I’m sure by now I’ve heard lots of things about Darksiders, a lot of the opinions are centered around this game playing out very much like a Zelda game. I think thats a fair critique… but my question is, who doesn’t want a mature content Zelda game? If I recall, people have been asking for that for years.
Darksiders has you playing the role of War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, however, War is alone in his return to post-apocalyptic earth… well kind of… War is promptly bound to a sort of Jiminy Cricket type character called The Watcher, who serves as a guide and as a help button in a pinch. The relationship between War and the Watcher is excellent, the dialog between them is dramatic at times, and funny at others. The background story is excellent, and the story as a whole, but the mission through the bulk of the game boils down to delivering hearts to a demon, which really isn’t all that compelling. But the way that you are caught up to what has happened in completing your mission is very compelling, I simply would have preferred chasing those baddies for that information instead of for the purpose of collecting their heart. No spoilers but the story is told as a whole, and you feel like you’ve accomplished the goal of the story so far, and leaves you pumped to see what happens next. In fact I’d go so far as to say that this is one of the better open-ended game conclusions that I’ve seen in a long time.
I love the graphic style, and the voice acting couldn’t be any better, There were definitely some moments of slow down when things get hectic, which was unfortunate. I would have liked some more types of enemies, or more ‘kill move’ animations, they got very repetitive by the end of the game. Of all the gripes you can have with a game, if thats the best you can come up with I think you’re in pretty good shape.
The world is pretty well constructed, you move through the environment, and to the “dungeons” seamlessly, I use the term dungeon loosely, because they aren’t dungeons in the traditional sense… the first is an old cathedral which is the closest to a traditional dungeon that you run into in the entire game, shattered highways, deserts, sewers, all very unique, and most laid out well. Unfortunately the clever and well planned dungeons taper off towards the end, and its almost like they were trying too hard and what they ended up with was a long convoluted dungeon, with repeating puzzles. All of the bosses at the end of the dungeons were unique and challenging, excellent stuff really. The only thing lacking in that regard, is that the bosses don’t always provide feedback that you’re hurting them, in what can be some long battles, it would have been nice to get some sort of reaction.
There is a fair amount of weapons to choose from, but most aren’t really that useful, or effective. The controls are OK, you basically have 3 attack buttons, one being your sword, and the other two can be mapped to other weapons. You can combo using each of the equipped, and its fairly seamless, there is enough attacks to keep it interesting but I tended to keep going back to my favorites. you also have access to a demon mode, when you’ve stored up enough wraith, and access to a horse later on, but neither really serve as much more than a distraction to spice things up.
I must say, I’ve had a ton of fun with this game, and I can see myself picking it up for a second play through when I get some time to revisit. I can’t think of a single niche of gamer that wouldn’t find something to enjoy here, it’s a great game that shouldn’t be missed.
