The Darkness II Review

A violence-filled adventure that provides a well presented but less memorable experience than its predecessor

Posted by Alex V on February 14, 2012 - 9:42pm EST

One of the main selling points of the franchise remains the quad wielding mechanic, essentially allowing players to dual-wield light weapons and also use their demon arm abilities at the same time. It’s a system that works very well, and has been further fleshed out for the sequel. Controls feel tight and responsive, allowing you to get out of some very tricky situations against challenging opponents. The AI is skilled, divided into ranged and melee types, and with a wide number of special abilities that change as you progress through the game and face increasingly challenging foes. Starting off fighting fairly helpless human mobsters, you’ll eventually face off against elite Brotherhood soldiers with a number of abilities such as carrying portable light sources and whipping weapons out of your hands.

Enemy numbers increase with story progression, and the game infrequently puts the player into a room with a single task of surviving the next few waves of attackers. These sequences can be fairly frustrating, requiring multiple restarts as your darkness powers lack any real crowd-clearing attacks. There are a few boss fights in the game as well, but they are hardly memorable and play out in a simple manner (but to be fair, they are indeed firefights, not QTEs).

As mentioned earlier, Jackie is able to dual wield any combination of light weapons – submachine guns and pistols. He also has a slot for a two-handed weapon, such as an assault rifle or shotgun. All of the weapons in the game feel fairly similar, but still pack a good punch and feel satisfying to fire. Taking weapons from falling enemies remains a necessity to keep your arsenal replenished. The real tools of the trade though are the Darkness’ demon arms.

The twin snake-like creatures make a return from the original game with some new tricks but also some removed functions. Players are no longer able to separate from the body and explore the world/solve puzzles through the eyes of the snake, though that ability is replicated through the sections where you play as the darkling. On the other hand, players can use the Darkness to grab objects in the environment to use in combat as shields or as throwable weapons. The Darkness is able to attack enemies directly within range as well, with player-controlled directional slashes potentially slicing them or sending them into the air. Consuming hearts of fallen enemies remains a staple of the game.