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The Darkness: The Official Thread
- Thread starter SPEA
- Start date
FormulaOne
Member
NovemberMike said:
I would qualify your statements. AA on the 360 is implemented better than on the PS3 by multi-platform developers. As for the 10MB of EDRAM, well you do realize that's only 6MB more than the PS2 GPU had.
UncleGuito
Banned
Picked it up earlier using the Circuit City price match.
I think it's awesome so far. I never played Riddick, but I'm really digging the style and gameplay. It's really cinematic and is packed with detail, unlike most FPS titles nowadays. The graphics (for the 360 version) are absolutely gorgeous. From what I've played so far (1.5 hours worth), there hasn't been any slow down and it's steady at 30fps. The textures are really great, and there's also some really sweet lighting effects.
The controls were kinda clunky at first, but I got used to them once I got my darkness power (15 mins in?). The controls DEFINITELY aren't something that should deter you from buying the game, or even demerit it in a review for (maybe dock it a little because of the learning curve, but that's it).
Anyways, I'm highly recommending it so far. It has lots of variety and depth, and will definitely please those that are willing to give it a chance. I'll have my review for Xboxic done by Friday, so be sure to check the site then.
I think it's awesome so far. I never played Riddick, but I'm really digging the style and gameplay. It's really cinematic and is packed with detail, unlike most FPS titles nowadays. The graphics (for the 360 version) are absolutely gorgeous. From what I've played so far (1.5 hours worth), there hasn't been any slow down and it's steady at 30fps. The textures are really great, and there's also some really sweet lighting effects.
The controls were kinda clunky at first, but I got used to them once I got my darkness power (15 mins in?). The controls DEFINITELY aren't something that should deter you from buying the game, or even demerit it in a review for (maybe dock it a little because of the learning curve, but that's it).
Anyways, I'm highly recommending it so far. It has lots of variety and depth, and will definitely please those that are willing to give it a chance. I'll have my review for Xboxic done by Friday, so be sure to check the site then.
I'm pretty far into the game now, and I just had a crazy "oh shit" moment. So I was working on one of the side quests that just involves killing some people. I round the corner of the street and see the target and about 4 others standing by a car blasting music. A few of them are standing next to a barrel that has a fire burning from it. Figure it would be a good time to use a black hole on their asses-so I summon one up above the barrel and watch as every gets sucked up and then ignite from the fire. There were 5 bodies spinning in the air all on fire, it looked like a tornado of fire and death. It was so awesome.:lol
thirtytwoutside
Member
picked it up tonight... awesome so far, after an hour and a half in. i had to spend a little time using the control adjustments to tweak it just right and didn't really get the feel for them for 15-20 minutes, but now it's great. i'm sitting and watching "to kill a mockingbird" now. can't really say anything is wrong with it so far... i've yet to use the darkness powers for anything substantial yet.
AgentOtaku
Member
MercuryLS said:
you sir....are fucking-A right!!!
Patrick Klepek
furiously molesting tim burton
I buy the game and what do I get for it...an unplayable disc error. 
I am now at
. Game is getting really fun but I'm tired and needed to sleep. Controls aren't that great, but not that bad either. Storyline picked up and is pretty cool, but it pissed me the **** off already. =(
Oh well, I'll put in more playtime tomorrow.
the wacko World War 1 world place. WTF trippy shit
Oh well, I'll put in more playtime tomorrow.
AgentOtaku
Member
ha!
"Romantic" acheivement
"Romantic" acheivement
Patrick Klepek
furiously molesting tim burton
RPS37 said:
what
Played for a couple hours tonight all sleepy and post-drunk from the Tortoise show.
Definitely not bad but so far not on the same level as Riddick for me, both in terms of presentation (dialogue cutscenes and 3rd person animation) and the feeling of being "one" with your body. Riddick did such an awesome job of making you feel like you were planted on the ground with your hands and feet as you moved throughout its environment. Darkness has a similar feel but they didn't quite nail it, IMO. Climbing onto and over small obstacles like crates and boxes do not transition into a 3rd person animation, so it just feels like any other FPS all over again and really pulls me out of the world.
Also finding the darkness powers kind of clunky, if not gimmicky. I'm still at the part of the game where I still need to use my pistols a lot and gunplay is adequate but vastly inferior to the likes of Rainbow Six Vegas.
Overall, I'm still early in this game and it definitely had cool moments, but I'm waiting for this thing to turn it up to 11.
