Oh the life I’ve lived. I’ve skipped across the tops of skyscrapers with the ease of a child playing hopscotch. I’ve busted out of prisons that were said to be inescapable, that were patrolled by minigun-toting mechs, among other things. I’ve completed the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs. I’ve slain Balrogs (of both varieties). I’ve covered wars, ya know.

The moment I remember best, though? I was sitting in a small apartment, on a couch made more of dust than fluff. Minutes earlier, I’d gunned down some 20 mafia goons, but that didn’t matter. She leaned on my shoulder, half-asleep, and we watched an old black-and-white rendition of “To Kill a Mockingbird” on a teensy television. For more than an hour.  

And that’s when I thought, “This game is incredible.”

That game was The Darkness, an Xbox 360 shooter from Starbreeze studios. Sure – as I implied earlier – the game certainly had me behind the barrel of a gun (or a giant hell-borne tentacle-snake) more often than not, but even among countless epic shootouts and swelling operatic scores, that mundane moment with main character Jackie Estacado (you) and his girlfriend dozing on a couch stands out the most. It was simple. It was quaint. But most of all, it was entirely believable.

In that moment, I got a feel for exactly the sort of guy Jackie was. Of course, he was no saint. Many of his actions weren’t even forgivable. Intimidation, “necessary force,” and even murder – Jackie wasn’t afraid to sully his hands if it meant getting the job done. But he wasn’t a godless killing machine. He simply hated his enemies and loved his friends. And so, even though, at that very moment, made men were probably sporting itchy trigger fingers that only Jackie’s death could scratch, he chose to take care of his girlfriend.

That hour passed like any other. There were no swoons, no studio audiences going “D’aaaaaaaw” – not even a makeout scene. Just people being people. Still though, more than in any other game, I knew how Jackie felt about his romantic interest. He loved her. Truly and sincerely. I imagine that he spent time with her like that whenever he could. Because, when it came time for me to see Jackie’s true colors, I didn’t have to take some character’s word for it. I actually experienced it.