Review: The Darkness
With your evil partner activated, you can also see dark portals all over the place, through which nasty little gremlins known as darklings can be summoned. At first you'll only have access to Berserkers, an unarmed general-purpose creature to be sent on little errands, like moving an obstacle, or tearing a single villain apart. As the game's chapters progress, you'll gain access to a gatling-wielding Gunner that's sometimes a little too happy to just stand around getting shot at, a strapped-with-explosives Kamikaze nut-job that's more than happy to blow holes in walls and people, and a Lightkiller who just goes around breaking bulbs so you don't have to.
Predictably enough, these little creeps will disappear in a puff of black smoke if they take too much damage, or spend too long in the light. They're loaded with personality, and always seem to have something goofy to say, which helps lighten an otherwise oppressive atmosphere, but, like the creeping tentacle, only rarely does one's presence become necessary or even terribly useful.
Living the Dream
With its detailed environments and moody lighting effects, The Darkness is cinematic as hell, to the point where you'll forgive the mob clich?s, stilted dialogue, and awkward gestures. Still, for all its evocative atmosphere, off-beat ideas, and unique powers, The Darkness doesn't deliver any moments of genuine fright, and it's hamstrung by some mundane design problems. Most noticeable among them is the enemy A.I. which offers nothing more than an uncoordinated resistance, even at the highest difficulty level.
Similarly, one might hope that the action would come fast and furious, but at least half your play time will be spent simply talking to people, and then figuring out how to get where you're supposed to be next. For a brooding action game dripping with atmosphere, it certainly fails to deliver the thrills on a consistent basis.
However, as strangely uneven, poorly paced, and ultimately unsatisfying as The Darkness is, it remains worth checking out for its unusual ideas, twisted gameplay elements, and uniquely dark atmosphere. While so many other games are content to rehash the same tired old stories and stale characters, The Darkness at least tries to tread new ground, which just proves that innovation is still worth something these days. It won't be the best FPS game you've ever played but damn it, it'll be one of the more memorable ones.
PROS: Atmospheric as hell, unique powers and creatures, nice mix of stealth and brawn.
CONS: Dipstick AI, tons of tedious walking and talking, uninventive level design.
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