Currently Playing: The Darkness

I should probably start by saying that I have no experience of the comic on which this game is based. It doesn't seem to matter all that much as the game introduces the set up and story very well as the game progresses. It does this in two ways. Through the hero of the game, Jackie, talking to an unseen character during loading screens and through conversations with characters as the game goes along.

Jackie is a mafia hitman who, as the game unfolds, becomes possessed by a mysterious power called The Darkness which manifests itself through powers Jackie is able to use and a strange creepy voice that communicates with Jackie himself. The powers are unlocked as you progress collecting enemies hearts as you go. Jackie can use, what I assume are sort of specteral tenticals, that sprout from him when you invoke The Darkness to over come puzzles that stop him from progressing as well as for scouting out the terrain and dealing with enemies. He is also able to call forth darklings. Small beings that he can direct and each with a specilized ability (Their are four to collect).

It's basically a story based shooter however there's less emphasis on shooting and quite a bit on exploring and progressing the story. It's linear in so much as you're assigned tasks (for instance finding your girlfriends flat) but the world you're in is reasonably open and you don't feel like you're progressing down one long corridor to you're goal.

Appropriatly enough the game is rather dark all round. Both in visuals and atmosphere. Your darkness powers gradually fade in the light too so a lot of time is spent in making the enviroment even darker. This occasionally makes finding out what you're supposed to be doing quite tricky although the game does have a lot of hints and clues in it's 'journal' along with a list of your abilities and powers and how to use them. So while a lot is introduced in a relatively short time it's fairly easy to keep track of it all and I made reasonable progress yesterday completing the first section of the game. That's when things started to get really strange....