Definitely not bad but so far not on the same level as Riddick for me, both in terms of presentation (dialogue cutscenes and 3rd person animation) and the feeling of being "one" with your body. Riddick did such an awesome job of making you feel like you were planted on the ground with your hands and feet as you moved throughout its environment. Darkness has a similar feel but they didn't quite nail it, IMO. Climbing onto and over small obstacles like crates and boxes do not transition into a 3rd person animation, so it just feels like any other FPS all over again and really pulls me out of the world.
Also finding the darkness powers kind of clunky, if not gimmicky. I'm still at the part of the game where I still need to use my pistols a lot and gunplay is adequate but vastly inferior to the likes of Rainbow Six Vegas.
Overall, I'm still early in this game and it definitely had cool moments, but I'm waiting for this thing to turn it up to 11.
chespace said:
Shame - I loved that about Riddick - that and the shadows were superbly done, really made you feel you were Riddick himself.
Bit disappointed about the lack of motion blur on the PS3 - when I watched the videos that was the thing that really impressed me, I love motion blur in FPS' (was great in Perfect Dark Zero) so bit of a shame. Never mind, I don't have any option so might as well not cry about it...
Shake Appeal
Member
Tortoise are still going?
chespace said:
Yeah, so far I'm not sure the game warrants 9's. It's solid in plenty of areas, but there are flaws. Like you, I'm going to play through and see how it is.
It does go into 3rd person for ladder climbing, but I find it jarring. If Jackie is using his Darkness power, the tentacles are absent when he makes his ascent, which is not a huge deal, but kinda lame, like, hey where'd my boys go? Plus, it would have been cool to see Jackie use the tentacles like a spider to scale and climb. Would have been a nice touch.
I don't agree that the powers are gimmick. They can be a little irritating to control and a touch disorienting, but I've been satisfied with shooting out lights from a distance and then sending Righty in for some long distance snack food. Works very well.
Another point you make kinda calcified a feeling I had while playing. You're meant to stick to the shadows, but when you're outdoors it can be kinds difficult to tell if you are in darkness or not. Unline Riddick, the line is not as defined. Would have been nice to have some kind of sharp delineation between light and dark. In full light, it's easy enough to tell - you get the visual and audio cue, but when you're in a semi-darkened area, it's tough to say where you're at.
Anyway. I'll play more this afternoon. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes and there is something oddly satisfying about eating hearts, as macabre as that sounds. The whole game could be eating hearts and I think I'd give it a 7 just for that.
I picked up the PS3 version yesterday, played a fair bit last night. One thing that kind of bugs me is that the game doesn't give you any option what resolution you play at, short of going back to XMB and turning off display options.
I've got a first gen SXRD set, which doesn't support 1080p, so the XMB is displaying at 1080i. For many games, I'd just as soon have the game go at 720p, but The Darkness just goes ahead at 1080i, like it or not. I can't tell whether it's rendering natively on a 1920x1080 framebuffer or whether it's scaling up, but it does seem like it might be a little lower framerate at 1080i than when I force the XMB to go at 720p.
That small nit aside, the game is pretty great. Fantastic voice and animation work on Jackie, and the game oozes with atmosphere. So far everything has been very linear.. get to this person, talk to him, he tells you to go to the next person, etc., etc., but the encounters themselves are very well done, and the shoot-out-the-lights-and-stick-to-shadows game play is novel enough to still be fun. Bit odd how almost all of the NPCs I wander into happen to be gunning for me. Guess uncle Paulie is conscientious about clearing the civilians out of the alleys before his goons start shooting.
So.. game-wise, it's not up to the level of Resistance in terms of the overall package, multiplayer, etc., but on its own it's a fun PC-style FPS with a bit of a twist and great dramatic packaging. A very enjoyable summer doldrums pick-up, and finally a chance to experience a new story on the PS3.
I've got a first gen SXRD set, which doesn't support 1080p, so the XMB is displaying at 1080i. For many games, I'd just as soon have the game go at 720p, but The Darkness just goes ahead at 1080i, like it or not. I can't tell whether it's rendering natively on a 1920x1080 framebuffer or whether it's scaling up, but it does seem like it might be a little lower framerate at 1080i than when I force the XMB to go at 720p.
That small nit aside, the game is pretty great. Fantastic voice and animation work on Jackie, and the game oozes with atmosphere. So far everything has been very linear.. get to this person, talk to him, he tells you to go to the next person, etc., etc., but the encounters themselves are very well done, and the shoot-out-the-lights-and-stick-to-shadows game play is novel enough to still be fun. Bit odd how almost all of the NPCs I wander into happen to be gunning for me. Guess uncle Paulie is conscientious about clearing the civilians out of the alleys before his goons start shooting.
