The first The Darkness game is stuck in weird spot, somewhere between some Immsersive Sim esque design decisions in the vain of Starbreeze's previous game Escape From Butcher Bay and a modern first person shooter. Right when you boot it up and get to move for the first time, you'll notice how strange it feels to move thanks to being an actual 3d model in the game world like Mirror's Edge did it, resulting in the most realistic looking first person view legs when you look down. But it also feels heavy to move. The aim assist is very generous but doesn't use a typical crossair but a red dot attached to your weapons instead. A lot of decisions are made to immerse you in its world. There's a lot of time spent going through the subway stations, opening the gate with your ticket, walking to a train to get to the next station, leaving through the rotating gate that only rotates in the proper direction. The subway stations are filled with npcs walking around, some giving you little subquests for extras to unlock. There's no minimap, no objective marker or anything. Getting to the next mission requires reading signs in the game world and listening to your quest givers. I really like all of this, it gives the game a comfy feeling, it sucks you in its world. And I haven't even mentioned how cool the idea for the hell world is. But it's janky. Shooting isn't satisfying and the The Darkness' powers are implemented rather poorly, they almost feel like an after-thought. And when usage is required to continue the game, it's really bad at telling you. All of this makes the game a mess, but an immersive mess which I found more pleasing, the more I got to play it.