The Walking Dead – A New Day: What I Thought!

I am a die-hard fan of everything Zombie…ergo George A Romero is God, 28 Days Later is a Legend and obviously, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead Graphic Novels. Been following the series for a while and it kinda has the same vibe that Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later had. See, when people think zombies…its all blood and gore. However, in The Walking Dead, zombies only set the stage for loads of drama and emotions scattered throughout an apocalyptic world dense with zombies. Frank Darabont’s ‘The Walking Dead’ TV series was right on par with the graphic novels and hailed as one of the best TV shows ever. Though the TV show was only loosely based on the graphic novels so as to pave way for some brilliant writing and a different story arc than that of the graphic novels. I was never too excited when I heard a Walking Dead game was in the making especially by a studio whose previous games having a record of being mediocre to being absolute ‘down the drain’ stuff. I was further less excited when I learnt that the game was to be a ‘PnC’ Adventure (Point n Click). I stopped following news about it and thought to let it slip by my hands but then, a new day dawned!

Welcome to ‘The Walking Dead – A New Day’, the first of 5 episodic games developed by Telltale Games. You, in ‘A New Day’ starts off as Lee Everett, a man with a mysterious past caught in the thick of zombie apocalypse. The very first sequence itself reminds you of its cinematic depiction. Its been tightly directed to make it feel like another Darabont TV episode. The narrative is well done letting you choose responses to an NPCs questions which takes you forward with the story. The game is filled with conversations with NPCs. So if you are not a fan of ‘cut scenes’ you might be a bit put off…coz there are helluva load of em. I, for one, loved the interactions with the NPCs. The characters are emotionally attached to us. Especially Lee, letting us choose for him makes that much needed impact. This aint new in gaming but the scenario and drama that’s surrounding us makes us a part of these choices. I have only played the game once but I heard the game changes scenarios according to your choices.

The gameplay is usual PnC fare but the tense world and ambiance of a zombie ridden world makes it that much more intense. You never feel like you are playing; Its more like you are living a movie. There is a fair amount of searching and wee bit puzzle solving but nothing that’s too tedious. And Oh yes you do get to squash some zombie skulls indeed and these sequences are for pure gore lovers. Telltale never restricts the player to overcome the joyous violence of mashing a zombie brain to pulp. Though these kills occur just like quicktime events and you gotta be quick on your reflexes. Initially the controls felt a bit stiff though its all a matter of getting used to it.

The graphics is definitely not next-gen but much better than that of Telltales previous titles. The Walking Dead is not cel-shaded but the thick outlines on the characters makes it look like its straight outta the graphic novels. Subtle colors and backgrounds makes for a game that has a good art direction. Add to that, the exemplary facial animations of the characters makes it all worth the moolah you spend on an episodic title. The same cant be said about the textures though…it stretches and sometimes comes off as very low res. Another minor let down is the occasional stiff animation.

‘The Walking Dead A New Day’ is off to a good start for the series. It remains to see how the developer takes forward the same narrative style balanced with action in the upcoming episodes. If its gonna be anything like ‘A New Day’ we have nothing to worry. Afterall I was never a fan of the Point n Click Adventure games but ‘The Walking Dead’ made one outta me.

The Woman in Black: What I Thought!

I was never a fan of Daniel Radcliffe. I have seen all the Harry Potter movies and I was never impressed, not even a bit, with his acting. The reason people like Radcliffe is because he gave life to a truly legendary fictional character: Harry Potter. Even after 8 crazily anticipated movies, Daniel Radcliffe, always seemed like an amateur to me. Though it took him a decade or so to end up in a movie which would give him a chance at showing off his acting prowess. Daniel Radcliffe, at times, was fantastic at portraying a credible ‘Arthur Kipps’, though at times of extreme tension he was near plastic at showing emotions. Nuff said…The Woman in Black helped him break the Harry-Potter-mould he was in. In ‘The Woman in Black’, Daniel plays Arthur Kipps, a young man who recently lost his wife, leaving him alone with his four year old son and with him being on the verge of losing his job unless he travels to handle some affairs at the ‘Eel Marsh House’.

