The Darkness 2 hands-on preview

Apr 28
2011

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We go hands-on with the first 20 minutes of Jackie Estacado’s latest blood-soaked return in The Darkness 2.

StarBreeze Studios did a fantastic job of harnessing the power of the still relatively new (at the time) Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles with its 2007 release, The Darkness, based on the Top Cow Productions comic book of the same name. The stylish first-person shooter follows New York goodfella Jackie Estacado, who comes to be possessed by a malevolent supernatural force known as the Darkness. As he comes to grips with his newfound “gift,” a mob war also breaks out. He of course emerges victorious, but only after suffering a terrible loss and being fully consumed by the Darkness. Unreal developer Digital Extremes takes over for StarBreeze on the sequel, which picks up the story two years later, with Jackie now installed as the head of the Franchetti crime family.

Earlier this week we got to take The Darkness 2 for a spin in a hands-on demo presentation running through the game’s opening 20-minutes. The first section of the game unfolds as a flashback; Jackie has been captured by a ghoulish fellow who covets the power of the Darkness and wants it for himself. The only problem is, Jackie must surrender that power willingly. The game opens with him being nailed to a cross and interrogated, as the playable portion of the intro takes you to the events that led to your capture.

First we see Jackie arriving at a restaurant in a scene reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Our young Don is escorted through the mob-owned club by one of his soldiers, to a back table where a pair of lovely ladies await him. It all has the makings of an enjoyable evening for Jackie… until one of the girls is shot from behind and a white van crashes through a nearby window. Jackie wakes up a short time later, unable to walk thanks to a horribly wounded leg. What follows is an on-rails shooting gallery as Jackie is dragged through the club, which is now being assaulted by an army of overalls-wearing, gun-toting goons.

Escape seems possible until Jackie and his savior find themselves trapped alone in the restaurant’s kitchen with a gas leak. The inevitable explosion that follows leaves our anti-hero even worse off than he was with his bloody leg. The attackers converge and it looks like the end for Jackie… until the Darkness returns in spectacular fashion. Two familiar, demon-headed tendrils sprout from his back and dispose of the bad guys quickly and violently. Jackie’s wounds are healed and full control is at last handed over to the player.

Introducing Quad-Wielding

The action sequences that follow serve to acquaint you with the slightly tweaked Darkness powers at the start of the game. Central to this is what 2K Games marketing materials have referred to as “quad-wielding”; Jackie can dual-wield one-handed guns, such as pistols and uzis, all while maintaining independent control of the left and right demon arms. The demo was running on an Xbox 360; the two triggers shoot each weapons (left trigger doubles as iron sights aiming when only one firearm is equipped) and the left and right bumpers control the demon arms.

Jackie’s left demon arm quite literally handles all of the heavy lifting; press LB to pick up the various objects scattered around you. If that object happens to be inanimate, say a rebar, pressing the button again hurls it with great enough force to impale any foes that might be in front of it. Grab a human, and things get a lot more interesting. Holding down LB after you’ve caught yourself a wriggling human performs a gruesome execution. The manner of the kill depends entirely on what part of the victim’s body you grab. Pick up your soon-to-be corpse by the midsection, for example, and you’ll see him sliced neatly in half, head to toe.

The right demon arm is Jackie’s melee attack. The range of the attack is deceptively short– you would think it could lash out at a distance like it’s brother on the left, but it doesn’t extend very far. Thankfully, it makes up for the lack of range with considerable power. You can control the direction of the slash too, by moving the right analog stick as you press RB. A single slash wasn’t enough to take out an uninjured enemy during the demo, but putting a few bullets into him on the approach always did the trick.

A New World with a Familiar Feel

Light and how Jackie/the Darkness interacts with it has also been tweaked somewhat for the sequel. In the previous game, light simply drained Jackie of his Darkness powers; he could still shoot and move around just fine, but all of the supernatural stuff went away. The same is true this time around, only stepping into the light will also mess with Jackie’s head. His vision blurs and a high-pitched whining noise can be heard. Light wasn’t your friend in the last game; this time, it’s a full-blown enemy.

The action spills onto the New York City streets and, eventually, into the Canal Street subway station. Jackie meets up with a Darkling on the way. The previous game’s summonable henchmen are distilled into a single character for the sequel, a useful sidekick who follows Jackie around constantly. They venture together down to the train platform, which is flooded with enemies, and the tutorial ends as Jackie gains access to his full range of powers for the violent showdown.

The pace feels much faster than it did in the previous game. Jackie can take more damage and his tools feel far deadlier. You work your way through the station, shrugging off much of the enemy fire and tearing baddies apart as you go. We eventually move from the platform into the underground tunnels, where the fighting continues until we flash forward, back to the scene of Jackie’s crucifixion. Just as you’re starting to think that this is a game that will unfold in flashback, there’s a lucky break and a breakout. No need to spoil the carnage, but needless to say, Jackie is pissed.

While the “quad-wielding” and resulting quickened pace stands out from any of the other tweaks and evolutions on display in the demo, the game’s “graphic noir” art style is worthy of a mention as well. All of the textures you see are hand-drawn, giving the entire game the feel of a playable graphic novel. This isn’t just clever marketing; the art team at Digital Extremes really nail the look and–in the opening minutes at least–achieve exactly what they’re going for.

The Darkness 2 looks to be a little bit old and a little bit new, but it does so in a way that very clearly steps aside from StarBreeze’s original outing. Jackie feels much more like a man of action in his latest adventure. How that adventure unfolds and what horrors he’ll be subjected to, we’ll have to wait to hear more about in the months to come, as the game is currently set for a holiday 2011 release.

Computers-Plus