People hate Jackie Estacado. For the young Don of an Italian crime family in New York City, that’s to be expected among rival organizations and greedy mobsters. When you toss in supernatural forces and occult groups to this mix, however, things can get just a little more dicey.

When The Darkness came out for consoles in 2007, it surprised a lot of people with its unique take on the first-person shooter genre: not only were you just shooting and taking cover, but now you had the added element of demonic powers that could literally tear your enemies to pieces. Add to that an emotionally-driven story filled with memorable moments, and The Darkness came to be quite the sleeper hit in a year filled with other strong releases.

One of the biggest changes in this year’s sequel is the graphical overhaul that new developers Digital Extremes decided to implement: instead of the gritty, realistic style seen in the first game, The Darkness 2 has a decidedly different presentation, which the developers dubbed as “graphic noir.” It’s more nuanced and complex than the simple cel-shading that we’re used to seeing in other games; the stunning hand-painted textures are the real star of this show, where you can see small details such as shading, cross-hatching, and other stylized choices that really makes the game appear as a living, breathing comic book.

Though The Darkness 2 has a much more varied color palette as a result, the atmosphere is still as dark, moody and violent as it’s ever been.

Like the first game, the sequel thrives on the numerous and inventive ways that enemies can be dispatched, and the simplification of this system only enhances the experience. The much-touted “Quad-Wielding” mechanic lives up to its name: with the two triggers firing your guns and the two bumpers taking care of your Demon Arms, controlling Jackie is a breeze. In one fell swoop, you can take out a small army of enemies: in one instance, I took down two thugs with head-shots from my pistols, sliced another in half by hurling his own tactical shield against him, and decapitated the last poor sap with a decisive swing from one of my tendrils.

It’s a great feeling.

Sometimes, however, these large shootouts become hectic when you switch from guns to powers then back to guns again, and it’s easy to slip up on the Xbox 360 controller -- I can’t count the number of times I accidentally crouched by pressing down on the right stick while I was trying to attack with the Demon Arm (the right stick controls which direction it hits). Another problem with this tendril attack is its inflexibility, as it’s limited only to horizontal or vertical swipes that makes its accuracy inconsistent; it could have benefited from a more free-form kind of movement.

While the combat is fantastically imaginative, the game would be nothing without the more quiet, non-violent scenes with NPCs -- usually this involves talking to members of Jackie’s organization in his mansion. Hearing some of this dialogue is optional, but you’ll want to do it anyway, as not only is the voice acting superb, but it helps flesh out these extra characters and their off-beat humor. It’s a nice change of pace from all the shooting and killing you’ll otherwise be doing.  

Mike Patton returns as the voice of the Darkness itself, which is tonally different from the first game (here it’s 100% Patton without any filters or modulation), and seems much more angrier and desperate within its raspy screams as it tries to assert control over its host.

Then there are the scenes with Jackie’s girlfriend, Jenny, who was killed in the last game thanks in part to the Darkness. She’s represented here as hallucinations that randomly show up throughout the game, serving as intimate moments that sadistically tease Jackie with what has been taken away from him. You genuinely want to fight for her, even if you know the hallucinations may not be real. Very few games can make you care this much about the narrative, let alone a single character, and it’s what helps The Darkness titles stand out from the usual FPS fare.

Once you finish the main campaign, there are a few cooperative multiplayer modes to explore: Vendettas and Hit Lists. After choosing one of four characters, who all have Darkness-infused weapons, you follow a campaign that parallels Jackie’s story in the main game. They’re fun for maybe 10 to 20 minutes, but it becomes painfully clear that these missions are just in the game to artificially extend the experience; and with only a loose narrative holding these missions together, you start to wonder why the developers felt this was needed in the first place.

These are small gripes in an otherwise excellent game, however, as The Darkness 2 will test your skills, and your sanity, until its final conclusion. All told, it took me about eight hours to complete, but with the option of a New Game Plus and cooperative missions that might tickle your fancy, there is a lot of content here to satisfy you until the inevitable third game.