Ah, The Eel Marsh House! It is the haunted mansion in question and is where all the horrors have been traced to. Have to give credits to the production designers, its one of the best set pieces in recent horror flicks. Eerily standing, away from the village and with a road (just for namesake) spiralling over marsh lands, The Eel Marsh House is production design at its best. You feel each door creak, windows slamming and the house itself breathing the damp air inside. The almost dialogue-less Marsh House sequences in the 2nd act was splendidly filmed.

The movie initially started off as purely atmospheric. I watched it at night when I could almost feel the windchill accompanied by the moody score. I was immediately immersed and the cold just accentuated the temper of the film. As I mentioned earlier, the atmospherics were excellant, thanks to the brilliant sound design. Its an essential for a good horror movie. By the end of 2nd act, I forgot I was nailbiting the entire time.

There was very less CG that was used and it shows. It adds to the authentic grim mood of the movie. Closet Monsters and cliches were aplenty. So were sound cues, which in itself gave a lot of jolts even when you expected it. Director James Watkins had to squeeze in more scares every now and then so what does he do? He uses silence followed by a sudden opus to make you jump in your seat. I take that as being ‘unoriginal’. I see it as a fake scare which had more to do with the startle of the music than anything remotely scary. And except for a brief scene at the beginning, the film never truly explores Arthur’s relationship with his son nor the mental state about his deceased wife. That BTW was unused potential right there!

Believe me, I like to be scared shit-less…a scare that’d haunt me for hours to come, even after the movie. I don’t want mere jolts. But alas, just like ‘Insidious’, what started off as a great atmospheric horror movie…what could have been a prestigious milestone for horror movies, The Woman in Black turned out to be just ‘jumps & jolts’. I really don’t want to stamp it as ‘mediocre’, but the cliches, outdated horror techniques and a lack of a solid cast makes it a movie which fails to live up to the expectations I had with its first half.

The Avengers: What I Thought!

The Avengers is effing AWESOME! Go Watch it! Period!

The Avengers had been in the news for a while. People, including me, were skeptic how it’d turn out with so many superheroes crammed into one. Marvel had been laying the foundation for The Avengers since Iron Man in 2005 followed by The Incredible Hulk in 2008 and Thor & Captain America in 2011. While I consider Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk to be spectacular entertainers, Thor & Cap Am, I felt, only set the stage for the grand finale: The Avengers. Thor or Cap were NEVER boring…it had plenty of action and the characters were fleshed out well.

The Avengers works coz of the stellar performances & the chemistry between the ensemble cast especially Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston & Samuel L Jackson. Its easy to get lost considering a heavy cast plus an even stronger side cast including Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders & Gwyneth Paltrow but all of the characters are VERY well balanced and everybody has their moments…the ‘limelight’ has thus been shared! Though Mark Ruffalo steals some being Hulk and I felt that for a character that has only a single line of monologue it was brilliant indeed. He surpassed the standards set by Edward Norton & Eric Bana…being a truly subtle and pleasing Bruce Banner.

Be it Tony Stark’s funny, ingenious one-liners, Captain America’s patriotism or Loki’s sheer evil…every dialogue had a punch thanks to an exceptionally well written script. I especially loved Natasha aka Black Widow’s interrogation sequences…it was pure genius! The story doesn’t by any chance deserve an Academy Award but neither is it a mere excuse to stitch action sequences. Humour, drama or romance has been well squeezed into story and makes it worth the watch. There are some dialogue heavy scenes though it was essentially a good build up to the climactic battle. And the finale was just ORGASMIC in terms of action, VFX making it an absolute fanboy’s wet dream.

The score composed by Alan Silvestri was epic at times and at times a tad bit on the ‘meh’ side. Towards the end the music just provides you with a goosebumps gallore, syncing perfectly orchestrated heroic theme with the ton of action happening on the screen. The 3D, as usual, isn’t a must. I am sure The Avengers in itself will give you the essential action FIX but given a choice, go for the 3D coz there are indeed some scenes which looked striking in 3D.

