Top Tips: The Darkness II

Master the darkness and battle the Brotherhood in style with these enlightening tips from Digital Extremes lead designer, Tom Galt.


Stay away from the light
Remember to stay out of the light, it hurts Jackie. The left Demon Arm will drop anything it's carrying when you move into the light and you won't be able to use either Demon Arm as long as you stay in it.





Heart Essence
The more powerful an enemy is, the more Essence points you'll get when you eat their heart. You may be tempted to dispatch the tough Brotherhood with more powerful attacks like Gun Channeling, Executions, or a well-placed Black Hole, but always be mindful of the fact that you may be robbing yourself of valuable Essence.


Time to die
Executing enemies equals large amounts of Essence points, which can be used to purchase upgrades. Performing these takedowns doesn't leave any hearts behind, so you won't be able to heal Jackie. The best way around this is by purchasing the Health Execution upgrade, which allows you to gain a little health with every execution.


Double trouble
You can swap which hand holds a dual wielded gun by pressing the down button on your wireless controller when you have two weapons in your grasp. I personally find this very useful because I'm used to holding the L1 button down to aim, and sometimes forget to keep pressing it when using a semi-automatic pistol in Jackie's left hand. By placing a fully automatic sub-machine gun, such as the Uzi, in Jackie's left hand I can use it effectively even if I just press and hold the L1 button.





Hold your fire
Ammo in The Darkness II is a precious resource and can be hard to come by at certain points in the game. Avoid wasting it by using Jackie's Demon Arms and other Darkness powers. Be sure to get in close to slash an enemy with one Demon Arm, or keep your distance and grab objects in the environment to hurl at them instead of wasting bullets. It's really important to remember that guns are only one of the many deadly weapons at your disposal.


Master grabber
You can make weak mobsters vulnerable to being grabbed by first staggering them with an attempted grab. Once they're dazed, they're very easy to get hold of and take down. You can easily see when an enemy is vulnerable to that specific attack - their heart and vasculature will pulse with an unnatural glow. You can also make an enemy vulnerable to a grab by staggering them with bullets, or hitting them with a quick Demon Arm slash attack. Tougher enemies like the Brotherhood are not so easy to deal with - trying to get a hold of a member of the Brotherhood when he's not vulnerable only makes him angry.


Secrets of the Brotherhood
Brotherhood members wearing heavy armour cannot be grabbed using Jackie's Demon Arms until their armour is destroyed. It's the same for Brotherhood enemies wielding shields - you can use the Demon Arms to snatch their shield, but only after the armour covering it has been destroyed.

Grabbing the shield isn't the only way to dispatch this devious enemy's principle defence. You can use the Swarm attack to force him to drop it, or you can use Gun Channeling and the Heart of Darkness upgrade to shoot right through it. Once you have worn the shield down, you slash it with the Demon Arms to stagger him and then let rip with your firearms.






Pole dancer
True Masters of The Darkness II never pick up poles when they are lying on the ground. Use an upward slash with one Demon Arm to knock the pole into the air, and then snatch it mid-air with the other. Your enemies will tremble before your pole-juggling awesomeness.


Devilish demo tips
Picking up Relics earns 300 Essence points, and there are 2 that can be found in the Demo available to download for free from PlayStation Store. Here's a tip that allows you to access more Talents within the Talent Shrine.

The first Relic is right outside the door after the Darkling gives you an Uzi. The second is in the Subway. I won't say where exactly, but it's before you get to the Talent Shrine on the Subway's lower level.

If you avoid spending Essence at that first Talent Shrine, find both Relics, eat lots of hearts, and avoid gun kills, you'll be able to purchase the Gun Channeling or Swarm powers from the second Talent Shrine for maximum carnage. Happy hunting!