J T wrote:Deus Ex: Human Revolution (1/12) PC
Mirror's Edge (1/18) PC
Medal of Honor [2010] (1/23) PC
Puzzle Agent 2 (2/2) PC
Dinner Date (2/15) PC
NyxQuest (2/19) PC
Dear Esther (2/20) PC
The Stanley Parable (2/21) PC
To The Moon (2/26) PC
Escape Goat (6/16) PC
Rayman Origins (6/17) PC
Robot Pinball Escape (6/18) PC
Offspring Fling (7/16) PC
The Darkness II (7/30) PC
The Darkness II has a really cool graphical style and some excellent voice acting. The story is fairly original; I mean, not that there is anything unique about mobsters or demons in videogames, but the way they are combined in this game is unique and I really like the way that the game alternates between scenes with the mob and the Darkness with scenes in a mental institution reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Even after finishing the game, I'm not sure if Jackie Estecado was really possessed or just hallucinating.
That being said, I have mixed feelings about the game. It's overly violent. I'm not one that is usually shocked by violence, but this game revels in it to a point of absurdity that detracts from the game and storyline. This games violence defines the word "gratuitous". There are close ups of throat slittings, decapitations, dismemberment, and the particularly disgusting "assecution" maneuver (If you have a sturdy stomach, see for yourself). I don't mind a bit of the ultraviolence now and again, but in The Darkness II it slows down the gameplay and it's so revolting that it detracts from your character. I actually don't like him because of the gameplay, even though he seems likeable enough in his character interactions. The man is (literally) a monster and it's not all that pleasant to roleplay.
The gameplay itself is pretty standard FPS fare, but things are fast paced and control well. The Darkness' serpentine arms add a unique bit of flavor to the melee combat, and the special powers you get are sort of cool, but over time make you so overpowered that the final scenes of the game are a breeze.
So final verdict: love the art style, setting, and voice acting. Story and gameplay were serviceable, but not revolutionary. The violence was too much. And not just because it was gross, but because it detracted from the rest of the game with all of the prolonged gore-porn shots.
I was a little underwhelmed by The Darkness II, but for different reasons. I just thought it wasn't as engaging as the first game, and didn't really make an effort to flesh out some of the first game's ideas. Instead, if kind of dumbed down the whole experience to make it more in line with standard shooter fare.
The over the top violence didn't bother me at all though. It's about the only thing that makes the shooter gameplay a bit more fun than standard shooters. I think it's worth mentioning that the violence is not so much a manifestation of Jackie's will, but of the "The Darkness." Jackie is not fully in control of it. So if that made you like him a bit less, just remember that he has to fight this creature's control. Also, the people he's fighting do some pretty vicious things to him as the story goes on, so I don't think the brutality of how they get killed is unwarranted. They clearly deserve everything that they get
Oh, and he definitely wasn't hallucinating. I like that they tease that though, but I've seen this sort of thing done better in other places, like a great season 6 Buffy episode that seriously called into question if the entire series wasn't just a delusion of some crazy girl. .
