The PC Embraces The Dark(ness) (II)
The Darkness, aka "that game from the Riddick guys where you could spend half an hour watching TV with your in-game girlfriend." An action game with a heart of - ahahahah - darkness and a bunch of great ideas and atmosphere, even if it perhaps didn't attain Modern Classic status. Happening at perhaps the apex of the big publishers' "nah, fuggedaboutit" dismissal of our sacred boxes, the PC lost out. It doesn't this time - 2K just announced the Darkness II, and we're getting it!
Someone who isn't getting it, however, is original developer Starbreeze.
Development duties have been passed to Digital Extremes, sometime Unreal Tournament co-creators, the chaps behind Bioshock 2's multiplayer and their bittersweetly-named failed attempt at creating their own franchise, Pariah. Why aren't Starbreeze doing it? Well, there are an awful lot of rumours that they're busy working on a Syndicate reboot for EA...
The story's continuing where the original left off, offering new developments in the not exactly uncomplicated life of demonically-possessed Mafia dude Jackie Estacado. The titular darkness is a nasty, phantom-tentacle thing that lurks in him and kills people in horrible ways, and can also throw a ton of stuff all over the place. 2K describe the controls as "quad-wielding combat."
Here's the plot setup. Contains spoilers for the first game and stuff:
It’s been two years since Jackie Estacado, now the Don of the Franchetti crime family, used The Darkness to kill the men responsible for his girlfriend’s murder. He’s been unable to shake the memory of Jenny’s death since bottling up his supernatural power, and now The Darkness wants out. A sudden, unprovoked attack on Jackie’s life heralds the start of a full-scale mob war, which has clearly been orchestrated by some outside force. The botched attempt opens the door for The Darkness to reemerge, and sets Jackie on a journey to hell and worse, as he unravels the mystery behind the attack and the motivations of The Darkness itself.
Due sometime this Autumn, and uses a "hand-painted graphic noir art style" which sounds jolly pretty, but unfortunately they're not showing us any of that beyond the sole screenshot above yet. Click on it to make it bigger, by the way.
Also, the game will apparently feature "hardcore tenderness." Um. Is that really what they mean?