The Darkness II - Demo Impressions

The Darkness II is set two years after the original game featuring the Darkness wielding mob boss Jackie Estacado. For the record i played The Darkness II demo via my Xbox 360 for this particular videogames4gamerz article. I must say overall the demo really did a good job at selling me this game. Reason being that in The Darkness II i managed to feel more like a badass then in the first game. The Darkness II is a action game developed by Digital Extremes and published by 2K Games for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game releases February 7, 2012.

The title screen menus shows Start Demo, Options and Quit.The controls via the Xbox 360 gamepad: LS-move/strafe, D-pad-change weapon, LB-Demon Arm Slash/Melee, RT-Fire, A-jump, B-swarm, Y-gun channeling, LT-iron sights and Back-objectives. One huge improvement that i noticed was the control scheme in The Darkness II as compared to the first game. It was practically seamless duel wielding guns while using both your Demon Arms like picking up car doors and flinging them at enemies. So basically you have two demonic arms and two guns (potentially) that you can use. All four at the same time. So kudos on the controls they made me feel like a real mob killing machine in the demo.

The beginning of the demo shows Jackie Estacado being crucified by one of the game's main badguys. The evil mastermind is trying to siphon Jackie's Darkness powers out of him. The only way to fully get Jackie's Darkness powers is if he verbally relinquishes them. At any-rate the demo has like three small cutscenes in between gameplay sequences of Jackie's crucifixion. The last scene shows Jackie escaping to save Aunt Sarah from the badguys. There are also gameplay sequences with visions of Jenni in The Darkness II demo. I'm thinking the story should be at least equal to the first game or if not better.

The tutorial starts off with a bang as Jackie who is now the mob boss of the family being attacked at his restaurant. During the tutorial you learn how to duel wield pistols. The aiming felt weird because Jackie was being dragged and the angles you had to shoot everybody from were odd. Even though the auto-aim was sufficient. Some of the guns i used throughout the demo were the Defender shotgun, M1911 pistol and Micro Uzi. You can combine any two smaller guns in duel wield mode which was nice. As far as shooting and aiming go it was good. The auto-aim was pretty strong however.

As Jackie unleashes his Darkness powers for the first time after two years he hunts down the guys who shot up his restaurant. Making your way through the New York streets, buildings and down through a subway ultimately resting at a crashed subway train site. When i first saw the new footage of The Darkness II i originally disliked the artstyle. My tone changed quickly after playing the demo. The Darkness II incorporates a semi realistic comic book art and color design. Its like playing a graphic novel in real time. Aside from the good visuals the voice actors are top notch as well. The music helped create a nice atmosphere that brought the city to life.

The gameplay in the demo was solid. I learned how to use the slash with the Demon Arms and Demon Dash technique. You can practically pick up and throw any object at enemies with the Demon Arms either stunning or killing them. You can also perform brutal finishing moves with the arms which nets you Dark Essence. Dark Essence is like XP in The Darkness II. You gain Dark Essence from eating hearts and killing enemies. Collectibles are scattered about the game like Relics and Talent Shrines are where you upgrade Jackie's powers using Dark Essence. I first bought the talent "Eat Hearts" and a few others throughout the demo. There are many talents you can buy (around forty). Some include Black Swarm, Gun Channeling, Ground Pound, Heart Health, Expert Grabber and Combat Belt.

I performed some brutal gruesomely finishers in the demo like Anacnda +30, Wishbone +30 and Head Whip +30 Dark Essence points. The servants of The Darkness are back aka the Darklings. These guys cracked me up in the demo. He peed on enemies after he killed them, and farted too. They look like little demons and talk in a British accent to Jackie. If nothing else they add some comedy relief to this dark demonic gory action game. The demo lasts between 20 to 30 minutes.

I was originally on the fence about The Darkness II but after playing the demo i no longer am. The presentation screams quality and the atmosphere is thick. Its gonna be a good game. Thanks for reading.