The Darkness 2 (Gameplay #3) - Redemption Ride [Final Thoughts]
3By now I've had time to finish The Darkness 2's singleplayer campaign, which was a short but sweet fun ride through the dark comic book world of demonically troubled gangster Jackie Estecado. The story oscillates rather cleverly between stylized semi-realism and spectacular hallucinations, always leaving the player on edge and unsure of what is real and what exists only in Jackie's head, and frequent romantic interludes featuring the vengeful mobster's dead girlfriend Jenny give this otherwise gory narrative a surprisingly strong emotional anchor. Gameplay-wise, the numerous Darkness-related special abilities - though somewhat tricky to juggle using a keyboard/mouse combo - results in an almost bewildering array of possibilities during combat and ensures that Digital Extremes' FPS stands out from most other recent entries in the genre.
As far as arcade-style shooters go this game may lack the mad inventiveness or amazing level design of Bulletstorm and doesn't quite reach the frantic playstyle of Painkiller, but The Darkness 2 is still well worth playing for fans of original and stylish action games.