I’m about two hours into Starbreeze’s new game, The Darkness. So far? Creeping Dark, an ability that has you directly controlling this eel looking creature that comes out of your back (see above) is actually pretty cool. A lot of review sites seemed to have issues with controlling the Creeping Dark, “especially when climbing walls,” but I haven’t encountered any of that. Strange.
So far? Really cool 1st person interactive story telling. There’s a scene early on where Jackie Estacado, you (me, whatever. It’s first person), goes to his girlfriend, Jenny’s, new apartment in Chinatown. I’m lost because I can’t remember which building she said she was in.
“Hey Jackie, I’m up here!”
I look around, searching for the voice through my 5.1 channel speakers. Finally I approach one of the buildings down an alley and look up.
“Hey, you found it,” Jenny says, looking down at me. “Come on up; it’s apartment 11.”
It’s times like these, without all the shooting and the killing that set this game apart for me. Sure Halo had a neat story, but there aren’t any quiet moments like this. In fact, after a brief dialogue, Jackie and Jenny proceeded to watch “To Kill a Mockingbird” on TV. I just sat there for about 20 minutes, in first person. Exciting? Not really, but it was really neat.
Then it was back to the killing. I hope to get in some more time with the game over the weekend.
3 Responses to “We Do Not Die… Impressions of The Darkness”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Follow me on Twitter
Awesome game, ain’t it?? Resistance: Fall of Man and The Darkness are my two favorite games for the PS3. The graphics and gameplay in The Darkness sets the bar for how games should play. It does slow down in certain scenes or environments, but I suspect that can be improved upon.
Have you gotten the Berserker, the Gunner, and the Kamakazi yet? I just got the Kamakazi, but I’m stuck at that point. I use the creeping darkness to go down the tunnel and around the crashed plane, but I wonder what to do next.
Great game!!!
“To Kill a Mockingbird” isn’t the only full length movie in “The Darkness”, “The Man with the Golden Arm” and an episode of “Flash Gorden” from the 50′s series is also in the game.
Got further since my last comment…
I’ve found met Anthony Estacado, who brought The Darkness into the world. I’ve met the crucified man, who told me how to harness The Darkness and gave me the Darkness Guns.
Since I’m so thoroughly hooked, now I wanted to read Top Cow’s The Darkness comics. Amazon and Borders has The Darkness Compendium with all 1248 pages of the comic bound in one glossy book. I didn’t pick it up when I saw it at the local Borders (before “The Darkness” was available for PS3). Now that I’m hooked, Borders is sold out. I ended up ordering The Darkness Compendium Edition from the online store ($37.79).
I hope to see more from Top Cow and Starbreeze. “The Darkness” is a great game with a fantastic story.
Man, I need to get on the ball. I’m still at the first encounter with the swat team and the helicopter after talking to Butcher.
Yeah, I know what you mean about the story though. So far, great atmosphere that makes me want to read the books too. Gonna have to look up that compendium myself.
Thanks for stopping by.