Customer Reviews

The Darkness

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Don't believe the negative hype surrounding this title, it is a spectacular Xbox 360 Next Generation release.
I'm not sure how close the game resembles the comic created by Top Cow, but there are many treats to be experienced both visually and game play wise in The Darkness.
Lets start with some of the positive aspects of this game:

Graphically, this game is absolutely stunning in its graphical beauty.
The dark gritty New York City streets really give off that "real-city" vibe.
Garbage litters the streets and the subway systems, graffiti covers practically every wall (and this graffiti looks like actually graffiti that you would see in real life).
So much detail has been put into the floors, ceilings, walls and in you general surroundings that it is very easy to get deeply immersed in The Darkness.
Following in true Next Gen graphic style, all the wood surfaces in the game look like real wood, metal resembles real metal, concrete looks amazingly realistic. You can see chips in paint, cracks and chips in the concrete - its literally stunning.
The Darkness relies on the use of shadows, and the lighting engine is superb. Light shines off of virtually every surface that would reflect light (including leather!). Every object casts a proper shadow.
Since you are in a city, there are lights everywhere and in order for your Darkness power to work or re-charge you need to be in the shadows.
Basically this mean taking out every light you come into contact with.

Character models look really good. Not as good as Gears of War models, but the characters look believable, most of the time body parts move like they should, clothes look somewhat realistic. Cloth looks amazing. The bodies still look a little clunky, but nothing major.
Face models are wonderfully detailed, you can see wrinkles and imperfections in the characters faces. Sometimes you can see facial expressions however not too often. The faces are probably the most detailed aspect on each character. The eyes in this game look full of life.

The darkness powers look awesome. Your character acquires two demonic serpent heads on either shoulder and they look amazing. Each darkness power is represented very well graphically.
Weapons look realistic, some of the most realistic depictions I have ever seen in a game.
On a side note, you get to learn where the darkness comes from.

The physics are downright cool. Everything seems to move as it should. With one of your darkness powers you can pick up objects and people and fling them around. This looks very cool and makes you feel like a real "force-to-be-reckoned-with".

Some claim that the story line in The Darkness is clichéd and boring, but I beg to differ. While it is true that the storyline is steeped in New York Mob Scene and carries along with it the good ol' revenge angle and other Mafia generic-ness, the story is told really well and keeps you nevertheless engaged throughout. There are also some twists to the sotry line, and lets just say that New York City is not the only place you will visit in The Darkness. There is some twisted stuff here!

Another great aspect is how the some of the main characters history is told. Instead of loading scenes, you are treated to monologues given by the main character. In these monologues he is either telling a story from his childhood, re-telling or elucidating on current plot elements, or just sitting there gazing at his guns.
This adds much more to the whole "cinematic" element of The Darkness and gives you something to look at while the game is loading. Much better than staring at a flashing loading screen.
More unique things include televisions that you can interact with. These TV's show five or six channels of real material. Some have Cartoons, others music videos and there are two movie channels. They show real movies and I believe you can watch them all the way through.

The musical score fits each scene perfectly and ranges from Death metal(fight scenes), to orchestrated music(during talking scenes and in the subway). Also there are other areas where music being either played or listened to by NPC's can be heard (there are people who play the harmonica and Break dancers who will dance for you).

Character development has been well done, you actually do care about the characters close to you and you grow to hate your arch enemy. You will grow especially close to your girlfriend Jenny. I grew really attached to her over the course of the game. By the way her face model is one of the best I have ever seen in a video game.

Okay, lets talk about unique aspects:

Summoning Darklings: In The Darkness you gain the ability to summon Darklings (look like little goblins) to do your bidding. Each Darkling has its own special ability and funtion.
The darkling models look really cool, and they each have an attitude that could only be attributed to a darkling. They urinate on dead corpses and make rude comments.

Control is done really well, despite what some reviewers may say. I find the controls easy to use. From summoning darkness powers to calling up darklings to using the regular weapons and moving: I found this all easy to understand and control.

This is a FPS but with some role playing elements.
Your darkness powers level up after a certain amount of hearts have been eaten (that's right, your darkness serpents eat the hearts of fallen corpses, only the evil characters though). With each level up you will gain a new darkness power.
The powers really make you feel super-human.
They range from being able to open up a black hole portal to suck everything in and kill all enemies around it, gaining control of an arm that can grab objects and impale enemies, to duel wielding guns that harness the darkness power into bullet projectiles.
Each power has its use and is very fun to use, never getting stale or boring.

