Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Starbreeze
Genre: Action / Adventure
Release Date: May 1st 2007 (Date Subject to Change)
ESRB Rating: RP - Rating Pending
Platforms: PS3 / Xbox 360
The Darkness Gallery
The Darkness Official Website

On the night of his 21st birthday, the Francetti family Don, Uncle Paulie, sends out hitman Jackie Estacado on a job. The hit turns out to be a trap and Jackie finds out that Paulie wants Jackie dead. Jackie dies. Later the same night, Jackie is posessed by The Darkness, an ancient demonic power that gives him spectacular powers. The story revolves around Jackie and Paulie fighting over the future of the Francetti family and how Jackie must learn to control the Darkness that lurks within him.

Jackie Estacado was raised in a very strict and abusive orphanage. He was adopted by “Uncle” Paulie Franchetti, Don of the Franchetti crime family. Paulie raised Jackie to be his hitman and he became one of the best. However, Jackie never liked the way Paulie did business. He didn’t think the families should mess with drugs and do business with crooked cops. Paulie and Jackie never did see eye-to-eye.

The Darkness from Starbreeze Studios, who also brought gamers the award winning Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, takes place for the most part in New York. Main character Jackie Estacado is able to explore dark alleys as well as slums, harbors, subway tunnels, and rooftops. This scenery only makes up about 70 percent of the game, with the remainder taking place in The Otherworld, known to some as a place worse then hell. The Darkness will engross gamers for about 16 hours of single player. Recently revealed was the multiplayer mode, giving gamers four more modes, whether they're online or local.

The Darkness is not going to be your typical FPS genre title, although don’t be fooled into thinking it will be your typical horror genre either. 2K Games and Starbreeze Studios are looking to give players the best of both worlds. The Darkness allows Jackie to wield all kinds of demonic powers...

The only problem with Jackie’s new found power is that they only work in the dark. If Jackie is standing tall in the light, he is limited to his basic arsenal of pistols, shotguns and such. The Darkness will not have gamers going toe to toe in all out gun fights. Gamers will be shooting out the lights, not for stealth or sneak attacks, but to decrease the amount of light to help level your demonic killing powers.

Besides his small arsenal Jackie has several demonic powers at his disposal. First is the “Demon Arm” which is simply a giant tentacle that is capable of picking up large objects and hurtling your enemies across the room. Second is the “Creeping Dark” which allows Jackie to send his Dark self ahead of his physical being. Then there is a blackhole type of power that sucks everything around it, including Jackie’s enemies, before it seals up. Another power at Jackie’s disposal is that of extracting Darklings from dead bodies and then using them for his own purposes. Expect more demonic powers when the game is officially released.

The Darklings are in essence Jackie’s foot soldiers. They are there to do as Jackie wishes, killing whoever gets in his way. Currently, there are around 10 Darklings, each with their own special purpose. One Darkling has the sole purpose to disable lights, allowing Jackie to grow in power as it gets darker. Another one, a kamikaze-type darkling, will throw itself at Jackie’s enemies in the hopes to take as many out as it can. Other Darklings will offer unique powers by consuming the bodies of Jackie’s fallen enemies. Gamers will have to keep their eyes open for truly evil people as they will offer more Darklings.

Starbreeze took some hits from the gaming community for Chronicles of Riddick’s lack of a multiplayer mode. With The Darkness, Starbreeze seemed to listen and learn from their critics. With the success of Xbox Live and the impending arrival of the Playstation Network, The Darkness will hopefully be taking full advantage of this. It will not have gamers play as Jackie, but as Darklings in its multiplayer mode. Not a lot of information is being released here other than it will hold up to 16 players--so we will have to wait.

The Darkness is looking to be a must play game, especially with its upgraded Chronicles engine. Gamers who are fans of the FPS or Survival Horror genres are sure to be pleased with what we have seen and heard to date. Only time will tell if Seabreeze and 2K will truly deliver in May…..until then stay out of the The Darkness!