this graffiti looks like actually graffiti that you would see in real life).
So much detail has been put into the floors, ceilings, walls and in you general surroundings that it is very easy to get deeply immersed in The Darkness.
Following in true Next Gen graphic style, all the wood surfaces in the game look like real wood, metal resembles real metal, concrete looks amazingly realistic. You can see chips in paint, cracks and chips in the concrete - its literally stunning.
The Darkness relies on the use of shadows, and the lighting engine is superb. Light shines off of virtually every surface that would reflect light (including leather!). Every object casts a proper shadow.
Since you are in a city, there are lights everywhere and in order for your Darkness power to work or re-charge you need to be in the shadows.
Basically this mean taking out every light you come into contact with.

Character models look really good. Not as good as Gears of War models, but the characters look believable, most of the time body parts move like they should, clothes look somewhat realistic. Cloth looks amazing. The bodies still look a little clunky, but nothing major.
Face models are wonderfully detailed, you can see wrinkles and imperfections in the characters faces. Sometimes you can see facial expressions however not too often. The faces are probably the most detailed aspect on each character. The eyes in this game look full of life.

The darkness powers look awesome. Your character acquires two demonic serpent heads on either shoulder and they look amazing. Each darkness power is represented very well graphically.
Weapons look realistic, some of the most realistic depictions I have ever seen in a game.
On a side note, you get to learn where the darkness comes from.

The physics are downright cool. Everything seems to move as it should. With one of your darkness powers you can pick up objects and people and fling them around. This looks very cool and makes you feel like a real "force-to-be-reckoned-with".

Some claim that the story line in The Darkness is clichéd and boring, but I beg to differ. While it is true that the storyline is steeped in New York Mob Scene and carries along with it the good ol' revenge angle and other Mafia generic-ness, the story is told really well and keeps you nevertheless engaged throughout. There are also some twists to the sotry line, and lets just say that New York City is not the only place you will visit in The Darkness. There is some twisted stuff here!

Another great aspect is how the some of the main characters history is told. Instead of loading scenes, you are treated to monologues given by the main character. In these monologues he is either telling a story from his childhood, re-telling or elucidating on current plot elements, or just sitting there gazing at his guns.
This adds much more to the whole "cinematic" element of The Darkness and gives you something to look at while the game is loading. Much better than staring at a flashing loading screen.
More unique things include televisions that you can interact with. These TV's show five or six channels of real material. Some have Cartoons, others music videos and there are two movie channels. They show real movies and I believe you can watch them all the way through.

The musical score fits each scene perfectly and ranges from Death metal(fight scenes), to orchestrated music(during talking scenes and in the subway). Also there are other areas where music being either played or listened to by NPC's can be heard (there are people who play the harmonica and Break dancers who will dance for you).

Character development has been well done, you actually do care about the characters close to you and you grow to hate your arch enemy. You will grow especially close to your girlfriend Jenny. I grew really attached to her over the course of the game. By the way her face model is one of the best I have ever seen in a video game.

Okay, lets talk about unique aspects:

Summoning Darklings: In The Darkness you gain the ability to summon Darklings (look like little goblins) to do your bidding. Each Darkling has its own special ability and funtion.
The darkling models look really cool, and they each have an attitude that could only be attributed to a darkling. They urinate on dead corpses and make rude comments.

Control is done really well, despite what some reviewers may say. I find the controls easy to use. From summoning darkness powers to calling up darklings to using the regular weapons and moving: I found this all easy to understand and control.

This is a FPS but with some role playing elements.
Your darkness powers level up after a certain amount of hearts have been eaten (that's right, your darkness serpents eat the hearts of fallen corpses, only the evil characters though). With each level up you will gain a new darkness power.
The powers really make you feel super-human.
They range from being able to open up a black hole portal to suck everything in and kill all enemies around it, gaining control of an arm that can grab objects and impale enemies, to duel wielding guns that harness the darkness power into bullet projectiles.
Each power has its use and is very fun to use, never getting stale or boring.