Another RPG aspect is the side missions and some somewhat free roaming nature of this game. The game is basically broken down into streets and certain landmarks, with the subway system acting as a central hub. In the subway system you cannot use your weapons (this area acts as the "safe-village" that can commonly be found in most RPG's). The subway is where you get all of the side missions from NPC's.
They range from simple to time consuming, but nevertheless add to the overall fun.
The game is free roaming to an extent. You can roam the streets but they are visibly cut off at a certain point. You cannot walk into just any building either. But these constraints don't mean much, since The Darkness is meant to be more of a story rather than an open ended experience.
Overall, the areas to explore of decent. There are even collectible items to collect throughout. You have to do some searching to find them, but its worth it. If your into that sort of thing.

The developers incorporated a neat system for unlocking these collectibles too (which I think unlocks game videos and comic books, I think).
The collectibles you pick up are actually phone numbers which you can call at any pay phone in the subway system (most of the pay phones out on the street are broken. Go figure!) When you call them you usually reach someones answering machine. And most of the time the message is a funny one.

There are also secret numbers scrawled on walls and such, and when called will prompt another side mission involving you finding about 16 secret phone numbers to unlock a secret achievement.
Speaking of achievements, there are plenty to be had. And they are fun ones too. I won't tell you what they are, but I will say that you can track your achievements via a pause menu.

There is so much scripted dialog in The Darkness, the cinematic and realistic qualities of this game are further enhanced. Passer-by NPC (non-playable characters) that are not key to the plot or side missions don't really say much. But those that ask you to do side missions, key plot characters and enemies during battle all have plenty to say.
I love it when the enemies that I am fighting talk trash to me or cower in fear when I am fighting them. It really adds to the game play.

If you have ever Played Condemned : Criminal Origins, you will really like this game. The Darkness seems to be closely related to Condemned in spirit. However, The Darkness is much more fast paced in terms of action and fighting.

I have yet to try the multiplayer Xbox Live deathmatch gaming.

Overall, I recommend The Darkness. It is a true experience of Next-Gen gaming, you will not be disappointed. There are so many little nuances thrown into this game that just give it a realistic feel and liven up the game in so many ways. This is a real treat to wat

I was so very pleasantly surprised by The Darkness.

It seems that games that rise to the level of being engrossing and compelling are few and far between. In fact, not since Deus Ex have I played a game that really drew me in, and had me playing around WITH the game, like it was a toy. On the XBOX 360, there are really only a couple of must-own games at this point. Gears of War is one of them, sure, and, in my opinion, so is Oblivion.

Now you can add The Darkness to that list.

I had a lot of fun playing The Darkness, and, at times, it came close to the kind of experience I had with Deus Ex (which, for better or worse, I hold up as the gold standard in this genre). Besides being fun to play with, this game continually wows you with its attention to detail and the level of thought that went into its design.

Here are just a few of the elements and details that make this game so impressive:

-The VOICE ACTING in The Darkness is simply the best I have seen in a video game, bar none. So good is the voice acting, that you find your self marveling at it. Everyone from the hero Jackie to Jimmy the Grape (oh man I loved Jimmy the Grape) is superbly performed.

-One of the first things you notice is the little vignettes you watch during the LEVEL LOADING. The designers utilize what would otherwise be "dead time" to actually add to the atmosphere of the game.

-LEVEL DESIGN is fantastic. You spend a good deal of time in NYC subways in this game, and they really look like the real deal (admittedly simplified). I found myself more than once admiring the rendering of the stairs and signs down in the subways. Just one of many great touches is the subway information kiosks (not authentic!) which are a clever way of quickly orienting to where you need to go. The NYC street levels are equally great, and very detailed. You will find yourself just walking around and looking. Then when you get the Demon Arm, and discover you can move cars and dumpsters...

-NO ARTIFICIAL HUDs. Information in this game is, for the most part, presented in a "realistic" manner. One example already given is the info kiosks in the subways (you get an authentic NYC voice giving you directions). Another example is the level of your Darkness Powers, which are indicated by visual cues in the power manifestation.

