The Darkness II Is Going To Be Late

[Earnest Cavalli]

The Darkness II Is Going To Be Late

Publisher 2K Games has announced a new release date for The Darkness II. In other words, the game has been delayed.

A bit of a primer before we get into the new details: The Darkness II is a direct sequel to 2007's The Darkness. Both games are based on Top Cow's comic book series of the same name, and feature Jackie Estacado, a semi-repentant mafioso who has been possessed by an otherworldly demon.

Also, the demon is voiced by Faith No More lead singer Mike Patton.

The original Darkness was an above-average first-person shooter, that most critics enjoyed, despite minor flaws. The sequel has so far attracted tremendous amounts of attention, and anticipation for the game is reasonably high.

Thus, it's kind of a bummer that 2K would delay the game. Originally, The Darkness II was scheduled to see retail shelves on October 4, 2011. According to 2K's press release however, the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC iterations of the game will now ship on February 7, 2012.

However, the press release also states that the game will be making a sizable appearance at this week's San Diego Comic Con. To wit:

2K Games announced their presence at San Diego Comic-Con and will co-host a special panel featuring The Darkness II entitled "Spreading The Darkness: From Comic Book to Video Games and Entertainment," in celebration of the 15th Anniversary of The Darkness. The discussion around The Darkness II will feature top talent from Top Cow Productions, including CEO and co-creator of The Darkness, Marc Silvestri, and President and COO of Top Cow, Matt Hawkins; developers from Digital Extremes; and in-game voice of the Darkness, Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle and Peeping Tom). The panel will take place on Thursday, July 21, 2011, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. PDT in Room 9 within the San Diego Comic-Con convention center.

2K Games will also have eight playable demo kiosks of The Darkness II in the Top Cow booth (#2629) on the San Diego Comic-Con show floor for fans to descend into the gritty and visceral mind of Jackie Estacado.

There is no word on what caused the delay, though one hopes the additional four months of development time will serve to polish The Darkness II into a shiny onyx of hyper-violence and guttural Patton sounds.

Permalink

 

[aaronmcc]

This is hopefully so they can get rid of Nolan North and have Kirk Acevado back. buuuuuurrrrrrrrrr!!!!

 

[FoolKiller]

Hmm... I am definitely looking forward to this. The story is quite good and I liked it even more when I found out that the Darkness is Witchblade's father.

Personally I think the delay is a good move. This game would just die during this fall's lineup of games.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Good move, although what's with the summer season being rampant with delay after delay?

 

[Woodsey]

That would seem like quite a hefty delay for polish; I'd have thought a delay for financial reasons would be more likely.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

http://www.creatingacomic.com/images/darth_vader_nooo.jpg

I was really looking forward to that. The first Darkness game is one of my favourite shooters of this generation (despite it's flaws). I'm bummed that I have to wait even longer to play the sequel. I have to say though I'm not a fan of the Cel-Shaded look the new one seems to have.

 

[Arec Balrin]

You are now aware that Mike Patton voiced Jackie in the first game. You are now aware he's voicing the Darkness instead in this game. You are now aware that you have no idea why this casting decision was made. You are coming round to the idea that this must have been done for a reason. You have no idea how this will actually turn out in the game.

Your toast is burning.

 

[Catalyst6]

That's too bad, the first one was great. I never bought it, alas, but it was a great rental!

It's nice that they're going to be showing it off, however. Until then, I guess we'll be left... /sunglasses In the darkness.

YEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Reaper195]

Maybe they will be getting rid of the cell-shading? Here's hoping!


Sorry, I know the Darkness was original a comic, and was a spin-off from Witchblade (Or connected with Witchblade early, or something along those lines) but cell-shading in games has always sucked, and always looks terrible. If you are going for a comic-y style, go all the way like XIII did, with the sound effect words popping (Pun intended) up. That was cool, and was also used as a gameplay mechanic (I.E. see 'step, step, step' as someone is walking behind a wall).

And the first game looked beautiful. Still does.

 

[Hitman Dread]

Competition is undoubtedly the reason. The fall season is just way too packed. It would be lost in the shadows just like the first Darkness, no pun intended. Hopefully the time is spent to add to the game as well.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

You are now aware that Mike Patton voiced Jackie in the first game. You are now aware he's voicing the Darkness instead in this game. You are now aware that you have no idea why this casting decision was made. You are coming round to the idea that this must have been done for a reason. You have no idea how this will actually turn out in the game.

Your toast is burning.

Uh.... sorry but no.

Jackie was voiced by Kirk Acevedo, Mike Patton did indeed voice the Darkness the first time around.

Anyway, I co-incidentally started re-playing this game. I had no idea there was a sequel planned at all but that makes me happy as I really love the story and the characters.

 

[Angry_squirrel]

It might be selfish of me, but I honestly like the sound of this news. I'll be buying a lot of new games around October/November time, I wouldn't be able to afford another one. Four months of polish can do a lot for a game, and this just means that when I do pick it up it'll be all the better.

 

[Delock]

...I'm actually happy about this. Given that Dark Souls and Arkham City are to be released in the same month, the very month after the one that would see the release of Dead Island, Gears 3, and the Silent Hill and Team Ico collections, my wallet was starting to strain something fierce.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sad I won't be playing it this year, but now things are a bit easier on the financial side.

 

[Arec Balrin]

You are now aware that Mike Patton voiced Jackie in the first game. You are now aware he's voicing the Darkness instead in this game. You are now aware that you have no idea why this casting decision was made. You are coming round to the idea that this must have been done for a reason. You have no idea how this will actually turn out in the game.

Your toast is burning.

What the actual fuck.

Mike Patton, in both games, has voiced the Darkness. Kirk Acevedo voiced Jackie in 1. I have no idea who is voicing him in 2.

Facepalm.

Why are you facepalming? It's my error.

Facepalm.

 

[eggy32]

I don't like the fact that Nolan North is now doing the voice for Jackie.
I quite liked Kirk Acevedo's voice for Jackie. North better be able to replicate it.

 

[Deacon Cole]

The Darkness II Is Going To Be Late

I hope it's not pregnant.

 

[Andy Shandy]

This is actually good news for me as, even though I only got round to buying it recently (£5) I loved it, but with all the new games coming out around October/November time it wouldn't have put The Darkness II on my list of purchases. Now it can, and it has some extra time to be polished as well it would seem.

EDIT: Didn't notice the rather big necro of this.