Interesting read. I've yet to play The Darkness - perhaps I should look into it. It can't hurt supporting a Swedish developer, either.

Now, let me indulge a bit in this interesting anecdote...

"The story is solid, the characters are inspired, and while it's far from fine art, it's one of the better gaming experiences I've had recently and was completely unexpected."

I know what you mean by this, but I can't help but wonder, as an open question, what is it that you mean by "fine art" and what separates "it" from the Darkness? I know the subject of this discussion is by definition an aporia (essentially, what is art?), so I don't really expect an absolute answer, but I'm curious as to why you felt the need to point out the discrepancy in the first place.

I guess the fact that it doesn't go without saying shows how far videogames have come insofar as their artistic ambition and merit is concerned.

I loved that part. You enter The Darkness' mind and find... zombie Germans eternally tormenting a squad of WWI soldiers, one of which was the first to carry The Darkness. Perfectly creepy.

It's a pretty straightforward mob story with a fantasy twist. It's pretty firmly entrenched in its genre. That prevents it from being any kind of "fine art" unless it completely transcends the genre a la Pulp Fiction. That's what I meant by that. With that said, it does a pretty damned good job of keeping the story interesting despite its obvious "revenge on the mob" storyline.

I still find it somewhat sad that I'm impressed by a straightforward game's storyline merely because it doesn't insult my intelligence or pander to adolescents. On the other hand, over the past few years I've been treated to games like Portal and Psychonauts so I know that some developers are moving this industry in the right direction.