The Darkness II: everything you need to know

The Darkness II is set to continue the story of Jackie Estacado, former mobster turned Don, as he unleashes the Darkness within him once more to take down a mysterious Brotherhood.

The past still haunts Jackie boy, with the memory of his girlfriend’s untimely demise still weighing on his mind – and once again he’ll be put to task to confront his inner demons. Literally.

The Darkness II is set to launch 10 February 2012, and if you’re feeling unprepared, read on and we’ll take you through everything you need to know.

Who is Jackie Estacado?

Jackie boy used to be a common mobster, running for the mafia under “Uncle” Paulie Franchetti. On the eve of his 21st birthday, Uncle Paulie orders a hit on Jackie, causing him to flee.

While hiding out, the Darkness presents itself, giving Jackie supernatural powers, which he uses to survive death and track down Uncle Paulie to kill him.

Before he gets to do so, however, Paulie and corrupt chief of police, Eddie Shrote, kidnap Jackie’s girfriend Jenny Ramano, whom they execute while Jackie watches on, held back by the Darkness.

What is the Darkness?

The Darkness is THE Darkness. An ancient force that presumably existed before God created light – and the universe. The force possesses a human host – and during World War I chose Jackie’s great-great-grandfather, Anthony Estacado, as a host.

The Darkness feeds on the hosts’ feelings of hatred, and grants the host supernatural powers – and command over creatures borne from the Darkness itself, which Jackie uses throughout the game.

The Otherworld is the Darkness’ realm – where the Darkness ‘resides’ and takes possession of Jackie’s body.

The Otherworld

Jackie commits suicide after Jenny’s death, and it is here that he lands up – and learns the truth of how the Darkness entered into his family’s bloodline, and how to get rid of it – by destroying it in its castle.

However, Jackie instead allows the Darkness to consume him – gaining full control over it in the real world. Using his new control, Jackie tracks down and kills Uncle Paulie – leaving a ton of corpses in his wake.

At the end of The Darkness, revelling in the bloodshed, the Darkness consumes Jackie entirely.

Don Franchetti

2 Years after Jackie got his revenge on Uncle Paulie, he has used his Dark powers to rise up in the ranks to become the Don of the Franchetti family. He has managed to keep the Darkness at bay – but the suppression, and the remorse about Jenny, only aggravates the power within.

After a sudden assassination attempt that leaves him nearly dead – the inevitable happens as Jackie unleashes the Darkness once more to save his life. This pushes Jackie to find out more about the Darkness’ motives and discover who wants him dead.

His journey leads him to cross paths with the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood

The Brotherhood presents itself as the “big bad” in Jackie’s world. Established thousands of years ago to protect the world from the Darkness, the secret order’s head, Victor Valente, has somehow become corrupt, and seeks to gain the Darkness’ power for himself.

The Brotherhood has been dabbling in the dark side for a while, earning the ire of many people who they have somehow wronged – and who now actively seek to exact revenge. It’s up to Jackie boy to get to the bottom of things, and seek out the truth and motivations behind the Brotherhood.

Features

• First-person gorefest, with stylised visuals to match a comic-book feel;
• Quad-Wielding, allowing you to control two Demon Arms while also firing two weapons;
• Darkness powers will have more prominence – including your Demon Arms being able to interact with the environment;
• Darklings having more special roles;
• Vendettas – a co-op campaign that runs parallel to the story of The Darkness II, with 4 unique (and completely insane) characters with their own campaign;
• Did we mention the gore? There’s a lot of gore.

The Darkness II is being developed by Digital Extremes and published by 2K Games, and will be goring up on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on 10 February 2012.