On the downside I never got used to the whole Chitauri crowd. I am not spoiling anything here though I feel like I’d have to wiki them or to read more Avengers comics. I would have rather prefered Skrulls. Add to that the best scenes were already shown in the TV Spots and previews….it definitely did some damage to the over all experience…especially Robert Downey JR’s one liners. Yes, I know nobody asked me to watch all those TV spots and commercials…but it was hard not to…being a Marvel fanboy.

Its no easy feat to stuff so much into a movie anticipated for decades and with this much fanbase. Making a movie which appealed to both die hard comic fans as well as casual movie goers needed the right concoction of excellent direction, splendid performances & a brilliant script. Luckily The Avengers has been brewed in such a way, all thanks to Joss Whedon, that it does everything right. Being a Marvel fan himself, Joss put all his sincere efforts to make this movie the epic it should be. He left no stone unturned adding all the essential elements for the ultimate blockbuster. Bless Him! There is not a single moment which lets you lean back and yawn. This is what a good entertainer should be and it will certainly set the standards for future comic-movie adaptations. I could rant about the movie some more but on the other hand would love to make you guys go watch it. I agree, superheroes arent for everyone but fanboy or not, The Avengers is the event of the month and you better not miss it at the movies. I wish I could watch the uncut 3 hour version at the movies…2 Hours 22 minutes was never enough!

PS: Make sure you sit back post credits; following the usual Marvel fashion there’s a wee bit snippet to be seen.

21 Jump Street: What I Thought!

As far as previews go its meant to make you watch a movie and 21 Jump Street’s did exactly that to me; it had me splits and I was bound to go for it when it released. Based on a 1987 TV series, 21 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum as 2 rookie officers who are assigned to go undercover to find out about a drug deal thats going on in schools.

Essentially its a buddy cop movie set in a school backdrop. But where this iteration of 21 Jump Street wins is the sheer chemistry of the main leads. Jonah & Channing makes one hell of a comic duo. Their comic timing and dialogue delivery were impeccable. Yes I have seen Jonah Hill in a similar role in Modern Warfare 3′s ‘The Vet & The n00b‘ ad campaigns and indeed his performance was hilarious but I was surprised to see Channing doing comedy with both ease and style. There are some extremely unexpected cameos and it was very pleasing. Following The Hangover formula…it has some scenes which adds to both the comedy and shock value too.

Helmed by the makers of ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls’, Phil Lord & Chris Miller, who’d have thought they’d come up with something so skanky and hilarious. 21 Jump Street mixes up all the right ingredients of a good recipe to make it as much fun as possible…be it dirty dialogues, sex jokes or uproarious gags or cheesy action. It takes the best of buddy cop movies and high school comedy and weaves into a stretch of laugh out riot.

As previously mentioned the previews had most of the initial funny bits and it kinda made me laugh less when I finally saw it on the big screen. Other than that I’d say 21 Jump Street is a must watch. It isn’t original per se. It is cliched and predictable but the Jonah-Channing duo makes it worth reliving those cliches and makes it fun. Nonetheless its well made, all thanks to a clever script and its own original gags. I don’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much at the movies and even after it. Its one of those movies that you won’t forget for a while.

Carnage: What I Thought!

It’s been a long time I’d seen a movie so ingeniously made. No I am not talking about another Matrix or Memento or even Inception. I am talking about a movie which can, even with a paperthin plot, grab you by your throat and suck you into the narrative. Impressing you is one thing, the next feat is where a film-maker’s real talent lies…keeping you intrigued till the end. There need not be plot twists, neither a mind bending climax…it just needs to be entertaining. A movie is meant to entertain and all it needs to do is just that. Carnage, directed by none other than Roman Polanski, does just that. It is one of the few good movies that keeps you entertained from start to end without gimmicks such as SFX, novel camera angles or even an OST. There’s I’ve said it…now off you go, watch the movie.

