How can I choose which one of two characters takes a bullet at my order when I care about them both? How can I make a choice whether to stay or leave behind someone I care about so much? Every time I had to make a choice in The Darkness II, I put the controller down and walked away. It's the one thing that I feel The Darkness has over many other games out there: it has the emotional gravitas and capability to go where few are ever willing to go, and it will always deliver that punch to the gut. Digital Extremes pulls that same thing off again in The Darkness II, and as tragic as it is to behold, it is goddamn beautiful to see a developer who isn't afraid to go there. However, despite all that power, you are completely helpless when you need that power the most.
Here you are, a man with this power that makes you all-fucking-powerful. It's one of the most memorable moments in gaming for me, solely because of the juxtaposition at play and how well it was executed.
Jackie lost the love of his life in the first game during a rather painful and vicious scene to behold. Watching Jenny die is easily one of the most difficult things I've watched happen in a game. However, the core of the game still lies in how the story and characters are handled. If anything, Digital Extremes built upon what the first game made, and all the additions were astoundingly good and necessary things. They improved the core gameplay mechanics drastically, making it a far more playable game. They delivered a solid story with gripping climaxes and unforgettable moments of character development, but they also kept things that made the first game feel unique (such as the loading screens where Jackie delivered monologues while sitting down in a dark room). Digital Extremes looked at how revered the first game was and made sure to keep that essence which made it meaningful. Playing through The Darkness II, you would almost think that Starbreeze was still on the job. Very few can ever truly capture that essence of magic - melting good gameplay with characters that make you genuinely "feel".
Seeing a developer respect the material they are working with is a beautiful thing to behold. It makes you ask yourself "can they do this story and its characters justice?" These are the same guys that brought us Dark Sector and are more involved with multiplayer gaming like Unreal Tournament and the multiplayer component of Bioshock 2 than single player games with expressive character. The level of worry I had going into this game was (I feel) rightfully justified. The Darkness II is here, made by a different developer altogether: Digital Extremes. The Darkness II embraces its comic book roots with a new art style, but it actually HELPS the characters be more expressive. It was a tough blow, a punch to the stomach like someone had a fistful of quarters when they did it. It was the first video game I ever played that forced me to put down the controller at a difficult climax in the game (those who have played it know exactly what I'm talking about) and walk away from the console. The developer took the time to pay attention to the characters giving them the time necessary to gain an attachment to them allowed for the dynamics of the story to hit that much harder. At the same time, it wasn't just the story that made it matter.
BLOWJOB THE DARKNESS II SERIES
Starbreeze took a fantastic comic book series and crafted a story into their game that was both heart-wrenching and well-paced. The first Darkness game was something special. If anything, it felt like a sign that I had to play the game. Thanks to Powerup Rewards as well as the guy in front of me that was trading in a fresh copy of The Darkness II, I ended up picking the game up for about $33 total. Two weeks ago, the possibility of picking up T he Darkness II immediately looked like a bit of a stretch.
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