What would happen if Spawn met The Sopranos? Starbreeze Studios and 2K Games answer this question with The Darkness, the new first-person action game that places an unlikely pair of themes in one unique and thrilling package. Mafia hit men are commonplace in gaming. Demons, too, are a dime a dozen. Put them together and you've got a combination that is exceptionally satisfying. Based on the Top Cow comic of the same name, The Darkness is the follow-up effort to 2004's critically acclaimed Xbox hit The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Starbreeze proves that Riddick was no fluke. This game shines brilliantly in a summer fraught with lackluster movie tie-ins and disappointing game delays.

The Darkness tells the story of Jackie Estacado, a ballsy mafia hit man working for one Paulie Franchetti, the Don of New York City's Franchetti Family. Paulie took Jackie in as an orphan many years ago and recently he mistakenly suspected his adopted nephew of betraying him. On Jackie's 21st birthday, Paulie makes an attempt on his life, only to awaken his hidden sadistic powers. Two menacing demon heads sprout from Jackie's back and we are unceremoniously introduced to The Darkness. With Mafia hit men gunning for him on every corner and crooked cops scrambling to take Jackie down, he has no option but to employ his newfound death-dealing skills to ensure his survival and get his revenge against Paulie. Although the story may initially seem like standard video game fare with a demonic twist, the narrative takes some unexpected turns and becomes surprisingly deep. The powers bestowed upon Jackie come in very handy on his quest, but as the game progresses it becomes evident that Jackie is simply a vessel to carry out the malevolent will of the Darkness. This internal battle adds an interesting dimension to the story that sets it apart from your run of the mill shooter.

What would New York be without the menacing hobos?

Jackie's wicked abilities are regulated by Darkness energy, which depletes as he makes use of his powers, and is recharged by either devouring the hearts of his victims or by momentarily taking cover in an unlit area. Devouring hearts also increases your Darkness level. Doing so strengthens your attacks which eventually makes you quite the fearsome entity. The vicious Darkness powers come in four violent flavors. First, the Darkness Crawl power allows Jackie to send a demon head to slither around, looking for potential victims to sink its teeth into. You can conveniently devour hearts from this position as well. Later, Jackie will acquire the Demon Arm ability. This allows him to send a razor-sharp appendage to pick up and throw various objects and bodies after first impaling them. The Darkness Guns are the third power to be acquired and are infused with Darkness energy making them useful for dispatching any undead foes. Finally, Jackie can manipulate a piece of Darkness energy to create a black hole that sucks in any nearby enemies. All of these powers are impressive, but the black hole ability is particularly satisfying. Your abilities also grant you the power to summon four different creatures named Darklings to do your bidding. Each one has a unique ability which contributes to your machinations.

With these powers comes a marvelous feeling of knowing that you are extremely well equipped to make quick work of your opposition in any given situation. However, the sheer sense of power in The Darkness can also be attributed to a lack of quality AI. Enemies will follow routine paths and stand behind objects when in the midst of a shootout, but they do not display any real challenge apart from all apparently being trained marksmen. A mafia goon will somehow hit you with a shotgun blast from across a long dark alley, but won't chase after you when you're attempting to recover. In this regard, The Darkness definitely demonstrates the difference between frustrating and challenging. Nevertheless, the visceral and distinctive game play mechanics do well in distracting the player from this issue.

The atmosphere in The Darkness is second to none. The visual, sound, and level design all come together to convey the storyline's gritty mood most effectively. Throughout his journey, Jackie will roam across a gloomy version of New York City eternally stuck at midnight. The city is complete with hobos, street performers, and a fully functional subway system with authentic stations and environments. Jackie will also travel to an alternate, desolate landscape depicting the origins of his curse during what appears to be World War I. This environment is genuinely disturbing, made more so by the remarkable technical aspects of the game. The visuals are top notch with each locale brimming with detail and character models looking terrific and moving fluidly, even in the throes of death.

You can find outfits like this football jersey to customize the appearance of your darklings.

The sound design is phenomenal and is the true star of the show. The voice acting is some of the best in gaming today with very credible performances adding believability to an almost unbelievable narrative. Mike Patton, former lead singer of Faith No More, delivers a hair-raising performance as the voice of The Darkness. By and large, the ambiance of The Darkness is its greatest asset.

Besides its gratifying single-player campaign, The Darkness also offers an online-only multiplayer mode consisting of standard game types and options: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Survivor. You have the option of playing as humans, Darklings, or shape-shifters than can switch between the two. Despite this lineup, the multiplayer mode is the utter definition of "tacked on" with insurmountable lag issues and ill-conceived gameplay mechanics rendering it nearly unplayable. It seems as though this portion of the game was hastily added to appease shooter fans that are of the opinion that any game with guns is required to include some sort of multiplayer experience.

In The Darkness, players are treated to an interesting story, riveting game play, superb visuals, and fantastic sound design. Although the sheer lack of multiplayer quality is immediately apparent and the uninspired AI provides mostly frustration rather than a challenge, the single-player campaign is remarkable enough to merit this game a glowing recommendation. Despite its flaws, The Darkness proves that it is still possible to stand out from the shadows.