Ah…I see you need a little more convincing. Well here goes….the premise is thinner than paper actually. Two couples have a casual meeting following a fight that broke out between their kids which ended up in one of the kids’ injury. What starts of as a casual conversation between the two couples starts off civilized then against each other, against their own spouses and ends in total pandemonium. The topic in question spirals down to their own issues. The meeting was intended to be short but its fun to see how these couples gets drawn back to discussions & arguments everytime they prepare to leave.

The thing about the movie is that nobody is trying to make you laugh. There are no cheap jokes…there’s nothing intended to make you laugh…not at least directly. These are just characters making normal conversations but its their idiosyncrasies that make you laugh and Polanski has yet again done a wonderful job. The dialogues are spot on and the cast couldn’t be better. Christoph Waltz & Kate Winslet plays The Cowans and we have ‘The Longstreets’ played by John C Reily & Jodie Foster on the other side of ‘the ring’. I can’t say who outperformed whom here because every actor was at their best here. But I still have to say Christoph Waltz’s acting was impeccable…each and every dialogue he said had that essential impact whether it be mocking the Longstreets or lashing back at his own wife.

The score was mostly absent but never made the movie less interesting. The only bit of euphony was when the film started rolling and it was pleasant.

Believe me if that wasn’t convincing enough for you to watch the movie…I don’t know what is. Kudos to Roman Polanski!

The Hunger Games: What I Thought!

I gritted my teeth everytime someone spat the line “May the Odds be Ever in your Favor” and it just proves a movie has invoked emotions in you and I am happy that ‘The Hunger Games’ did so. Directed by ‘Seabiscuit’ helmer Gary Ross, ‘The Hunger Games’ had been the most touted book to movie adaptation since its announcement an year back or so. Based on ‘The Hunger Games Trilogy’ by Suzanne Collins, this movie marks the first of the planned trilogy. I never read the book so even after watching the previews I was less interested…I’d known squat about what the hype was all about, though I regret now, after watching the movie, I wish I should have been in on all the hype. Without further ado, I’d like to add, The Hunger Games rocks!

As I said I had no idea about the premise and I never bothered to look into the synopsis before I went in for the movie so the experience was just that much enjoyable. The Hunger Games have been compared with the Twilight series and I have to say that its absolutely insulting to be compared to a Vampire Romance novel/flick. The Hunger Games is essentially adult in theme. Gary Ross made this movie with the same passion he showed for ‘Seabiscuit’ and it shows. Set in a dystopian America, a young male and female is selected from each of the 12 poverty stricken districts via vote and send to Capitol city to compete in The Hunger Games fighting their way, against each other leaving only one victor at the end. The mood of the film is so grim from start to end. The concept of 16 – 20year olds in a game of murdering each other is in itself a ghastly topic.

The movie stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, volunteering out of circumstances for The Hunger Games along with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) from District 12. Obviously we root for Katniss from start and Jennifer Lawrence made it possible for us to feel so. She did a splendid job portraying a 16 year old girls’ emotions in these circumstances and its no surprise. From what we have seen in ‘Winter’s Bone’ & ‘X-Men First Class’ she isn’t new to awe-inspiring performances either. I was touched to see her shivering before she left for the arena. Or crying after she had her first kill even though she had no intentions to kill anybody and was just doing so coz she was forcefully put in a situation to do so. I’d say that these scenes were the blink-and-miss kinds…a little bit depth to her character could have been much more better. Outstanding performances by Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Bank and Stanley Tucci just added more flavor to the already enjoyable treat. Wes Bently was less wooden and could be overlooked. Josh, initially, looked like he couldn’t shake off his retard-esque face but he quickly picked up the pace and was doing good partnering with Jennifer albeit I found no spark was ignited between the two in the romantic sequences.

The movie was less gory but was implied, passing off the movie as PG 13. A bit more gore wouldn’t have hurt. Gary Ross isnt a veteran in action but I felt the action was filmed subtle and it kinda made the sequences much more tense. The score was composed by T-Bone Burnett & James Newton Howard and it set an over-all good mood to the movie. I am a big fan of Howard but I couldn’t distinguish his score. VFX is nothing to brag about but still was used in creating a wonderful world and arena matching dystopian future.