-COLLECTIBLES AND BONUS MATERIAL. Adding the collectibles to this game was a great move. Basically, this is analogous to the Cog Tags in Gears of War, giving you an incentive to completely explore all the environment spaces. The new twist here is that such collecting not only scores achievements, but also unlocks bonus materials such as comics, videos, and production art. Very slick. One of the two types of collectible items is phone numbers, and you unlock the bonus materials by finding a telephone and calling the number. When you do, you get a unique and superbly acted answering machine message, many of which are comical or disturbing. I loved every one.

-DARKNESS POWERS. The Darkness Powers are the main game play "gimmick" of The Darkness, sort of like Bullet Time in Max Payne. You quickly figure out that the powers are pretty much what you use all the time, instead of, say, guns. There are a good number of conventional weapons available, but you end up not caring about them much. The two coolest Darkness Powers are 1) Creeping Dark and 2) Demon Arm. The Creeping Dark allows you to "remotely" explore your surroundings with a great deal of freedom, including climbing walls and getting into small spaces. This expanded freedom almost compels you to see what you can do with it, and you find yourself experimenting to see exactly where you can go. You can, of course, attack with the Creeping Dark, and in the beginning you do that a lot. The Demon Arm is great because you can pick up almost anything and throw it. Pretty far if you want. So, you realize that you can stack cars up on top of each other, or throw dumpsters at people, so you spend a great deal of time just screwing around like that. Oh yeah, you can also attack people and knock out lights with The Demon Arm. (But it's really for making a really big pile of cars.)

There are a number of surprises in the game, which I will not go into for obvious reasons. Suffice it to say that there is even more to recommend this game that what has been mentioned, and, like the rest, it is very well done.

Complaints? Quibbles? Only a few, really. NO game is perfect. Maybe my biggest gripe is that the final level & ending was very unsatisfying. In fact, I was sure that there was a better ending I could achieve. It turns out that's just how it ends. On the upside, the ending makes it clear that this is just a first chapter in what should be a truly great series of games. Other than that, the quibbles become truly minor. I thought the Darklings didn't really contribute much to game play, but maybe that was just me. Even so, they do add some entertainment.

All in all, The Darkness is GREAT. If you own a 360, you should own this game.

Star Breeze studios has created a good game. Using the acclaimed chronicles of Riddick engine they took a swing at the Top Cow comics Anti-hero the Darkness. I'm happy to report that they nailed it, as a fan of the comics I can tell you the mood and atmosphere is perfect and gritty. The Darkness its self is awesome, and fits well with the games action. Which is fast and furious the gunplay has some nice features like the execution moves which are scripted gun-kata beat downs that add to the over the top comic book style action. The MAJOR drawback is the games total playing time 10 to 12 hours with most side quest included. I can only hope that Top Cow will work with Star Breeze and produce some more level content for the single player.

Ok I know you want to know about the powers. The First you get is the darkness it's self which acts as a shield to keep you a live in combat. As you continue you gain the hilarious and morbidly chatty Darklings each with tools and useful attacks. You can also explore and perform stealth kills with the tendrils that sprout out your back. You gain a demonic arm/spike, guns that use the darkness as ammo, and finally the ability to create a black hole.

The story is a retelling the resurrection story line that brought the character back from the dead. Some reviews are saying the game is too easy because once you get all your powers there are not a lot of people who can stand against the power of the darkness. Well I for one like this because in every other comic action game there is a point were you feel that the character is not strong as they should be but darkness lets you have a long run with the power as apposed to just saving it for the end of the game. Overall it is a good game and has an interesting take on the shooter formula. If you like a violent shooters this is a great choice.

Also the multiplayer as a great throw back to Alien VS Preditor.

If you ever wanted to play the monster for the game instead of being the chased victim, give the Darkness a shot. I was swept into the game and disipointed by how short it was, if you just want to pick up a new shooter I would say rent it.

I've never read The Darkness comic. I couldn't get past the fact that the character looks like a bad Spawn rip-off and the quote from Brunching Shuttlecocks about the truth behind Dungeons & Dragons: "I attack the darkness!"

The Darkness is essentially every Mafia movie cliché mixed with the brooding atmosphere of The Crow. In fact, the protagonist, Jackie Estacado (Kirk Acevedo), looks and sounds at lot like Michael Wincott, who played Top Dollar in that film. If you've seen The Crow, you know that Wincott's got a very distinctive appearance, with his long black hair, leather overcoat, and hawkish features. In The Darkness, Jackie is affectionately nicknamed Ratface by his girlfriend Jenny Romano (Lauren Ambrose). As you can imagine, having personal connections in a dark game like this is inevitably a liability, but I digress.

