Ryan Scott, Executive Editor: So, you got a chance to play The Darkness II recently. Since I know next to nothing about this series, what's the gist of it, and why should I care?
Nathan Meunier, Contributing Editor: Indeed! The Darkness is a first-person shooter game based on a comic book series of the same name. The main protagonist is a mafia hitman named Jackie Estacado, who inherits demonic superpowers of sorts -- powers that give him some sweet abilities while also threatening to fully consume him in malevolent darkness. Beyond using your human limbs to tote guns and smoke thugs, the original game let you wield an extra set of awesome demon-snake tentacle appendages to skewer foes and engage in other wicked tasks. The sequel gives you even more killing power and plentiful options for dismembering your adversaries with these gnarly things. It's a grisly supernatural twist on the first-person shooter genre that resonates strongly with my inner comic book geek and my twitchy trigger finger alike.
Ryan Scott: Sounds like it's a series that revels in violence. What gory showpiece did they trot out for the section you played?
Nathan Meunier: The opening sequence set a nice, gory tone for the rest of the demo. Walking into an Italian restaurant, I sat down at a table to chat with a pair of blondes -- that is, until one gal's head exploded at me in a slow-motion spray of meat. A split second later, a van came crashing through the window and the place lit up with gunfire and bodies. But the bloodshed didn't hit a crescendo until further along in the demo, when I got a chance to put Jackie's unholy powers to the test and flex some demon-muscle. With Jackie's handy supernatural limbs, it was pretty fun ripping guys in half, decapitating them, skewering them like shish-kabobs, flinging their dismembered body parts around at their still-living pals, and eating a few hearts along the way.
Ryan Scott: Well, that paints a lovely picture. What's of interest mechanics-wise? This game involves some interplay between light and darkness, yes?
Nathan Meunier: Being infused with psychotic demon mojo has its downsides, and Jackie can't handle direct light. Coming into contact with light sources temporarily strips you of all demon powers, including your killer appendages and your health regeneration. I actually spent quite a bit of time shooting and smashing lamps and florescent lights, sometimes while taking heavy fire from mobster thugs. While the light sensitivity isn't an entirely new element in the sequel, the developers really beefed things up to make the effects more dramatic this time around. When I found myself thrust in the light, my vision went totally screwy, and the audio cut way down, making me feel disoriented and weak.
Ryan Scott: This game's got kind of a weird comic visual style to it as well, from what I hear. Would it be correct to call this a hand-drawn horror game?
Nathan Meunier: I think that's a fair assessment. The original game took a more realistic approach in its presentation, but The Darkness II definitely embraces its comic book roots more thoroughly. At first glance, the environments and characters had an almost cel-shaded look to them. Taking a closer look, I noticed that all of the details were hand-painted, giving the entire game a strong comic vibe. It's quite impressive in motion, and the bold colors really popped on-screen, particularly in the restaurant scene I mentioned earlier (the one with the exploding heads).
Ryan Scott: Sounds like a fun time, and a The-Darkness-II-banned-in-insert-name-of-uptight-country-here news story in the making. Let's wrap this up -- did you see any other cool stuff that we haven't touched on?
Nathan Meunier: Sure did. The last game had a bunch of imp-like demon dudes to offer assistance. The Darkness II has just one demon helper, but he's a jack-of-all-trades. During my demo session, he popped out of the ceiling to save my ass at the very last second, ripping some guy's face off in the process. After that, he urinated acid-pee on the guy's corpse and stole his weapon for me. I guess the little fellow offers support in battle, and collects ammo too. Nice guy.
Combat also feels a lot more diverse this time around. Your extra demon limbs have different functions. The left one has a claw-like maw for eating people's hearts and grabbing onto victims. The right appendage is mainly for melee, and slashing folks into little bits. When used together, they open up a lot of new combinations for dispatching your foes in grisly fashion to round out your gun arsenal. This sequel sure has my attention.
