Helpful The Darkness II reviews for the PS3

The Darkness II

2011

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5

from 3841 members

The Darkness is back, and it's darker (of course!) and bloodier than ever! It's about Jackie Estacado, a mobster who, on his 21st birthday, wound up hosting the Darkness, a sentient demonic force from the dawn of time. This demonic force has suitably demonic plans for Jackie but, having risen to the top of the mob, he's been keeping it in check for the last couple of years. It's all based on the comic of the same name (created by Marc Silvestri and Garth Ennis), though developer Digital Extremes (like Starbreeze before it) has taken a grittier, less fantasy-oriented direction than the source materiel. This sequel, at first glance, is a slightly odd beast. While in the first game demonic powers complemented first-person shooter mechanics as auxiliary gameplay mechanics, in The Darkness II your supernatural abilities are pushed right into the foreground from the word go. In the first game, you might remember, the Darkness was something you had to charge up and use judiciously. Here, it's something you're encouraged to use as much as possible, with Digital Extremes even going so far as to offer points for more elaborate kills, a la Bulletstorm. This makes for a shift in gameplay where the first game was about thinking your way through situations and managing resources (providing a note of survival horror), the sequel is faster and tends to encourage wholesale slaughter (as the 18+ BBFC rating indicates, this isn't a title for younger gamers). The primary manifestations of your Darkness powers are the tentacles that accompany you everywhere. Their main uses are slashing at opponents and using them to lift and fling things around the environment. There is, however, some subtlety to it. A key move, for example, is the execution. There is a range of these. They involve hoisting an opponent into the air and killing them in various unpleasant ways. Depending on the unpleasant murder method you choose, you'll receive benefits such as increased health or ammo. The Darkness's aversion to light makes a welcome return. You can't use your powers while you're being illuminated and your health won't regenerate. Add in the fact that you can't see a thing while a light's being shone in your face and it's a pretty good idea to shoot them out. It makes for an interesting strategic twist and stops the game being a mindless slaughter-fest. Overall, if you can stomach a bit of gore, The Darkness II offers a smart mash-up of FPS shooter and brawler play with a surprising amount of depth!

The Darkness II details

Formats:	18 PS3, Xbox 360
Players:	1-4
Genres:	Adventure, Role-playing, Shooter
Collections:	February - Games
Developers:	DIGITAL EXTREMES
Rental release:	10 Feb 2012

Write your own review

Most helpful review The Darkness II

Brilliant / Gory

By mati88 (2 reviews) , 26 Jan 2012

[Highly rated reviewer]

Just finished playing the Demo from PSN store and immediately came on love film to reserve this game. Graphics are great, reminds me of #Borderlands but up-scaled and increased polygons for the characters. The darkness arms tear through people like a knife through butter and the controls are simple and effective. All round good game hope the campaign is long as the game is epic.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (7) Yes |
- No (6)
Report this review

All reviews

(33)

Sort by:

Worst Clash of Genres

By Jesuswazere (2 reviews) , 29 Mar 2013

Terrible... Just Terrible... Worst clash of genres ever! Not worth the time of day to click rent. Terrible Terrible Terrible
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review
Big shoes to fill... And failed.

By SoulScribe (4 reviews) , 21 Mar 2013

I enjoyed The Darkness, and was looking forward to the sequel, but was disappointed. The story was short, and there were no side bits like in the first one. It was literally go here, kill people, eat hearts, rinse, repeat. The complete change in Jackie's appearance also confused me a little. He went from awkward, greasy little runt to flouncy-haired, stunning gang boss in a couple of years? Ehhh... The story itself was okay, if a little confusing at times. The spells where you end up somewhere completely different were jarring, and made you question your character's sanity. The twist at the end set it up nicely for another sequel, but I don't know where they could go with it. Gameplay was simple with cues for EVERYTHING that got a little annoying after a while. I liked that you didn't have to summon your Darkling all the time, I loved that they gave him a personality, and he was a lot more useful, guiding you along if you got stuck. The lack of an 'off' switch for your Darkness powers made an option on how to go about things impossible, which was a shame. The hint system was appreciated greatly, and the Hit List and Vendetta modes were fun. My only beef with those? They didn't save! I wanted to do a couple of Hit List victims, sleep, then pick it up, but when I came back, I had to start from the top. The addition of other characters with Dark Powers was cool, and I took a great fondness to the Witch Doctor. Something about just ripping people in two was appealing...
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review
give it a try

By mistersparra (11 reviews) , 06 Mar 2013

was a good game but the first was alot better but i did like it give it a try but might not be for every1
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review
Takes a greatly underrated DC character and brings him to his full glory

By Riggy360 (5 reviews) , 16 Feb 2013

I absolutely ADORED this game, the story was great, the action was fantastic and in general it pushed Jackie Estacado into my top 5 game characters.
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review
i great game to play

By a customer , 12 Feb 2013

i play the fist darkness game it so cool have lot darkess power to kill lots people and story is great too i had lot of funny play this game
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Report this review