The Darkness owes a lot to films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, with random narrative from our hero, outrageous characters, and an uneven mix of action and drama. The first cut scene (created with all in-game graphics) gives a perfect sense of what's to come: lots of cursing, lots of gore, absolutely no respect for authority, and plenty of violence, all taking place in New York. It's the New York of the seventies, when crime and graffiti were rampant and sane people didn't wander out alone by themselves. And you're one of the reasons.

The Darkness is a two-headed demonic symbiont that lives within Jackie and, we discover later, the entire Estacado bloodline. In that respect the game is a lot like Spawn or Venom; the Darkness is a personality as much as it is a thing that augments Jackie's considerable gun-fu skills with the ability to create black holes that suck everything into them, whiplash barbed tentacles, magical guns, and snake-like mouths. In the dark, Jackie can summon other demons to do his bidding, which range from kamikaze critters loaded with explosives to gatling-gun wielding warriors.

Jackie's opponents have no such superpowers, and it's a credit to the game's creators that any supernatural monsters you encounter all fit the plot. There's no inevitable escalation of the villain gaining superpowers to do battle; indeed, the villain behind most of Jackie's woes, Uncle Paulie Franchetti (Dwight Schultz) is as much a moral foil as he is an arch-foe. Killing him isn't the point.

The game revolves around the issue of Jackie's soul. Mob life is a violent one, and The Darkness contrasts the mythical honor of the "old ways" with the mad-dog frenzy of Franchetti. When Franchetti starts blowing up orphanages, the older mobsters use Jackie as their form of vengeance.

The Darkness uses the New York subway system as its primary means of shuttling Jackie from place to place. This makes a lot of sense and provides a sense of realism to an otherwise route form of travel that bedevils so many first-person shooters. The streets are filled with entertaining characters who all have missions of their own to complete. Two of the most memorable characters include Butcher Joyce (Mike Starr) and Aunt Sarah (Norma Michaels), but there are many more and the voice actors are all superb. Between screens, and there are a lot of load screens, Jackie narrates his life and death to Jenny, which provides a humorous series of quotable anecdotes. These are the first load screens that actually distracted me from the load time.

Despite the age-old Mafia tropes, The Darkness takes the themes explored in The Crow and Spawn and amps them up to eleven, without ever losing focus on sacrifice, violence, and even love. I wasn't entirely convinced that saving Jackie's soul was feasible (I earned the anti-hero rating from the game), but the very notion of redemption being possible is a breath of fresh air to the first-person shooter genre.

I have a feeling that The Darkness needed about 6 more months of play-testing and bug fixing. This game comes from the development studio that made the excellent Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay so I know they have the potential to do much better. The gameplay idea, graphics and storyline are really good but everything else was poorly or not fully executed. You spend the first part of the game starving for ammo, yet you are required to shoot out the many, many light sources in the game. Early on you can control an eel-like dark tentacle to perform stealth-kills and solve simple environmental puzzles yet too often the darn eel drives like a bus, refuses to bite an enemy and disorients you by climbing up walls. The main reason to destroy light sources in the game is because the light drains your Darkness power, yet you have no way of knowing how much Darkness power you have at any given time (same for your regenerating health) and you will often have your powers drained unexpectedly at the worst times. Another major fault lies with the targeting system and poor hit detection. There are plenty of glitches where you are clearly hitting an enemy or light source yet the game does not accurate detect the hit. There is also a problem with your aiming snapping to light sources - there are many in the game and this makes it even harder to register a hit on an enemy when your reticule keeps moving to a nearby light. Later, you gain a power that helps you snuff out lights but it is also a hit or miss affair. It's hard to feel like a dangerous, possessed hit man when you can't even knock out a light with your flailing tentacle. Also, there are many situations in the game where you will be unexpectedly killed with no feedback given to let you know what you did wrong, tell you if you are damaging an enemy, or to provide you with any clue as to what you should be doing. Overall, this is a game with an enjoyable story and graphics if you can get past the frustration and lack of fun in the gameplay. I give this game credit, at least, that I was motivated to suffer through the glitches in order to finish the story. One thing that strikes me as strange, though, is that the main character never shows any surprise or shock about being possessed? He hardly acknowledges this major development.

