Is it necessary to play the first in order to understand the Darkness II?

[stepha-fa-fa]

Simple question and I want the public's opinion! I don't really have easy access to the first but am curious to pick this one up. Verdict?

[Hunterssoldier]

The Darkness II has a quick recap of the first game's events at the beginning so you'll get the basics of the story, however I strongly recommend you to play the original, it's a brilliant game.

[Oldibas]

Not really, considering the very loose tie-in between the two.

[stepha-fa-fa]

Thanks for the input, I do plan on playing the original but wanted to make sure it's enjoyable without playing the first.

[Cockney Charmer]

It will make more sense of the core elements in the darkness II to play through the original game, especially to understand the relationship between Jackie and Jenny and Jackie and the Darkness

[Tobias The Reaper]

I definitely recommend playing the first. I really enjoyed the first one and I loved the second. The controls (Xbox 360) were quite nice in the first, but were refined and became much smoother in the second. As far as the story line goes, the plot in the first one is a tad scattered but you had a lot more freedom for roaming the city. You definitely get to see how Jackie develops in the first one and you can appreciate who he becomes in the second one even more, especially with what happens with the people close to him (e.g. Jenny).

[FallenVamphyre]

Not really, considering the very loose tie-in between the two.

Agreed, the second game is barely like the first. I'd recommend the first one if I were you.

[Alyxx]

I've never played the first Darkness game and with the recap in the beginning I actually got a good grasp of everything. Johnny's a good storyteller, if not a bit intense. So I don't think it was necessary, not for me anyway.

[nikkrawson]

i agree i played the second one first and was able to grasp the story line easily but i wanted to play the first so i could actually know what did happen and i loved both of the games.

[bloodbath october]

Not necessarily. You can always click on Watch Previously on The Darkness and Johnny will give you the explanation. But I like Darkness II much better and I'm sticking to it and have no desire to go back to Darkness I.