"t̸h̶r̴o̵u̵g̶h̷ ̴y̶o̴u̸,̴ ̴i̶ ̶a̷m̴ ̶b̶o̸r̵n̵.̶"
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| Source // PlayStation |
In the early days of the PlayStation 3, there were demos. Lots of demos. My first downloads from the PSN store were demos, and one of the first would have been (or certainly feels like it, anyway) The Darkness, a first-person shooter with a little bit of a horror twist, in the form of you playing a character possessed by the Darkness, and sprouting demonic eels out of your shoulders, hungry for hearts.
There's a bit to explain, I feel, so turn out the lights and we'll begin.
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| Source // MobyGames |
Fun Times
You play The Darkness as this guy, Jackie Estacado, a young mobster whose 21st birthday doesn't go as planned. It really doesn't. Dead girlfriend, an assassination attempt by your relative, possessed by a demon... Jackie isn't having a good time.
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| Source // MobyGames |
But the demo - which is all I have to judge The Darkness by - doesn't start there. It starts with us in the back of a car ride with fellow mobsters, I think the chatty one of them is Paulie if memory serves, but it soon descends into chaos as we're given a gun and instructed to shoot wildly at some pursuing police cars.
What have we done to deserve this? I've no idea. Are you excited for the full release of The Darkness? Well, I mean, it's pretty generic so far, isn't it? Mobsters and police chases? What's the hook?
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| Source // MobyGames |
Ah. Yes. That's quite the unexpected turn in what was otherwise about to be described as 'nothing new to see, really'. Jackie has voices in his head. Well, more than that, actually. Demons infesting his body, manifesting their power in the form of two mouthy tentacles that sort of serve as an extra pair of hands.
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // MobyGames |
The gist of The Darkness is that you move through the shadowy streets of the city no doubt on a quest for revenge, armed with dark forces that really want you to stay in the shadows so that you can act with all the power they can muster.
Shooting out light sources isn't just a way of showing off a lighting engine, but of making your life easier as you juggle between dual pistols and dark tendrils, sending out imps to do your bidding, or snaking through air vents to sneak up on your targets and take them out as silently as a vicious demon thing could.
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| Source // MobyGames |
Frustrations
The demo takes you through a couple of levels, or parts of them at least, to give you a flavour of what you're going to be doing in The Darkness, which is what you'd expect a demo to do.
There's no denying that it serves as a good demonstration for the game. You'll be doing all sorts here, but not everything, of course. Importantly, you'll be able to get a gist of the basic mechanics before the full game goes on to explore them in detail.
Only I couldn't ignore one thing about my time playing it. I played a batch of PS3 games to make notes on them for this 1001 list, and there's a pattern amongst the early titles for the platform, in that they all feel so similar.
I've written this for The Darkness and Siren: Blood Curse, but it's not just horror titles that feel alike. Even Heavenly Sword gives off this impression too: Early PS3 titles just feel so weightless, there's something about the way the games handle, no matter their genre, that feels so... early PS3.
You might think this weightlessness would be because of the lack of weighty rumble motors in the first Sixaxis controllers, and that may have played some part... but I played Siren with a DualShock 3, and Heavenly Sword would have been through a DualShock 4, through PS Now, and yet I still have this sense of floaty gameplay.
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // MobyGames |
To get to the point, what I feel through the gameplay disconnects me from what I'm seeing. I don't feel a demon slink through the shadows to tear out my opponent's heart, I feel a tech demo showing off its features.
And as you might expect, it's not the easiest thing in the world to control. You could argue that you shouldn't be in control of the demon that has very clearly possessed your body, and not the other way around, but a game should be challenging for the gameplay, not for its controls.
Am I still learning them? Of course, yes. I'd improve with time, as you would in any other game, but there feels like a lot going on here, and I wouldn't like to have to do anything complicated in a short space of time.
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| Source // PlayStation |
I've watched a couple of reviews of The Darkness and they say it's pretty easy, especially in the later stages when you've access to a black hole that shows off the ragdoll physics. Is this really a game based on a comic about a demon mobster, or an excuse to show off all the cool tech we can do now?
My run with the demo ended when I couldn't work out how to get through a meat factory without instantly dying, more or less, in a gunfight. Even with a significant aim assist, it wasn't working out for me. I suppose there's a sneakier way through, one where I actually use these ridiculously powerful demon guys instead. I don't know. After a few attempts I backed out and that was my time with The Darkness done.
Final Word
Does the full game differ from the demo? Does the story make more sense when, you know, you're actually told it upfront? Probably. Do I want to go and track down a copy of The Darkness? I think that's a no.
I didn't get on too well with the demo, don't find myself caring about what little of the characters and the plot I've been shown, and don't really want to faff around with the controls, even if they do make your life easier in time. It's just a game that is impressive to some degree, yes, but isn't entertaining me in any way.
I might watch it, though. I suppose I can give it that much. It got a sequel, apparently, so it must have had something going for it back in the day. Then again, you don't hear much about The Darkness II these days either.
If you're looking for a different kind of first-person puzzler to Portal, maybe juggling demon arms and dual pistols in The Darkness will catch your eye - if you can see into the shadows...
Fun Facts
What does a game based on a comic book need for promotion? A five-issue mini-series comic, obviously.
The Darkness, developed by Starbreeze Studios, first released in 2007.
Version played: Demo, PlayStation 3, 2007.