Released: 2007-06-25

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Platform:

Reviewed By: Tony Perriello

Into The Void

There's not much room left for innovation in first-person shooters. Outside of minor variations, such as first person shooter / role playing hybrids like System Shock 2, the shooter formula is tried and true. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I've played countless first person shooters along my tour of duty as a gamer. I've walked down many a corridor and I'm sure if you were to rack up my lifetime kills, you?d find that I've wiped out the entire population of a small country. I need something special to grab my attention and keep me intrigued. If I?m going to be doing the same thing over and over again, I better be enjoying every second of it. If not, it's like drinking a bottle of Coke that's been left open for three days: bland, flat and a challenge to digest.

The same can be said of The Darkness, a strong, comic book-inspired story mixed with minimalistic shoot-em-up gameplay. You take on the role of Jackie Estacado, a hardened contract killer working for the Franchetti crime family. After screwing up a job on the day of your 21^st birthday, your uncle Paulie?who also happens to be your boss?attempts to correct your mistake by killing you. You manage to outrun his trigger-happy henchmen, when a mysterious force called the Darkness takes control of your body. One incredibly gratuitous cinematic of hitmen slaughter later, you set out to take revenge and discover the true intentions of the Darkness itself.

At it's core, The Darkness is a barebones first person shooter. There's no real str