Well i am here to say that i just finished The Darkness and i am impressed beyond words....... Never have i played a game where i could'nt put down the controller until now. I for one feel this game is ground breaking in its gameplay, presentation, and originality. 2K has out did them selves, once again. There also seems to be a lot of dissent between gamers that liked this title versus gamers that thought it was less than stellar. If you have been looking for a game that has something untried/new before now then you owe it to yourself to buy or at least rent this game, go ahead give it a try. If you follow the advise of the nay-sayers and follow the huge herd of sheep playing the same old tried and true cookie cutter games that have been rehashed a 100 dozen times with a 100 dozen different titles with the same generic hack and slash/wham bam thank you mam type game play then steer clear of this game, it's groundbreaking visuals and indepth game play will overwhelm you. And sadly my friends you will not know what you have missed.
The most excellent part, this is my opinion, was after witnessing the murder of your girl Genny. You turn around, look in a mirror, pull out your weapon and do your self...NOT!. You wake up in a hellish world still alive with the darkness telling you that you do not belong here, "here" is a W.W.1 battle field replete with trenches, Huns (Germans) and you. The world is dark with a blood color sky, when viewable through the clouds, you are behind enemy lines trying to complete a series of mini missions which will lead you to no mans land and eventually to the British, Canadians, Australians, and whom ever else make up this world of disbelief lines. Once your at the village take your time, look around, read the posters on the bombed out ruins of buildings, likewise in the beginning of the game, read the tomb stones, very beleiveable and chilling to say the least. The ambient mood of the game, the dark humor, the possession of your will and soul as well as the original score completes the overall package, but don't take my word for it, check it out yourself, you will be glad you did. I am a 49 year old gamer, i have played video games all my life back when mechanical pin-ball was the rage. Then we got Pong for Christmas, next Nintendo, and its been game on ever since and will be until i die. So with that being said i wouldn't steer you wrong, money is to hard to come by these days to foolishly waste it, so take my advise and rent it first, if it aint the best thing since sliced bread then take it back, no foul no harm. Remember, this is the same publisher (2K) that put out the critically acclaimed Bio Shock and we all know how freakin great that ride was. So .........GAME ON. Thanks.

First off, this is a game for adults only.
And I mean that in no uncertain terms. (This is a game that visits the worst human tragedy in known history - World War I) Violence, language and general depravity considered, even an adult might want to rethink her/his steps when purchasing this item. Some of the actions and environments were so intense, they literally made me feel weird and bad. I truly felt anger at the end and actually cried during the final sequence.

If you can shrug off these warnings, you are in for arguably the most substantial experience on the 360 so far.

Even in its earlier releases, Starbreeze prided itself in challenging the player to think outside the bounds of what was possible within a game, and The Darkness continues that legacy. From a first person perspective, the player inhabits young hitman Jackie's persona as he unravels the mystery of his (unexpectedly granted) powers. The plot thickens as Jackie's battle with his own (Mike Patton voiced) demons escalates as does his confrontation with a previously patriarchal uncle-turned-nemesis. With just enough twists and unexpected surreal moments, the ride is a perfect, if taxing one. For a superb shooting mechanic, sick & constant sense of humor, and moments of shock that truly shock, you can't do better than the Darkness.

On the minus side, there are long wait times between Entrance/Exit points and the map is virtually useless. Glitchy controls with regards to the (Primarily most useful tool of) Creeping Dark slow down the otherwise frenetic pace of confrontations. Achievement Hounds should also be warned: some of the achievements in this game are ambivalent, to say the least. I'm a fan, and have yet to unlock many of them.

Such qualms aside, this is the game people who loved "Riddick" should be ready to expect: A rock solid shooter that feels more like an RPG or sandbox game.
Insane attention to detail, impeccable visuals, and a nasty sense of reality.
The most profound and simultaneously profane experience the 360 can offer.
You have been warned.

The story in this game is one of the best I've seen in recent FPSes, the Darkness powers are awesome, the level design is clever and never repetitive, and the light/dark system is interesting and fun.

This game can be beated in a good 12-16 hours (less if you skip the side quests), and there is a multiplayer mode too (though I haven't played it). Though this game is over somewhat quickly, it's a great ride while it lasts, and you can't beat the bargain bin price.