Another RPG aspect is the side missions and some somewhat free roaming nature of this game. The game is basically broken down into streets and certain landmarks, with the subway system acting as a central hub. In the subway system you cannot use your weapons (this area acts as the "safe-village" that can commonly be found in most RPG's). The subway is where you get all of the side missions from NPC's.
They range from simple to time consuming, but nevertheless add to the overall fun.
The game is free roaming to an extent. You can roam the streets but they are visibly cut off at a certain point. You cannot walk into just any building either. But these constraints don't mean much, since The Darkness is meant to be more of a story rather than an open ended experience.
Overall, the areas to explore of decent. There are even collectible items to collect throughout. You have to do some searching to find them, but its worth it. If your into that sort of thing.

The developers incorporated a neat system for unlocking these collectibles too (which I think unlocks game videos and comic books, I think).
The collectibles you pick up are actually phone numbers which you can call at any pay phone in the subway system (most of the pay phones out on the street are broken. Go figure!) When you call them you usually reach someones answering machine. And most of the time the message is a funny one.

There are also secret numbers scrawled on walls and such, and when called will prompt another side mission involving you finding about 16 secret phone numbers to unlock a secret achievement.
Speaking of achievements, there are plenty to be had. And they are fun ones too. I won't tell you what they are, but I will say that you can track your achievements via a pause menu.

There is so much scripted dialog in The Darkness, the cinematic and realistic qualities of this game are further enhanced. Passer-by NPC (non-playable characters) that are not key to the plot or side missions don't really say much. But those that ask you to do side missions, key plot characters and enemies during battle all have plenty to say.
I love it when the enemies that I am fighting talk trash to me or cower in fear when I am fighting them. It really adds to the game play.

If you have ever Played Condemned : Criminal Origins, you will really like this game. The Darkness seems to be closely related to Condemned in spirit. However, The Darkness is much more fast paced in terms of action and fighting.

I have yet to try the multiplayer Xbox Live deathmatch gaming.

Overall, I recommend The Darkness. It is a true experience of Next-Gen gaming, you will not be disappointed. There are so many little nuances thrown into this game that just give it a realistic feel and liven up the game in so many ways. This is a real treat to wat

Fun and fun but don't expect good replayability.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: July 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is very fun and violent. The first time through was a thrill. The second time through i was able to pay attention to small details and enjoyed it again. Now it's going on my shelf and will probably never be played again.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game which has fantastic graphics. BTW, the PS3 version does NOT have better graphics, don't let some sony fanboy tell you different. If you are looking for a great storyline and a well-executed game overall, don't look any further. The only downside is that you are not able to save whenever you want, the game has predetermined save points. You will not regret purchasing this game.

Game play like no other!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: July 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

First off, this game is very good and very interesting. You would do well to buy it. With that said, I must convey that when I first started playing it I was a little disappointed as it seemed to be pretty standard fare. Jackie basically walked around NYC and shot stuff. There were lots of cussing, cops, and cut scenes. The darkness powers were, however, pretty interesting. They were like nothing I have ever seen in an FPS. The game didn't really start to get good until I began accumulating more and more darkness powers. Then all of a sudden, I'm transported to a kind of WWI hell and I finally get this large dark tendril that I can use to impale people with. Wow! Talk about your 180. Now this is what I was expecting. At this point I'm very engrossed and basically don't want to put the controller down. Graphics are good, but they're not as good as Gears of War. The TV's in the game are a novel concept, but they don't really add much to the story. Making phone calls also doesn't mean much to the story, but as long as it helps unlock extra content I'll put up with it. I do like the fact that it is a mature story and not just a bunch of gore to satisfy the kids (who shouldn't be playing this anyway). The RPG elements in the game certainly add to the story and add depth to the characters. Summoning Darklings can be a little frustrating in that they don't always go where you want them to. However, they are nice to have around during intense fire fights, since they take out enemies that would otherwise be distracting and troublesome. The ending reminded me of Halflife 2. It seemed a little ambiguous, but it certainly leaves the door open for The Darkness 2. This is a solid title that is very innovative. I would have liked to be able to use both darkness serpents (creeping dark) rather than just the right one. I'd like to see a better array of guns with more ammo available. Who knows. Maybe The Darkness 2 will incorporate some of these suggestions. At any rate, it's a good game that is like nothing else on the market right now. Embrace the Darkness!

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