After a first episode that had its flaws but which conveyed a great atmosphere, fans were a bit concerned about The Darkness II. There are probably several reasons for that: Starbreeze no longer was in charge of developing the game, the graphics had taken the cel shaded path and, last but not least, it seemed to be even more action oriented than before.

In the end, I think the art style works pretty well here, but that's probably a matter of taste. As for gameplay, it has been improved a lot since the first installment, the controls being more responsive and less awkward. You will also see in the videos below that Digital Extremes did not forget to add more peaceful sequences during which you can take your time to chat with your friends.

The game's atmosphere is still one of the game's strengths and killing bad guys is a lot of fun, with the mix of shooting and decapitating you'd come to expect from Jackie Estecado. There is however something quite disappointing with The Darkness II. The main problem is that it probably won't take you more than 5 to 6 hours to complete the main story mode, which is rather short even in today's standards.