REVIEWS Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Review
Gamers have gone bananas for Nintendo's 3DS, but can this port of Retro Studios' 2010 Wii game make the jump to your portable?

Pandora's Tower Review
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but swords and chains excite me. Should you climb the towers in Xseed's JRPG/adventure hybrid to save your cursed (and tragically whiny) girlfriend?

PREVIEWS The Last of Us Preview
With Naughty Dog releasing a new IP in just a few short weeks, we got hands-on one more time. But don't worry: This is a spoiler-free preview.

The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot Preview

Watch Dogs (PS4) Preview

Release Dates

NEW RELEASES GRiD 2
Release date: 05/28/13

Fuse
Release date: 05/28/13

Remember Me
Release date: 06/04/13

The Last of Us
Release date: 06/14/13

DAILY MANIFESTO

Hands On With The Darkness II

Posted on Monday, March 14 @ 20:50:50 Eastern by Blake_Morse

Oh, poor Jackie. The life of a tough-as-nails mobster is never easy, especially when that mobster also happens to be in possession of an ancient power that makes him next to immortal (as long as he doesn't knock anyone up, he's cool. The minute he makes a heir though, he's outta here.) A lot has changed for our anti-hero since our first encounter with him in The Darkness. He's now the head of a Mob family instead of just a low-level thug. He eats in fancy restaurants and drives nice cars. But with something like the Darkness brooding inside of you, things can't possibly ever stay that good forever.

Without revealing too much, the basic plot is this: There's a guy who wants the power that Jackie wields because he doesn't think our boy is up for the job and has plans of his own for the ancient entity. Of course, who would give a power like this up without a fight? Thus, we are led to our conflict and all the blood drenching fun that the Darkness II is shaping up to be.

The dynamics of the "darkness tentacles" has changed somewhat since the first allowing for more interactions and even more violent ways to murder people. It's like having a four-handed god at your disposal. You can pick up an enemy with your tendrils and tear him in half or drill up through his back for a scene that will remind some of the first Alien films. Items can be picked up and used to cut through or impale opponents on nearby walls. And if all that wasn't enough, then these nasty little arms will eat their hearts! You can even use them to grab items, such as car doors and use them as shields as you use your human hands to fire a sea of lead into whoever stands in your way Truly, these are some tentacles that no anime girl would want to do a scene with ever.

You still can't use your darkness powers in the light (who would have ever guessed that dark powers wouldn't work in light?) and even being in lit areas will cause everything to get sepia-toned blurry and slow-mo, much like the close-to-death effects of modern FPS games.

Jackie himself is no slouch either though and will be able to dual wield pistols and the like along with his supernatural powers. (But the real meat and potatoes for me was ripping people to shreds with unholy fervor.) To help him find new weapons and get out of certain situations, his darklings will be making a comeback as well and this time they're a lot more sassy and full of character, wearing union jack shirts and making wry comments in a funny little British accent.

Although my time with the Darkness II at PAX East 2011 was brief (they were only giving everyone 20 minutes a pop) it was enjoyable and enough to make me want to go find myself a used copy of the first one and give it a run through. The eerie settings, cryptic plot and generous use of gore and limb dismemberment have definitely peaked my interest. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of this upcoming game.

Tags: pax