So after a second go through on the Darkness Single player demo i am even more excited about getting my grubby little hands on the final game.

For those that have played the first game "The Darkness II" takes place two years after the events of the first game. Jackie Estacado, the current wielder of The Darkness has used his powers to become the Don of the Franchetti crime family. He has been unable to shake the thoughts of his dead girlfriend Jenny Romano and has since, with the help of estranged occultist Johnny Powell and his study into dark essence, contained his supernatural powers, and now The Darkness "wants out in the worst way".


The game starts with Jackie talking to the player about his life and about The Darkness while sitting alone in a chair in a dark, seemingly endless room. Jackie pulls out a pendant with a small picture of his dead girlfriend Jenny and the scene shifts to Jackie getting out of a car and entering a luxerious restaurant. Jackie sits with two blonde twins until one is shot in the head and a van crashes through the window, killing the other twin and heralding the start of a full-scale mob war, which has clearly been orchestrated by some outside force. The assassination attempt leaves Jackie on the verge of death and with no choice but to release The Darkness, sending him on a mission to discover the mystery of the attack and the motivations of The Darkness itself. This quest brings Jackie to an abandoned carnival and into a confrontation with Victor Valente, a mysterious figure who knows what The Darkness is and wants this power for himself. Victor is the head of an ancient secret society known as The Brotherhood, formed thousands of years ago by a saint for the sole purpose of protecting the world from The Darkness. However the saint became corrupted and now The Brotherhood wants The Darkness for themselves.

One of the Core changes from the first game is the use of Quad Wielding with the 2 darkness arms being controlled by the left and right bumpers and pistols\SMG's being controlled independantly by the triggers. In the Demo it was tricky at first but i was soon able to use them pretty smoothly. I was able to shoot at 1 target whilst picking up objects to throw\use as shields whilst killing with the remaining Darkness arm. A little practice will go along way and really allow you go to work as a Darkness fueled killing machine.



One thing i loved about the game was the almost Noire graphical look, this has been replaced by a more cell shaded cartoon like textures which i actually really like. They add to the comic book feel which is where the Darkness story originates. The colours are subdued and muted with the contrast between light and Dark more pronounced that the first game, which helps keep the darkness powers charged and ready to go.

The final large change is actually applied to the Darklings the little crazy ass sidekicks that would be summoned to get nasty with the bad guys. The first game you had a little army of the fuckers, not so in the Sequel. This time you have 1 English sterotypical punk who likes pissing on corpses and farts alot. He is that cool. Oh yeah and he packs and fuck off giant drill!



I have no real concerns left after playing the demo i liked the changed mechanics and the greater sense of power that came as a result of combining them. Few games make you feel like such a bad ass ripping enemies apart left right and centre.

I cant wait to play it and would recommend the first to those who have yet to play it. The Darkness is available on Amazon for peanuts and would be a great way to spend a weekend.