I have heard the book was twice as much better, but that’s usually almost the case always. I for one loved the movie, thanks to the brilliant direction and Jennifer Lawrence’s jaw dropping performance. Kept me on the edge of my seat right through to the end and I have already crossed my fingers for ‘Catching Fire’. Now bring the heat on!

Angry Birds Space: What I Thought!

If you didn’t know about Angry Birds by now…you can go back under that rock of yours and sleep for another 10 years or so. Developed by then unknown Rovio, Angry Birds was introduced to Apple’s iOS line of products and then later spanning across almost all devices including Android Phones, Tablets, PSP, PC and consoles. Angry Birds has been the killer app for almost all devices out there. Two more games, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio, were released to almost all platforms starting off an unstoppable Bird flu all over the world. Angry Birds had already become a force to reckon with. Hatching up a range of merchandises like plushies, tees, slippers, bags, keychains, pillows, lunchboxes, cookbooks, toys and whatnot, Angry Birds had seized the market by a storm by last year. Off lately the Angry Birds games were losing heat and Rovio had to come up with something entirely new than Dragons, Mighty Eagles or Blu/Jewel. Angry Birds just had to be back on the game!

Enter Angry Birds Space, an entirely new adventure set in a whole new world or worlds. A lavishly animated sequence in the beginning, briefs how these short tempered birds ended up in space in their new avatars. From there on its space-slingshot-wars against those nasty pigs in all its glory. Rich Worlds are in abundance in Angry Birds space….with a new Level Select UI that awfully looked like Rocket Bunnies. The Angry Birds themselves, with their revamped abilities plays out like a charm and looks way too cooler, with new sound effects and eerie ambiance to accompany the space setting. The pigs are also not without their arsenal ranging from helmets to space suits and little stone popping space rovers.

Gravity & Zero Gravity plays equal parts in the gameplay and adds a very much needed novelty to the franchise. Puzzles are varied and have a whole different angle when you play it in zero G which also comes off as slightly frustrating at times. As its in space the tangent of the swung birds are diverted with the smallest of obstacles which actually makes you think ahead before you launch those angry critters. New birds likes the Ice Bird and Laser Bird among the cast with their own unique abilities.

I started playing off Angry Birds Space lazily and I was hooked onto it for hours. 60+ levels to play is nothing short a good satisfying playtime. I played the same on the PC was a bit disappointed to see the backgrounds less sharp. Hope they fix it soon. Rovio has undoubtedly come up with another winner…and simply calling it ‘addictive’ would be dire injustice.

Kahaani: What I Thought!

I went in for Kahaani a wee bit skeptical. Skeptical, as in how much thrilling a woman unraveling a mystery about her missing husband could get but I was blown off my feet with the initial scene itself. Even the title screen had that rare vibe that this isnt your run of the mill thriller.

The movie starts off with Vidya Balan playing Vidya Bagchi arriving from London at the Kolkata International Airport, pregnant and stumbling, it already kicks in the right sentimental and sympathetic notes…stranger in a strange city and off to a stranger quest. Instead of going to a Hotel she goes to straight to the Police Station to report of her missing husband and from there it spirals down a vortex of mysteries out of which you’d never want to climb out of. The plot thickens every minute and its hard not to sit at the edge of your seat towards the end of the movie. The story felt as a refreshing change from that of your usual ‘Bollywood thrillers’…it was on par with a Hollywood thriller. I wont be bragging anymore about the story as its one to be enjoyed thoroughly promising enough twists and turns in Mrs Bagchi’s every step through Kolkata.

