Environments are well modeled, which is a good thing as you’ll be trekking through them more than once, either as part of the main story or as part of the dozen or so side missions that can be completed to unlock bonus content and obtain Achievements. Moving between levels can be a bit of a pain as they take some time to load up, however rather than show a generic loading screen, the player is treated to Jackie either reminiscing about his life (Jackie’s first kiss is a standout), or providing more background on the next character you’re going to meet or the next area you’re going to visit. With this, Starbreeze has taken what is usually the most annoying and immersion shattering part of video gaming, the loading screen, and transformed it into an opportunity to learn more about Jackie and the characters you encounter.

As you move from area to area you come across pieces of paper with phone numbers on them, which you can use to unlock collectibles by finding a payphone and dialing the number. Even the answering machines feature incredible voice acting and range from hilarious to downright weird. Considering that there are 100 collectibles, over 70 of which are phone numbers, this is a tremendous effort by Starbreeze that further shows the level of dedication that went into fleshing out this world.

Bonus content ranges from concept sketches and movies of how certain mood paintings were created to full issues of the various Darkness comics. Including the comics is a nice touch, however as they were somewhat hard to read on this reviewer’s 92” projection screen, they would be even more so on smaller sets. Along with the collectibles, achievements abound and are integrated into the game so that the player can see them from the pause menu and plan their gameplay accordingly. This game shows what, in the right hands, achievement can, well…achieve as they help the player experience aspect of the game that they may not have, had they just spent their time running and gunning.

Characters all have distinct visual traits from Butcher Joyce’s long, mountain man beard to Jenny’s lip piercing and Aunt Sara’s trademark old person sweater. There is some flickering around Jackie’s face, particularly in the close-ups during the loading screen vignettes and there is no technology present today capable of effectively rendering an old Italian man’s neck wattles, however these are minor faults. All in game cut scenes are done with the graphics engine, and are mostly done from Jackie’s point of view, further strengthening the bond between Jackie and the player. A word of warning though, these cut scenes are extremely violent and run the gamut of mature elements from foul language to murder and torture. This game certainly earns its M rating.

There is a multiplayer component to The Darkness as well, however it isn’t nearly as fleshed out and complete as the single-player portion. The standard deathmatch, team deathmatch and CTF modes are present as well as a host of game options such as one shot kills and unbalanced matches. Maps consist of levels from the single player game, as well as maps created just for multiplayer and while some of them are fun to play, some are somewhat difficult to maneuver with tight corridors that often cause traffic jams. Lag can be an issue, especially with a room of eight players all tearing it up with automatic weapons. Multiplayer achievements can be obtained through unranked matches, so with the right combination of settings, you and a buddy can obtain the achievement for 250 multiplayer wins in a manner of hours.

Even with the lack of a fully realized multiplayer mode, it’s hard to find many faults with The Darkness. Yes there are some parts of the story that could have been fleshed out better, and there are times when the AI could be more aggressive, however the care and craftsmanship that went into this title elevate it above its flaws and provide the player with an engaging story, blistering action and a protagonist that you care about from the minute you meet him to that final pull of the trigger. The Darkness is, quite simply, an excellent game and deserves its place as one of the finest shooters and finest examples of video game storytelling in recent memory.