The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

[Flawless]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Nice, but from previous comments by Starbreeze, it sounds like they may have to much on their plate to do the sequel, at least anytime soon. Maybe looking at a different developer doing the sequel.

[Flawless]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Starbreeze not developing The Darkness sequel

Starbreeze CEO Johan Kristiansson has confirmed to VG247 that his company isn’t involved with the recently announced Darkness sequel.

“I heard that there were talks about a Darkness sequel, but Starbreeze is not involved in anything like that right now. We are busy on two projects together with EA,” he said.

Bummer. Here’s hoping Top Cow can find an equally skilled developer to handle the game.

[bkfount]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

No Starbreeze, not interested

[Flawless]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Digital Extremes is the developer.

2K Games Calls for Return of Chaos and Destruction with The Darkness™ II
Quad-Wielding combat, ruthless story and hand-painted graphic noir art style breathe new life into first-person shooter genre this fall

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--2K Games announced today that The Darkness™ II, the sequel to the million unit-selling 2007 title, The Darkness™, will be coming to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC in fall 2011. Developed by Digital Extremes and based on the supernatural horror comic book series created by Top Cow Productions, Inc., The Darkness II takes players down a brutal and personal path as Jackie Estacado, wielder of The Darkness – an ancient and ruthless force of chaos and destruction.

The Darkness II breaks out of the sea of conventional first-person shooters with its fervid Quad-Wielding gameplay, which will allow players to slash, grab, and throw objects and enemies with their Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons. The game is layered with the use of dark versus light, steeped in deep and twisted storytelling, and engulfed in stylistic violence that is visualized through a hand-painted graphic noir technique that stays true to its comic book origins.

“The Darkness II is a well of dark and imaginative violence, and it’s a stylized and beautiful nightmare,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “The Darkness II continues the 2K Games tradition of delivering quality, innovative games that are filled to the brim with atmosphere and deep storytelling. The game takes a unique stance on fighting in the dark versus light. Combined with the arsenal of weapons at Jackie’s disposal and the gruesome attacks of the supernatural Demon Arms and Darkness powers, we’re proud to announce another title that delivers on our core values of creating games for gamers.”

The Darkness II will feature award-winning comic book writer, Paul Jenkins, who will provide a tightly integrated narrative that weaves dark humor with hardcore tenderness.

Take a step back from the familiar and comfortable, and prepare to embrace The Darkness.

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.

“Sometimes that whooshing sound you hear is that of comic fans holding their collective breath,” said Marc Silvestri, founder and CEO of Top Cow Productions and co-creator of The Darkness comics. “So often disappointed when a favorite character gives birth to a lame movie or video game, us fans have come to expect the worst. And sometimes we get it. But not with The Darkness II. Yeah, call me biased, but this second installment of Jackie Estacado’s **** saga is – in my humble opinion – one of the most brutally cool games I’ve ever played. 2K Games hammered this one out of the park.”

The Darkness II is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information on The Darkness II, please visit www.embracethedarkness.com.

2K Games is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

[DickDalewood]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Nice! I'll be all over this one.

[DisIsDaGame]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

First one was so underrated. Hopefully the online is better than the first one.

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Having games about The Darkness without Witchblade and Angelus involved in some form makes me disappointed. Still going to look into it when its released...

[Flawless]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Wait and see with this one.

Darkness 2 is cel-shaded, focuses on 'action and story'

The Darkness 2 is cel-shaded and will focus on "action and story", the game's lead designer has revealed.

Speaking to Games TM magazine, the Digital Extremes man claimed the studio's "carving its own path" for Darkness 2, which follows the critically acclaimed 2007 original, created by developer Starbreeze.

Tom Galt explained: "What Starbreeze did well, in a nutshell, were characters and story.

"It's one of the only games I played where I actually felt an emotional connection. The Jenny death scene was incredible. I think in The Darkness there's a lot of exploration and walking through New York City, and we felt like, 'Well that's cool,' but we decided to take our game in a different direction and focus more on the action and the story."

The sequel's featuring a new cel-shaded look to mirror the Top Cow comics, Galt revealed (look again at the release screenshot - you'll see it), and DE has removed some of the "backtracking subway elements" from Starbreeze's original.

[jmood88]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

I'm really mad that Starbreeze isn't doing this. These guys seem to want to make it into just another random first person shooter instead of keeping what was great about the first one.

[Flawless]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

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[Flawless]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

Demo on XBL. The cel-shaded graphics look great and it doesn't look like complete departure from the original. Pleasantly surprised by the demo footage.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dIDGmfBPrqc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZHnpjcTBhvM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Interesting...

OXM UK Blog

The Darkness II is a wholly narrative-driven shooter, and whilst the content of the demo doesn't contain huge spoilers, it doesn't do the final game justice either. A pop-up message at the start of the demo explains why: "This content is specifically designed for demo purposes, and will not appear in the final game in this order."

You're looking at a demo which mashes up two entirely different sections of the game in an attempt to make things feel more exciting. This wasn't a good idea. The full game's sense of pacing is excellent, and this jumbled-up version makes it seem overly scripted, and too action-heavy. It's exactly the same demo that I played at PAX - the same one that left me worried that The Darkness II might not live up to the original. As it turns out, it was the demo that was to blame, not the game.

If you're interested in playing through The Darkness II - and from what I've seen so far, you definitely should be - then I'd recommend leaving the demo alone. The chain of events in the full game is great, and playing it out of context first will dull the impact when you play through properly. If you're really not sure about whether you'd like it, then by all means jump in and have a quick go, but for those of you already excited about playing it, resist the temptation to get involved.

Trust me on this one. I think the wait will be worth it.

[RedPhazon8]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

I loved the first game with a passion, The Darkness as a character was just awesome. I hope the PC version well made, since in the past games on the PC are usually not-so-good ports.

[NINJAK2]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

For a cell shaded game that looks pretty sick. I certainly check out the demo now

[goh]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

PC version is $40 here: http://www.greenmangaming.com/games/...mited-edition/

[davis420]

Re: The Darkness 2 (PS3/X360) Revealed

I played the demo last night and I thought it looked really good, kind of looked like Borderlands and Mafia II. Fun Game.