The Darkness

I beat The Darkness this afternoon. "Spectacular" pretty much covers it. I'll have to play through it again to get some of the Achievements I missed the first time...
 
I guess I'm just a hard judge on shooters. They either are fun as hell to me or 90% of the time I feel bored. The graphics are sweet as hell but am I the only one who thought the gunplay was just so basic and repetitive that it was kinda boring sometimes?
 
I would say you are right about the gunplay fire. The effects are pretty enough so it doesnt hurt the gameplay for me. The smoke and blur as you turn things. And the close up finishing moves i love. The games autoaim is probably what makes the gunplay kinda odd, but this game is great. More of a dark story telling show off game. Not one of the difficult shooters or catchy gameplay ones.
 
I beat The Darkness this afternoon. "Spectacular" pretty much covers it. I'll have to play through it again to get some of the Achievements I missed the first time...

That was fast! Soo think it's worth a rental then? lol
 
Because it's so short, I'd recommend renting it unless you know exactly what you're getting. It's a first-person shooter, but Firestreak's correct that it's not in that run-and-gun mode. There are plenty of stretches where you're not killing anything.

The story was great, and I felt very satisfied by the ending. I could've beaten it even faster if I hadn't been doing all those little side quests and trying to find the collectible scraps of paper.
 
By the way, here you go.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/21123.html

They look fucking identical except that 360 has some filter that makes it look grainier(on purpose obviously from looking at it), so let's stop this fanboy shit.(I'm looking at you, Chasym.)

dude, im not a fanboy period. if i was i woulda said alot more but im allowed MY OPINION, and that is my 100% opinion. Maybe its just chance that most reviewers are players agree with me but its my opinion, ive stated my non fanboyism mulitple times because i simply dont care what machine comes out on top.
i just think the 360 version looks better. And it does. nothings going to make me change my thoughts on that.
 
I'm just saying, did you even check out that link I posted? It shows them side by side for the exact same scenes. If the 360 didn't have the "make everything look grainy as shit" filter you couldn't tell, at all, which version was which.

Now personally... I think the grain filter makes it look worse. But it certainly might make the game beneath it appear to be better looking by distracting people with the graininess. Just look at this damn comparison video. Everything is identical except the 360 looks grainy and washed out. How this convinces people that the game behind the grain is "better looking" is beyond me, but I'm assuming it just distracts your eyes away from any faults you can see easier on the PS3 version... by adding an "artistic fault" to mask over it.

This isn't even an opinion. I'm saying exactly what the video proves. there's no matter of perspective, "what this reviewer said." blah blah blah, bullshit. Maybe you like the grain filter and maybe you like how it distracts from faults you may see easier on the PS3 version, but beneath that filter it's the exact same thing to a well trained eye.
 
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This isn't even an opinion. I'm saying exactly what the video proves. there's no matter of perspective, "what this reviewer said." blah blah blah, bullshit. Maybe you like the grain filter and maybe you like how it distracts from faults you may see easier on the PS3 version, but beneath that filter it's the exact same thing to a well trained eye.

I'd say thats perspective isn't it? I honestly don't notice the grain filter that you are talking about and I still like the way the 360 version looks better than the PS3.
 
i also dont notice any grain filter, and since when does what some other person or reviewer says reflect my personal opinion? do they have my eyes? nope. if i see it different from someone else thats me and my opinion, its about the equivelant of someone saying one game is better than the other, when someone else might actually like the other game more, its a matter of taste, personal view and opinion. and i will ALWAYS see the 360 version looking better in this games case.
 
Actually as much as I think Fire needs to go step into the real world for some amazing graphics he's right there is a slight grain filter on the 360 version. It's barely noticeable unless they do a direct side by side of the ps3 and 360. Then again we're talking something so minute, and Fire goes off the freaking wall over it. Seriously Fire step outside for once for amazing graphics. You'll be amazed at what true HD is really like there buddy.
 
grain.jpg


It's not always this obvious but I picked this section to highlight the filter because it increases and decreases in strength on a continuous cycle.

Look carefully at the video itself, not the details and just keep your eyes focused, there's a cycle of increases static and graininess present on the 360 version. It's trying to make it look as if you're watching an old movie on a projector.

The colors are softer and more washed out because of this. If you stick an image through a filter such as this, you miss some very fine details. The way your brain works is that it fills in missing detail. Hence, for example when you see a high def movie you'll notice more imperfections in computer generated graphics. When you play a high def game on a low def TV it won't look better but you'll think it looks more real in a sense compared to real people you see on a low def TV, as opposed to high def people versus high def video game characters. The more you can see, the more your eyes take over and your brain stops filling in.

This filter works on the same principle, it softens edges, softens colors, so your brain does more work trying to figure out what it should look like and is going to fill it in it will in essence appear more real.

This is a very slight effect, you have to be paying attention to notice it. It's not a very big deal but it's the difference people are seeing in the two versions. Which is to say... they're almost identical. Some people are going to like the way the 360 version looks better, the people who aren't noticing the filter, and realizing what's going on.

Then again, most people won't notice that Madden 08 is going to have 60 frames per second on the 360 version. You won't see the effect, you'll just like the way one looks better than another and not be able to describe why.
 
Actually as much as I think Fire needs to go step into the real world for some amazing graphics he's right there is a slight grain filter on the 360 version. It's barely noticeable unless they do a direct side by side of the ps3 and 360. Then again we're talking something so minute, and Fire goes off the freaking wall over it. Seriously Fire step outside for once for amazing graphics. You'll be amazed at what true HD is really like there buddy.

Don't be so harsh on me, I've been saying they're so near identical it's not even worth trying to say one looks better than the other. If you want to go into the differences the filter is all that's really there to talk about.
 
so theres a filter there, i didnt say it wasnt there. I said i do not notice it when i play the game. if its trying to make it look like an old "projector" then thats great for this type of game. hell if it sells it as that for the darkness, that could explain why i like it more and just dont notice why. I still think it looks better, but those two pictures make both versions look like crap XD
 
Most games look worse when you take a still picture of it. As mentioned earlier, Forza is the exception that actually looks better. In motion The Darkness is a beautiful game on both systems. How things look in motion is really what's going to matter to most people. That's all about the engine not the textures. Unfortunately The Darkness' engine while looking terrific doesn't add in anything special to the actual gun fighting.

It's just hard to place it. It doesn't give you the accuracy and precision of a tactical shooter like rainbow six or socom and doesn't give you the fast based arcade style of a Halo or Resistance. It's just... there.
 
Played it a bit last night and wasn't impressed. Like with Shadowrun, I was very, very let down. I'm still thinkin' F.E.A.R. and RE:6 Vegas are the best FPS games in the next-gen library. Probably wont be better or even close to par until Epic decides to give us UT3. I don't see this game gettin' to much time online before poeple start calling it a day and that's really the only reason, imo, to purchase a strickly FPS game.
 
I don't see this game gettin' to much time online before poeple start calling it a day and that's really the only reason, imo, to purchase a strickly FPS game.

The developers have stated in interviews that multiplayer was an afterthought for them. It's not a huge selling point for me, so I don't mind. There are better shooters, but the storytelling is a big factor for me and that's why I like this one so much.

It's sorta like that line between Shadow of the Colossus being a really beautiful game or "just a bunch of boss fights." That's why I advise renting The Darkness first.
 
Just watched a friend play through the PS3 version of this and it's pretty fucking cool.
 
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