Vidya Balan after her infamous ‘The Dirty Picture’ steals every frame she is in as a one-woman-show, playing a convincingly pregnant Vidya Bagchi. You can’t help but sympathize with her genuinely playing a pregnant woman in search of her husband and at the same time she successfully portrays a cornucopia of emotions which makes you even more close to her character. From rage, to being motherly, playful and to complete desperation, Vidya’s acting talents is something that will never disappoint anyone. Accompanying Vidya is Parambrata Chatterjee as Rana, a gentle, well mannered and sincere Police recruit. Parambrata is someone to lookout for as he plays his character so credibly and naturally. I especially loved the sequences where Rana was getting attached to Vidya…he smiles during a tram ride thinking of her, holds her hand and guides when she slips, even the ones where he gets calls from his mom every night he goes home after work, these little things add to such a beautiful narrative. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays an unrelenting Intelligence officer Khan who makes you grit your teeth everytime he spews abuses. Noteworthy mentions include  a creepy character which I’ll let you to find out for yourself. The characters are so fleshed out that once you get sucked into the plot its hard to imagine that these are actors just playing their roles.

Kudos to Sujoy Ghosh, he mixes and mashes up genres to invoke the right emotions in you which could have easily turned to pulp had it not been taken carefully. Kolkata felt almost like a living entity. Rich visuals and cinematography made it possible to show all the shades of Kolkata and it was indeed something to behold. The Score was just enchanting leaving you with a thumping heart at tense moments while touching the more sensitive side at times of Vidya’s despair.  ’Aami Shotti Bolchi’ had that essential groove adding to the intro.

Kahaani is one of the best movie experiences I had this year. The more you delved into the plot the more thick it got, ending in one helluva finale which made me feel like I was hit by a meteorite. Sujoy made sure there weren’t any plotholes when you look back. When a movie is so splendidly made there is no need for myself being biased. Myself, being a die hard Vidya Balan fan, had a wonderful time. Hell, I had more goosebumps on me watching Kahaani than ‘The Dirty Picture’. I could go on ranting some more about ‘Kahaani’  but I leave the rest for you to watch. I can, with no remorse whatsoever, proudly say that this is something you should never miss watching at the movies.

John Carter: What I Thought!

I remember reading something on something called the ‘John Carter of Mars’ on IGN an year back. I didnt know squat about it…so obviously when I finished reading the article I was intrigued that a movie was in the making. The Teaser poster caught my attention and the promo was ok too so I was gearing up for the movie eventually. John Carter was based on a 100 year old story written by none other than Edgar Rice Burroughs. It seemed it had a cult following and a movie made by animation veteran Andrew Stanton (WALL-E, Finding Nemo) couldnt be bad right?….. WRONG!

I went in for John Carter today and was greeted to an awesome 3D intro by Disney. Hoping for the best, a TRON LEGACY-esque experience, I sat through the movie – 2 hours and 10 minutes in length and what did I realize? The 3D was just another gimmick…and was only present in the intros. John Carter was essentially a romance-action adventure movie…a princess in peril and a hero comes saves the day. Played by Taylor Kitsch, John Carter himself felt broken…the character was juggled in and out of different time frames and even a decent background story was’nt fleshed out. An American Civil War soldier, already troubled, John is  transported to Mars aka ‘Barsoom’ via what seemed like a weird coincidence, and is then caught up in between an ongoing war between 3 factions and by which he meets his romantic interest, princess Dejah Thoris and thus starts a chain of events mostly comprising of getting caught, escaping, getting caught again and saving the princess from the clutches of evil and thereby saving the world. Lynn Colins plays the princess and was weird in some way. I don’t know why I felt so…but she felt really ‘outta place’. She, remotely reminded me of Princess Leia from The Return of the Jedi and maybe the makers intended so too…but Disney had made sure there wasn’t a metal bikini to be seen anywhere

I at least thought the CG would be impressive but it was nothing I had not seen before. The CG beings ‘Tharks’ felt clumsy and not detailed enough, it was more laughing stock than anything else. Amongst the Tharks, Willem Dafoe plays Tars Tarkas, a wasted performance underneath the mask of CG Cosmetics. I found many of the scenes not polished enough. Mars itself felt boring as it looked like another post apocalyptic desert which I have seen aplenty in Fallout 3, Rage and plethora of other games. The action sequences were’nt particularly eye-popping either. The only saving grace would be ‘Woola’ a CG dog which looked like it was half dog-half toad that provided some giggles.

