239: Journey Into Darkness

[Booze Zombie]

The Darkness is an amazing game, the story, the gameplay, it just is enjoyable, whatever one of Yahtzee's old blurry reviews said.

I'll tell you what helped me "buy" the world I was in on top of the story, characters and atmosphere... when I looked down, I had a body and my arms were attached to it.

No floating body for Jackie, he's a whole person and you see the world in his head, not as a camera with a gun attached to it.

 

[Count_ZeroOR]

I loved the story of The Darkness, particularly since I'd read some of the comic beforehand. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get very far in the game, because the game made me motion sick. If I could find a good video Let's Play of the game, I'd gladly watch that so I could properly take in the game's story, rather than having to wrestle with my nausea while I tried to take in the narrative.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

Very well described and it all worked well. It's a shame it all goes downhill from there. The story goes into genericville and the gameplay is pretty repetitive. But it did some great things up until then. Which was a shame because the story had me hooked and I was genuinely compelled.

One tiny gameplay feature that was amazing was that the trigger buttons worked like real triggers on the guns. pull them by half and it's half cocked. It made the guns very meaty to fire. I have not seen anything like that since.

 

[jackanderson]

I absolutely love this game. Especially the story.

For my money, that scene with Jenny's death just may be the single best gaming moment I have ever played. The raw power and emotion that the scene includes and the flood of emotions that overwhelm you (sadness, anger, vengance, helplessness) has not been matched in any other game that I have played before or since. It is that unbelievably good.

It is such a shame that a so many people passed up the experience. However, I do recall an ending left a lot of things wide open. So Starbreeze, where's that damn sequel!!?

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

I never played the game but I've read lots of the comic books and loved the story. Seeing that the game used the storyline as a foundation made me happy when reading this article. I really need to go pick up and play this game someday.

 

[Worgen]

I always enjoyed the game, I really liked some of the mechanics they worked out with the darkness and the story was more interesting then alot of games, I really liked the monologs.. I need to play tho it again

 

[Pseudonym2]

I found the narrative more confusing than anything else.
Why is New York almost deserted? Why is the safest part in the game in the New York City subway? Why does he keep making prank calls? Why can't I just get a phone book? Why is the protagonist one third Italian mobster, one third emo kid, and one third Keanu Reavs? (Seriously, listening to him try to threaten someone is hilarious.)Why is everyone so blase about the demon running around? Why does he move so slowly? Why does the Darkness resurrect Johny even when fighting him? Why can't I make a moral choice at the end? Why am I locked in?

 

[saxist01]

Actually, this story telling has ruined the game for me! I really don't want Jenny to die, so the game has been "me at the apartment" for almost a year. I can't bring myself to continue the game. I guess I prefer Jackie in Purgatory above sending him to hell.

 

[setvak]

I bought this game at Best Buy because it was only $20 and it looked like an interesting FPS. It turned out to have great action, an amazing story, and the end credits are also what first got me interested in Mike Patton's music. So it's great all around. Don't let the Unskippable episode throw you off (even though they did a hilarious job of it).

 

[Nex-Falx]

Playing that game had made me want to read the comic... That urge died eventually...

Now it's back again... Dang...

ALSO: My favorite line in that game has no deep meaning what-so-ever, but I found it to be incredibly dark humored.

Right after you off yourself and come back to life the demon says something to the effect of "I fixed your broken head-ball."

That macabre little line got a morbid chuckle outta me...

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

I still have this masterpiece for PS3 and sometimes replay it. When I finished the game for the first time, I actually cried for real. Strangely, after second playthrough I've started to associate myself with Darkness more, than with Jackie.
Sadly by now noone play multiplayer, which is pretty atmospheric.

P.S. Darkness will fall... And you know it.

 

[Xanadeas]

I loved that game when I played it through, it was pretty damn fun. I took a sadistic glee in utilizing the abilities of the darkness... Though the story was awesome. I'm hoping they'll eventually create a sequel.

 

[FalloutForever]

Great article, and a great game. My only pet peeve about it was that the city was almost entirely unpopulated on street level, which took away a bit from the immersion. Otherwise, everything said in the article was entirely true. Bravo.

Well if you ask me I don't there would be many people around at night do you?

 

[AwesomeNinjaPowers]

The Darkness was and still is one of my favourite 360 titles, it was one of the first ones I ever bought and the only one I haven't traded in, and I can't see myself ever wanting to. Part of me hopes for a sequel but another part fears it, as is there any way they could make a second game as good as the first? We'll propably never know

 

[Infinatex]

Fantastic game, and even better for the fact that you can grab a copy now for like 10 bucks

 

[Lullabye]

Great article, and a great game. My only pet peeve about it was that the city was almost entirely unpopulated on street level, which took away a bit from the immersion. Otherwise, everything said in the article was entirely true. Bravo.

Well if you ask me I don't there would be many people around at night do you?

uh, yeah. In a game based on underground crime and such, there should at least be way more thugs shuffling around. But the thing is, because there are so few people, it kinda makes meeting a person........important? I remember the first time I was "mugged". I felt so sorry for the guy. He was just trying to make some money, but he had to choose me of all people to rob.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

You mean to tell me the shotgun loading simulator has a...PLOT!?!?

XD That made me laugh. I remember using the damn thing only to be killed halfway through reload.

The thing that really made the game for me though?(besides the awesome story) The minions you could summon. I mean, who could forget those little guys? Killing hobo's throwing unsuspecting people out of their apartment windows, jack-hammering people's faces in......and the lines they said....

 

[ranger19]

I'm (very pleasantly) surprised by the good review this article and the responses in the thread have garnered for the game. I remember downloading a demo and thinking it was nothing special, which is too bad. (The gameplay wasn't anything to write home about, and the demo didn't really talk much about the story.) I was also surprised to see that this game had a metacritic score above 80

But as a comic fan and a fan of great narratives, I'm very happy. I'll have to pick this game up at some point if I see it in the bargain bin, or at least rent it. Thanks - good article.

 

[cynicalandbored]

Great article, and a great game. My only pet peeve about it was that the city was almost entirely unpopulated on street level, which took away a bit from the immersion. Otherwise, everything said in the article was entirely true. Bravo.

Well if you ask me I don't there would be many people around at night do you?

I live in a small city in Ireland, on a tiny backstreet on the outskirts of town. I can see more people out my window right now than populated the city in The Darkness. I could look out in 4 hours and see more people, and by then it'll be 3.20am. Cities have people at any time of the day or night. That one did not. Just making the point. I did also say I loved the game.

 

[maninahat]

Ah, this article brings back memories...despite its unfortunate misuse of the word "titular".

I actually got this game, despite not owning a console. I resorted to visiting my friend and borrowing his just to enjoy the game. I never got to finish it. I thought Jackie himself looked like shit - the black curtain hair and the black leather jacket felt like just a shallow attempt to appeal to the goth demographic. The characters themselves made up for it. I actually enjoyed what little I got to play, and I wish the fuckers went to the trouble of bringing out a PC version.