Creatures Of The Night Must Wait As The Darkness II Pushed Back To 2012
On a somewhat sad note, 2K Games and Digital Extremes have today come out and announced that their FPS sequel, The Darkness II, will receive a delayed release date – now being due out on February 7, 2012 in North America and February 10, 2012 throughout the rest of the world. The game will be the sequel to the quietly successful 2007 first-person shooter, based on the comic book work of Marc Silvestri. Playing as New Yorker Jackie Estacado, players get the chance to take control of an ancient evil force that dwells within him, known only as The Darkness.
On top of the bad news that the game is being pushed back, 2K Games have announced the better news that they will be at the San Diego Comic-Con this week in order to host a Darkness II panel on Thursday, July 21st between 12pm and 1pm. Entitled “Spreading The Darkness: From Comic Book to Video Games and Entertainment,” the talk will be both an exploration of the games and a celebration of the 15th Anniversary of The Darkness. Those present for the panel will be CEO of Top Cow Productions and co-creator of The Darkness, Marc Silvestri, and President and COO of Top Cow, Matt Hawkins; as well as some of the game development team from Digital Extremes; and the voice of the Darkness himself, former Faith No More front-man Mike Patton. There will also be a group of playable console pods at the event, where gamers will get their first hands-on experience with the sequel.
The first Darkness title was steeped with a realistic and gritty atmosphere, as well as a heavy dose of violence and gore. Images and videos we have seen so far from the follow-up show that the new team are looking to follow suit in terms of content, whilst employing a slightly different visual style that looks almost cel-shaded in style – a popular choice for comic book adaptations. The latest trailer for the upcoming sequel can be found here.
The sequel to The Darkness has been confirmed for release on 7th February in North America and 10th February across the rest of the world. It will be released on PC, PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360. The first game is currently available on PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360.
Robin Parker
If I'm not playing on a good Adventure Game - still longing for the long-past Golden Age of the genre, when Lucasarts and Sierra ruled supreme - you might find me searching for a local arcade, in the hopes that it still houses titles such as Sunset Riders or WindJammers.
