3.5/5 ★ – Tye_Boy's review of The Darkness II.

On its own and compared to the original, The Darkness 2 takes some interesting liberties. Coming towards the end of the Xbox 360's life, certain aspects of the game and its look have adapted to that specific time. The visuals have seen a massive overhaul. No longer are they dark and gritty, instead colourful and spooky, cel-shaded graphics taking over realistic looking character models. While these aren't bad by any means, I find them muggier compared to the stronger look in its predecessor, in addition to the music. A slapped-on skill tree replaces the more natural progression of your supernatural abilities, something which I sorrily miss alongside their variety and methodical nature of using them. At the same time, however, the controls and gunplay have much improved, no longer stiff while being able to actually aim down your sights. While the presentational side of things takes a fair hit for me, the core game of moving around and gunning down enemies feels pretty fluid, if not a little janky still. The story itself isn't half-bad, but fails to do much for me; especially with how it concludes. At the end of the day, The Darkness 2 is still a solid game. It improves on some areas of the original, while other changes simplify mechanics that I wish were still here. I find The Darkness duology to be a wholly interesting pair. While the first game enchanted me with its tone and atmosphere, despite some aged gameplay, the second improves the gameplay while losing some of the first one's mechanics and gritty charm. It's a fascinating trade-off, where one has the better presentation and the other the better gameplay. While The Darkness 2 stands just about toe-to-toe with the original, the latter still has its place in my cold, shriveled, darkened heart as a bit of a guilty pleasure from a bygone gaming era.