So.. game-wise, it's not up to the level of Resistance in terms of the overall package, multiplayer, etc., but on its own it's a fun PC-style FPS with a bit of a twist and great dramatic packaging. A very enjoyable summer doldrums pick-up, and finally a chance to experience a new story on the PS3.
Another big fan here. The atmosphere is brilliant (even on my craptacular stereo sound setup) so I can only imagine how awesome it would be with a proper 5.1 system
One thing that hasn't been mentioned much is the comedy in the game. Some of the darkling dialogue is hilarious.
I remember at one point, I was in a heated battle (in the overworld) and I summoned a berserker. He entered the world with the phrase 'I like penguins' :lol
I also enjoy the little things like finding phone numbers written on walls etc and trying them out on a phone somewhere.
In the overworld, instead of phone numbers you find letters hidden around the place, and you need to find a post box to 'send' them and get the unlockable extra content. Havent managed to find the post box yet..
My favorite game of the year. I am deliberately pacing myself, to get the most enjoyment out of it
Oh - and the voiceover of the darkness is fantastically over the top
One thing that hasn't been mentioned much is the comedy in the game. Some of the darkling dialogue is hilarious.
I remember at one point, I was in a heated battle (in the overworld) and I summoned a berserker. He entered the world with the phrase 'I like penguins' :lol
I also enjoy the little things like finding phone numbers written on walls etc and trying them out on a phone somewhere.
In the overworld, instead of phone numbers you find letters hidden around the place, and you need to find a post box to 'send' them and get the unlockable extra content. Havent managed to find the post box yet..
My favorite game of the year. I am deliberately pacing myself, to get the most enjoyment out of it
Oh - and the voiceover of the darkness is fantastically over the top
I'm still coming to grips with the game. The slow movement speed seemed to work well initially, but many of the areas are simply too large and you end up dying too quickly. You really have to take your time...yet shooting out ALL of those lights becomes tedious. The close kill mechanic is cool, though, as it really gives you incentive for getting personal with enemies.
The pacing seems a bit odd to me. The gun fights that occured between the subway and Jenny's apartment, for example, felt out of place (they should have allowed the player to become comfortable with the environment first rather than rushing in random enemies).
The combat isn't as interesting as Riddick due to the lack of stealth mechanics and hand to hand combat.
I need to give it more time, though, as it is clear that I'm not playing the game properly just yet.
It sure feels good, though. I love the atmosphere, voice acting, audio, and visuals. I also really like the Darkness itself (all of them). I'm thrilled that this was released following the arrival of my Pioneer 5080. I can't imagine playing this on a standard flat panel at this point as the visuals would lose a lot of appeal with the typical "gray" black level you find with other panels.
The pacing seems a bit odd to me. The gun fights that occured between the subway and Jenny's apartment, for example, felt out of place (they should have allowed the player to become comfortable with the environment first rather than rushing in random enemies).
The combat isn't as interesting as Riddick due to the lack of stealth mechanics and hand to hand combat.
I need to give it more time, though, as it is clear that I'm not playing the game properly just yet.
It sure feels good, though. I love the atmosphere, voice acting, audio, and visuals. I also really like the Darkness itself (all of them). I'm thrilled that this was released following the arrival of my Pioneer 5080. I can't imagine playing this on a standard flat panel at this point as the visuals would lose a lot of appeal with the typical "gray" black level you find with other panels.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I bought the PS3 version and am really enjoying it so far. Am only 1 hour in but the story has definite catch. The game looks stellar, even with the lack of blur. A quick 2 cents, lack of certain visual features does not make a game bad. The story is interesting just because of the mob. Controls are a bit touchy but nothing I can't live with. I would score it about 8.7 so far.
Finished it in one sitting. Took me 7-8 hours. Played it on a crummy old 10 year old 15" CRT with a crappy pair of studio Sony headphones.
I would give this game a 8/10. This comment may sound like all first person shooters... The gameplay style is unique, but it can only hold you so long.
Some gripes:
However,. the game definitely has its moments and is a perfect rental game. Graphics and audio are outstanding even on a crummy setup.
I would give this game a 8/10. This comment may sound like all first person shooters... The gameplay style is unique, but it can only hold you so long.
Some gripes:
1. You walk too slow. Sometimes, getting from place to place is just annoying if you are not familiar with your surroundings.
2. Eating peoples' hearts is cool the first time around (1-2 hours into the game), but then it just gets plain boring and tedious.
3. The WW1 part. Totally did not make sense at all. I think this portion had no relation to the original comics. It wasn't as fun as the scenes in New York.
