Some of you may remember a little game that came out way back in 2007 called The Darkness. Appearing on the Xbox 360 and PS3, it followed the story of one Jackie Estacado, who not only has to deal with threats and assassination attempts from the Mafia, but also has to contend with this new strange power of his simply referred to as “The Darkness.” It is generally considered to be an excellent game.
Those of you who are fans of the series are in luck: a sequel to the demonic shootfest is set to come out this fall for the 360 and PS3, as well as the PC. It looks to continue the same style of gameplay set in the first game, that being fancy first-person shooting combined with evil demon tentacles with a nice pinch of pure style.
One new feature announced is something called “Quad-Wielding”, which allows players to attack and grab their enemies with their demon arms while shooting them with their normal arms. It sounds ridiculously crazy and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
However, there appears to be a bit of bad news to go along with the good. The developer of the original game, Starbreeze Studios, is not handling the development of The Darkness II, and it is instead headed by Digital Extremes. If you don’t recognize that name, they were the guys who created Dark Sector back in 2008. Infer from that what you will.
Though it is never a good sign when a gaming franchise suddenly changes developers, many still have high hopes for this game. One in particular is Marc Silvestri, the founder and CEO of Top Cow Productions. He has referred to the game as “one of the most brutally cool games [he] has ever played.” High praise indeed, but when you take into account that Mr. Silvestri is also the co-creator of the “The Darkness” comic book, you sort of have to stop and think for a minute. Especially when he himself as admitted to being a bit biased in regards to the game.
Regardless, fans of the previous game should have plenty to look forward to, despite others being a bit more skeptical. What do you think? Will this game live up to the praise its predecessor received? Does a new developer mean the game is doomed from the start, or does it not change anything?
The Darkness II is set to come out in fall of 2011 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
Source: Joystiq
