GH Review: The Darkness (X360)

***craig5320*** · Jul 11, 2007, 04:03 PM

Read the Review Here
__________________

Jackie Estacado is just a regular guy who celebrates his 21st birthday at the start of the game. He visits his girlfriend at her new apartment and together they watch a movie. But he is troubled. When his girlfriend asks him about it he reassures her and tells her that there were some problems at work. What he doesn’t tell her is that his foster uncle Paulie, the don of a mafia syndicate ordered a hit on him. He also fails to mention that as of that day his body is no longer his own – he is sharing it with a dark entity called the Darkness.

Lowfat · Jul 11, 2007, 05:37 PM

nice review and it looks like a great game, i just can't play FPS worth a crap on a console

Arklon · Jul 11, 2007, 06:36 PM

This game kicks ass. Go play it.

WhO_KnOwS · Jul 12, 2007, 01:56 PM

I usually am not easily impressed by first person shooters, but The Darkness is easily one of the best games I have played this year. Personally I prefer it to Gears of War and the like. In fact, I'd rate it close to Half Life 2 because of how immersive it is.

dipstick · Jul 12, 2007, 04:19 PM

Starbreeze don't mess around

Pluvious · Jul 12, 2007, 06:30 PM

I finished this game a few days ago on EASY and plan on replaying it both on MEDIUM and HARD next. The game is amazing and I was glad I bought it. Multiplayer has some serious lag issues but if you create a 4 man server the lag disappears and the game really shines then. Running around as a Darkling and jumping from wall to wall, on ceilings and slashing people as you fly by their head reminded me of Aliens in some ways.

One very important bug that you all should know about.. if you are trying to complete the game on HARD to get the achivement, make sure you DONT goto online to play during that single play session, since going back from multi resets your difficultly rating to medium. You might be able to bypass the bug if you use the load checkpoint feature instead of continue and put it back to HARD that way.

edit: I finished reading the review .. (great job Who_knows!) but wanted to add how to use the darklings online.. (which has GREAT potiental if you give it some time) Hold the left trigger down and you can run up walls and stick to them.. you can even aim yourself to look across the street and then use Y to jump FAR and then latch onto the other wall. While using Y to jump.. you can attack with the right trigger to swipe at enemies as well. I havn't spent much time online yet .. but I believe this will really make online play a lot more interesting then how this review makes it out to be.

Zardon · Jul 12, 2007, 06:51 PM

I beat it recently and was very impressed, lovely graphics, nice plot and it is very well polished.

One of my games of the year so far.

bananaman · Jul 12, 2007, 11:13 PM

i am only about half way through i think and all kinf of wierd sh*t is going on, is an awesome game, I find i cant play it for too long bursts as it is exhausting!

Pluvious · Jul 13, 2007, 01:01 AM

It took me a while to figure out how to move about the subway systems at first. The map is useless but at one point after a few days with the game, it just 'clicked' and I was able to backtrack at will where I needed to go. (The signs on the ceiling of the subway where a huge help.. not to mention the automated customer service boxes that are available) Talking to all the peps gained a lot of cool side quests that had me all over the city..

The only thing I know I missed the first time through is the last hit out of the 5 that Vinny (i think it was him) askes you to do. The last one didn't seem to be there when I got to that point.. (vague on purpose due to not wanting to spoil too much for others)

Markius · Jul 26, 2007, 05:23 AM

great game, again, i highly recommend it.
finished on medium difficulty....was a bit run and gun on that setting...lots of pure fun.
Hard....thats another story lol, you die fast if you dont fully utilise your darkness powers for just about every fight

@ Pluvious: that guy is there....i remember exactly the guy your talking about and he was well "hidden"

Pluvious · Jul 26, 2007, 06:19 PM

I've finished it twice now, easy and medium. I don't think I can beat hard though.. I can't seem to get by the cemetary fight where they swarm you before you get your powers. I retried that spot countless times and I had to give up when, after I killed the first two guys.. then head shot two others, but died anyway.. it was the best I had done.. and I was so pissed I just had to put the game away.

I have only 4 more collectables to find and I know where that last hit is now.. so I was pumped to play it again on hard to finish those things.. but I just can't cut it.

Markius · Jul 27, 2007, 01:41 AM

yeah the very first section before you get your first power was a pain in the rear.....(on hard) your darkness powers do help after that, although you can still die in a matter of seconds if your not on your toes

i know ive said it many times now, but awesome game! all 360 owners should atleast give it a try! (free demo on marketplace)

mainman · Jul 27, 2007, 02:40 AM

If only i could find it on sale around here...

guess i have to order it online..as always..

Pluvious · Jul 27, 2007, 03:15 AM

Amazing model animation and voice work in this game. The facial expressions are really believable. The game is quite deep as well. I can see how someone could miss half the game if they just did the main story line. How many know to go back to the bum in the first restroom you find(near cemetery) and help him get his insulin? Or how about in Chapter 3.. going to Pier 19 to find two other guys there before the big ship fight in Chapter 5?