4. Ending is kind of anticlimatic. Kinda ambiguous.
5. All the cool cutscenes in the Mutiliate, Destroy, and Avenge trailer are parts you can never do. You'll see those near the end.
2. Eating peoples' hearts is cool the first time around (1-2 hours into the game), but then it just gets plain boring and tedious.
3. The WW1 part. Totally did not make sense at all. I think this portion had no relation to the original comics. It wasn't as fun as the scenes in New York.
4. Ending is kind of anticlimatic. Kinda ambiguous.
5. All the cool cutscenes in the Mutiliate, Destroy, and Avenge trailer are parts you can never do. You'll see those near the end.
However,. the game definitely has its moments and is a perfect rental game. Graphics and audio are outstanding even on a crummy setup.
After playing about 3 1/2 hours through the PS3 build I can honestly say there aren't any glaring aliasing problems. It's noticeable, but it really doesn't seem like it's a FSAA issue as it's only noticeable on distant background objects and it's nearly impossible to see while moving. From my time with the game I really haven't seen (on my setup) any aliasing issues on any of the character models in gameplay or in-engine cut scenes. Was it proven that AA is completely absent in the PS3 version, or is it limited 2x? Maybe this is this another case of a dev dropping AA for enhanced AF? The distant textures (from what I've seen) seem sharper than what I remember seeing in a lot of the screenshots for whatever it's worth, but I realize until a side-by-side is done, it's basically irrelevant.
HaloFans said:
*Cry*
I wanted to get the PS3 version (extra content and some minor preferences as box and pads), but now I´m thinking about it. i don´t have the same standards that Dark, but motion blur is quite a great touch most times.
But I´m going to buy it no matter what.
speculawyer
Member
Circuit City is sold out of both the 360 version and the PS3 version. :lol
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/howT...025&oid=176880&userClick=&showMoreStores=true
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/howT...025&oid=176880&userClick=&showMoreStores=true
Bought the PS3 version and cried for hours becuase of no AA and Motion Blur. Going ot return it ASAP!! DAMMIT.
[/sarcasm]
It's not a big issue, the game still plays and looks awesome, great voice acting and fun gameplay. If you let AA and Motion Blur bother you like these comparison fanboy folks, you'll never enjoy a game. It's fun, period.
[/sarcasm]
It's not a big issue, the game still plays and looks awesome, great voice acting and fun gameplay. If you let AA and Motion Blur bother you like these comparison fanboy folks, you'll never enjoy a game. It's fun, period.
AgentOtaku
Member
played for 3 hours last night....game.is.amazing...
AltogetherAndrews
Member
So is it something I should buy, or something I should rent? I understand it's rather short and the MP is not quite all that, but is the game itself something you see yourself playing through many times?
beelzebozo
Jealous Bastard
it's so well produced, i can't imagine not replaying it multiple times. not back-to-back or anything, but in a few months i'm positive i'll want to run through it again.
AgentOtaku
Member
beelzebozo said:
.
its one of the best but at the highest a 9.0...and thats at the very highest mainly because even though everything is open it still feels claustrophobic....its very odd. Going the through the newyork streets just feels very claustrophobic. the thing about this game is that I wouldn't lump it into your standard FPS its more of an adventure game which is why I give way. The game definitely doesn't deserve anything in the 7 range. If Gears is scoring in the 9s with its crap story and 6 hour gameplay this should too.sprocket said:
Not sure why you felt the need to bring that up, but Gears at least has a "good" mp mode and a kick-ass co-op setup. Both of which adds to the replay value immensely and ups the score as a result.Jirotrom said:
This is short, the mp is blah and all the other issues people have brought up. I'm not saying that Gears deserves 9+ scores across the board, but it should score better. Regardless of what your personal feelings are about either.
Kabuki Waq
Member
RumpledForeskin said:
its tedious for sure ...but he definately was not paying attention to the game when he was making fun of the main character not knowing where his GF lived......he didnt know because his GF just moved into a new place.
RumpledForeskin said:
I didn't think so. Honestly, it can be a bit frustrating if you just want to progress with the story but you have to be a complete buffoon to struggle with finding your various destinations. There are numerous "you are here" maps (like at malls) that display a map of the area (in addition to the map you already have) and street signs and arrows are abundant.
jetjevons said:
Yeah, they're nasty. One of the many visceral aspects of the game. In one instance, I actually heard a muffled scream from a construction worker with a barrel jammed into his mouth just before I silenced him and at his heart. Take that Jack Thompson! I wonder what hearts taste like in real life?
Kabuki Waq
Member
cicatriz said:
yea but it really comes off as pointless tedium a really bad design choice.