The score was uninspiring and boring. John Carter was hailed as a sci-fi epic post production, a decent score would have saved it a bit.

Agreed, John Carter was made with passion, the story stuck true to its source material and that exactly was the problem. The last 5 minutes turned out really interesting and made me wish the whole movie was filmed the same way. John Carter should be remembered as a 100 year old story by Edgar Rice Burroughs and never as a movie. If it had been released 10 years back it would have worked, it would have been ‘RAD’…but not now…SO NOT NOW! I’d ask anybody to let it pass…there’s much in store for us in the coming months.

The Darkness II: What I Thought!

As mentioned in earlier posts I was eating out my brains when console exclusive games were all the trend. All the good games were either on Playstation 3 or the X-360. PC gamers were left with RTSes and MMOS among a handful of pitiful ports..yes, I meant Halo 2 & Gears of War. Before its release I really loved the idea of playing as Jackie Estacado but alas ‘The Darkness’ was one among the console exclusives which never even bothered to delve its wonderful claws in the PC market.

I was surprised to know about ‘The Darkness II’ coming to PC and was equally thrilled. The Darkness is one of the few ongoing comic books which had a strong storyline blended with supernatural elements. ‘The Darkness’ game introduced us to Jackie Estacado, the head of a mafia gang and how he stumbled over the Darkness letting him have uber powers. The Darkness II continues his story and I’ll leave it to you guys to taste it for yourself. I for one was pretty impressed with the storyline. Its definitely not Oscar-worthy but nonetheless is much above the excuse of a story FPS games usually have, giving you an immersive experience. You actually care for Jackie’s feelings, his pain, how much he suffers. The narration was slick and stylish the loading screens were a treat to watch with Jackie narrating memoirs from his childhood/past and was very well written by comic veteran Paul Jenkins. The story initially was slow to launch but when it did, it was a wild ride; especially the asylum sequences questioning what’s real and what’s not. The story towards the end gets thick with Jackie’s psychological elements going haywire. Loved it!

The gameplay was top notch and from what I read about the prequel..it had pertinent changes. Playing as Jackie, I was welcomed to a world of gore and stylish action. The gunplay is awesome but the real joy is to use Jackie’s two devilish claws to grab enemies and slice, cut and squeeze the living stuff outta them. Plus each kill rewards you with ‘Darkness Essence’ which you can invest in a skill tree and customize your Darkness experience. Want more gunplay invest the essence on the guns skill tree, want more protection invest em on the Health/Armor skill tree, max claws and darkness powers…invest them there. Killing enemies with your claws more gruesomely grants you more Darkness Essence than killing with guns so the choice is yours. You’ve also got a ‘Darkling’ to help you at difficult times and more than an addition it plays an integral part in the plot as well as gameplay.

The graphics is entirely different from that of its prequel. The Darkness II feels more ‘comic booky’ with pixel shaded models and all. I thought I had seen the last of celshaded graphics with the decade old titles like ‘XIII’ or ‘Killer 7′ but the revamped Evolution engine does make it look good with its totally immersive locales and set pieces. It has its cons though…its not the best engine in the market and there were framerate issues coupled with blocky textures and awkward physics at times. The celshaded models sometimes looked crude. There could have been more enemy types instead what we fight are hordes of almost the same enemy models.

The multiplayer isnt your ordinary run-of-the-mill kinda one. Its called ‘Vendetta’, It can be played either co-op or offline singleplayer and and actually is a pleasant addition to the main plot. It bridges the gap between different scenes from the main plot leaving you satisfied at the end.

Altogether ‘The Darkness II’ is well designed game to entertain us with a 6 hour singleplayer campaign plus Vendetta. Its a good package and satiated my FPS needs for now! Give it a go if you yearn for a well narrated action title. Obviously a sequel is in the making and cant wait to get my hands on it.