SFOSOK · Jul 29, 2007, 05:03 PM

I'll wait till it drops in price. Along with Forza

Jul 11, 2007, 04:03 PM	#1
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,566 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	GH Review: The Darkness (X360) Read the Review Here __________________ Jackie Estacado is just a regular guy who celebrates his 21st birthday at the start of the game. He visits his girlfriend at her new apartment and together they watch a movie. But he is troubled. When his girlfriend asks him about it he reassures her and tells her that there were some problems at work. What he doesn’t tell her is that his foster uncle Paulie, the don of a mafia syndicate ordered a hit on him. He also fails to mention that as of that day his body is no longer his own – he is sharing it with a dark entity called the Darkness. __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

Jul 11, 2007, 05:37 PM	#2
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,254 Rep Power: 101	nice review and it looks like a great game, i just can't play FPS worth a crap on a console __________________

Jul 12, 2007, 01:56 PM	#4
WhO_KnOwS The Knows Mister Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Slovenia, Europe Posts: 409 Rep Power: 0	I usually am not easily impressed by first person shooters, but The Darkness is easily one of the best games I have played this year. Personally I prefer it to Gears of War and the like. In fact, I'd rate it close to Half Life 2 because of how immersive it is. __________________ How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Jul 12, 2007, 06:30 PM	#6
Pluvious Elisha = hottie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA CA. SF Bay Area Posts: 1,318 Rep Power: 0	I finished this game a few days ago on EASY and plan on replaying it both on MEDIUM and HARD next. The game is amazing and I was glad I bought it. Multiplayer has some serious lag issues but if you create a 4 man server the lag disappears and the game really shines then. Running around as a Darkling and jumping from wall to wall, on ceilings and slashing people as you fly by their head reminded me of Aliens in some ways. One very important bug that you all should know about.. if you are trying to complete the game on HARD to get the achivement, make sure you DONT goto online to play during that single play session, since going back from multi resets your difficultly rating to medium. You might be able to bypass the bug if you use the load checkpoint feature instead of continue and put it back to HARD that way. edit: I finished reading the review .. (great job Who_knows!) but wanted to add how to use the darklings online.. (which has GREAT potiental if you give it some time) Hold the left trigger down and you can run up walls and stick to them.. you can even aim yourself to look across the street and then use Y to jump FAR and then latch onto the other wall. While using Y to jump.. you can attack with the right trigger to swipe at enemies as well. I havn't spent much time online yet .. but I believe this will really make online play a lot more interesting then how this review makes it out to be. __________________ Last edited by Pluvious; Jul 12, 2007 at 06:40 PM.

Jul 12, 2007, 11:13 PM	#8
bananaman banana muncher Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: London Posts: 1,254 Rep Power: 64	i am only about half way through i think and all kinf of wierd sh*t is going on, is an awesome game, I find i cant play it for too long bursts as it is exhausting! __________________

Jul 11, 2007, 06:36 PM	#3
Arklon HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 163 Rep Power: 0	This game kicks ass. Go play it.

Jul 12, 2007, 04:19 PM	#5
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 71 System Specs	Starbreeze don't mess around

Jul 12, 2007, 06:51 PM	#7
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	I beat it recently and was very impressed, lovely graphics, nice plot and it is very well polished. One of my games of the year so far.

Jul 13, 2007, 01:01 AM	#9
Pluvious Elisha = hottie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA CA. SF Bay Area Posts: 1,318 Rep Power: 0	It took me a while to figure out how to move about the subway systems at first. The map is useless but at one point after a few days with the game, it just 'clicked' and I was able to backtrack at will where I needed to go. (The signs on the ceiling of the subway where a huge help.. not to mention the automated customer service boxes that are available) Talking to all the peps gained a lot of cool side quests that had me all over the city.. The only thing I know I missed the first time through is the last hit out of the 5 that Vinny (i think it was him) askes you to do. The last one didn't seem to be there when I got to that point.. (vague on purpose due to not wanting to spoil too much for others) __________________

Jul 26, 2007, 05:23 AM	#10
Markius DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,350 Rep Power: 0	great game, again, i highly recommend it. finished on medium difficulty....was a bit run and gun on that setting...lots of pure fun. Hard....thats another story lol, you die fast if you dont fully utilise your darkness powers for just about every fight @ Pluvious: that guy is there....i remember exactly the guy your talking about and he was well "hidden" __________________ DriverHeavens Aussie... "Lifes tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late"

Jul 26, 2007, 06:19 PM	#11
Pluvious Elisha = hottie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA CA. SF Bay Area Posts: 1,318 Rep Power: 0	I've finished it twice now, easy and medium. I don't think I can beat hard though.. I can't seem to get by the cemetary fight where they swarm you before you get your powers. I retried that spot countless times and I had to give up when, after I killed the first two guys.. then head shot two others, but died anyway.. it was the best I had done.. and I was so pissed I just had to put the game away. I have only 4 more collectables to find and I know where that last hit is now.. so I was pumped to play it again on hard to finish those things.. but I just can't cut it. __________________

Jul 27, 2007, 01:41 AM	#12
Markius DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,350 Rep Power: 0	yeah the very first section before you get your first power was a pain in the rear.....(on hard) your darkness powers do help after that, although you can still die in a matter of seconds if your not on your toes i know ive said it many times now, but awesome game! all 360 owners should atleast give it a try! (free demo on marketplace) __________________ DriverHeavens Aussie... "Lifes tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late"

Jul 27, 2007, 02:40 AM	#13
mainman Mr. Nobody Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: OmniPresent Nightwatcher Posts: 5,961 Rep Power: 71	If only i could find it on sale around here... guess i have to order it online..as always..

Jul 27, 2007, 03:15 AM	#14
Pluvious Elisha = hottie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA CA. SF Bay Area Posts: 1,318 Rep Power: 0	Amazing model animation and voice work in this game. The facial expressions are really believable. The game is quite deep as well. I can see how someone could miss half the game if they just did the main story line. How many know to go back to the bum in the first restroom you find(near cemetery) and help him get his insulin? Or how about in Chapter 3.. going to Pier 19 to find two other guys there before the big ship fight in Chapter 5? __________________

Jul 29, 2007, 05:03 PM	#15
SFOSOK 939 Goin Strong Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 7,033 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	I'll wait till it drops in price. Along with Forza __________________ Warning - Explicit Content Preceeding METAL!!