I purchased this game soley on the advice of a friend. I had not viewed any trailers, nor had I played a demo version when I purchased it for full release price. That's how highly recommended it came to me. I'm here to tell you that the game definately lives up to the hype.

The story is based on an older comic partially created by Garth Ennis. Anyone who knows anything about comics knows that anything touched by Garth Ennis is pretty much worth its weight in gold when it comes to quality and entertainment value. The game based on his creation does not disappoint.

Let's start at the beginning. As the game opens you find yourself (Jackie Estacado) in the back seat of a convertable. Two of your fellow mafioso-types occupy the car with you. Within moments you're on a high-speed chase through a tunnel with police shooting at you while you frantically try to load your shotgun. One of your partners dies (in a satisfyingly gruesome way) before you even reach the end of the tunnel sequence. When you do reach the end, the game begins in earnest, with your other partner laid up with about 3 inches of bone sticking out of his leg. Fan-freakin'-tastic. Then the game actually begins.

As first person shooters go, this one is fairly unique, though not so much in design as in concept and ability. The perspective is good (though the excessive head-bob does occasionally grate on the nerves...) and the movement relatively fluid. To me the controls seem a little loose or sluggish (but that may be influenced by how much I play Rainbow Six : Vegas, which has impeccable control) but don't really hinder your progress through or enjoyment of the game itself.

Visually the game is stunning. The darks are dark...very dark, but still textured and vivid, and the lights a very bright. (It may be my imagination but they seem to get brighter the longer Jackie is possessed with the Darkness) Blood spatters, bullets ricochet, and your Darklings are amusingly disgusting. They (the Darklings) also provide some of the more amusing sound bites in the game, as well. For instance, upon summoning a Lightkiller Darkling, he might say "Got a light?" and then chuckle in a thoroughly pleasing demonic little voice. (It's especially entertaining when one of your Darklings chooses to relieve his bladder upon a fallen enemy!)

The story is engrossing. Once you start playing through the game you won't want to put it down. It has a linear story line, and updating objectives that must be completed to advance the story, but there doesn't seem to be any time limit on accomplishing said objectives, as far as I can tell. This is nice because there are a number of side-objectives that are not crucial to the completion of the game but give you more Collectables (of which in the game there are 100) which unlock extra content from the main menu. Some of this content includes digital reproductions of original The Darkness comics, concept art, add covers, and more.

If you're thinking of buying this game, follow these simple steps:
1) Quit thinking about it
2) Buy the freakin' game.
If you're not thinking of buying this game, Start thinking of buying the game and then go to step one. If you like dark-toned, gory first person shooters with an interesting story line, fun abilities, and lots of blood, this game is definately for you.

The Darkness is one of those hyped up games that fails to deliver. It's (yet another) first person shooter (FPS) set in New York and the alternate reality of the Darkness - a demon which posses your character at the start of the story.

There's a lot that this game does have going for it - the facial graphics are really outstanding. The levels designed in the hellish alternate reality of the demon are really nightmarish. They're a tad cliche, but well executed and I never was bored looking around in those levels. Some of the kills (using your "demon arm") are strangly satisfying; although the standard "executions" are very poorly animated and just look plain silly.

The gameplay is very standard for a FPS. As many reviewers have noted, there are a variety of weapons; but there's rarely any reason to use any weapon other than your dual pistols. The AI is nothing special and will generally let you hide and recoup your health and simply stand its position and let you pick them off one at a time. Since your powers depend on darkness; much of the game is spent shooting out lights. Annoyingly, there are very few light switches to simply turn off the lights.

The multiplayer on Xbox live lags something awful. If you manage to spend more than a few minutes online, your patience is greater than mine. This feature was probably tacked on last minute and adds nothing to the game's value.

The worst part of this game is the way you have to travel from level to level. You travel between parts of town (most often) via subway. In the subway, you cannot kill or be killed; and it's mostly there to get you from one point to another and occasionaly move the plot. The problem is that, often, you'll complete a mission, then go back to the subway, then have to travel to another subway station, and then go to a new level - and god help you if you take the wrong subway or get off on the wrong platform. Each time you move from level to level there's about a minute or two loading. The point is, after you complete a mission, it can be five or ten minutes before you're back shooting stuff up. The pacing is maddening.

This game wasn't bad for renting. The story is mildly interesting and some of the gameplay was OK. But this game will soon be eclipsed by other games and I seriously doubt anyone will be playing this game in six months.