A very fine example of turning shit into gold. Where The Darkness comic mostly sucks ass, the game simplifies the concept to such a perfect balance, and provides a very endearing story with charming characters.

This feels like one of the last non-complacent FPS games out there during this period of video games, where it did not really understand what would be considered the most optimal design document at this point, something being wholly sharpened by the big shooter franchises during this time.

Yeah, it's clunky and slow, yeah the scenes are awkward with stilted acting, yeah the hubworld is kind of just a weird time sink, and ya know what? I fucking love it. I love the action, the darkness powers, the characters, and especially the music. It's all so fucking good, and didn't care how rickety it felt. And long-haired caveman Jackie spoke to me as an edgy teenager.

i played this whole fuckin' game with the music muted by complete accident. the entire thing. it's an immersive masterpiece and i took several pages of notes about how i adore it to pieces, but i don't even know how to review it anymore knowing that i drastically altered the sound design. that's something that's always very important to my opinions on a game. even worse is that i don't like the soundtrack (now that i've heard it). it's a 5 star with a giant asterisk. maybe i'll come back and write about the gameplay and story and shit. for right now... i don't know.

This game is an absolute treat story wise. I fell in love with the characters, and the journey you take on this quest for revenge hits all the right beats, at all the right times. It's incredibly well paced, with just enough side quests in the open(ish) world to keep things interesting if you need a break from the main story - but not too much to distract from Jackie's main goals.

The combat is very satisfying, with the darkness powers adding a lot of choice as to how you want to approach each encounter. There was a lot of experimentation to be had, and it would be very satisfying to learn which powers or weapons were best suited to each situation as they occurred.

I also loved the navigation - using the subway and using in world maps to figure out where to go really helped my immersion, and make exploration interesting. Though the walking speed did feel a tad slow at times, the maps are sized just to the point where it's never too much of an issue.

Only nitpick is that the locations all look very similar, mostly due to the aesthetic of the game. There is little that makes each place stand out, which makes the already small world feel even smaller.

This is an absolute hidden gem, and has one of my favourite cutscenes I've seen in a while. (In the orphanage - you'll know the one!)