Darksiders Review

Prepare yourself to experience an all out war between the creatures of heaven and hell with THQ and Vigil Games’ the Darksiders for the XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3. Since it was announced Darksiders was pretty much one of the most anticipated games to hit the consoles and now that it is finally out it’s time for us to pass judgement.

Darksiders is an action adventure game that has the elements of blockbuster games such as God of War, Prince of Persia, and the Legend of Zelda. When these three games are combined into one game it produces a game that people will never forget. I am saying this right now, Darksiders lived up to my expectation and yes, it is like playing God of War but even better and more entertaining!

Let’s take a look at the HOTs and NOTs of THQ’s Darksiders:

HOT

Interesting story
There are a lot of games and movies that talk about the end of the world and no one has really crafted a good narration of it except Darksiders. The game is fantasy, but it is based on the beliefs many people have today. It has been foretold in the legends that when the seven seals are broken the Kingdom of Heaven, Hell, and Mankind will have a huge conflict which will result in an end-war. The time has come and demons and creatures of heaven arrived on earth. With War, one of the four horsemen to appear on earth, the Council that maintains the balance accuses him as the one who broke the seal. War must prove his innocence and fight his way through the horde of demons and angels.

Throughout War’s journey in proving his innocence prepare to meet friendly demons that are told to us in legends. Each of these demons has a great presonality that will get you hooked and make you want to play more. These demons will give War abilities that will aid him in his battles.

I am not surprised on the recent announcement of THQ that this game will be made into a movie. The story is solid and it is very interesting to people who love apocalyptic storylines.

Great Presentation
I must admit the moment I first played the game I thought this game would not live up to the hype. Sure the CG graphics are top notch, but as soon as I gained control of War I saw that the environments were pretty generic and did not seem impressive at all. The game is laid out over a vast map that you have to go back and forth through. The first area seems pretty dull, but as soon as you go through the game you will see how well the designs are. It does not stand a chance with the graphics of games such as Mass Effect 2 or Final Fantasy XII but for this game it is pretty good.

Another thing that I can compliment in this game is how nice the characters are drawn out. There will be interesting characters that War will be meeting throughout the game. From demons, dragons, to the angels of heaven, you will be impressed on how Vigil games makes this become interesting.

As for the voice overs, THQ did a good job casting the voice actors. Each of the character’s voices matches up with their looks and personality making you feel the game’s emotion and helps you become drawn further into the conversations.

Decent Combos
The Combos in Darksiders are not as interesting as Bayonetta. No, War does not expose any of his body parts, but his execution attacks with his Chaoseater sword are very brutal and satisfying. Expect to see a lot of blood as War slices up his enemies. Combos are one of the things that everyone must learn since this is a key to his survival. There are a decent amount of combos that can be purchased through the merchant in the game.

Decent Weapon Selection
Remember how Link could carry a lot of weapons in his back and use his Boomerang to hit switches and enemies? Well, War has it too. There are a decent selection of weapons that War can use in this game. One of the notable weapons that War utilizes is the Reaper’s scythe, “The Harvester”, and the Star shuriken that acts like a boomerang, but expect it to slice enemies until their limbs are broken apart. Oh, don’t forget that War can equip a Gun and throw things that he can see in the field!

With the souls that you collect by defeating enemies you can use them to purchase weapons from the merchant aside from Combos. Each weapon can add an enhancement that makes it more powerful or benefitial to War, but it is all up to you on when to use it under certain conditions.

Good Adventure game
Aside from it being very action packed Darksiders will give you a lot of adventuring to do. If you love solving puzzles in the dungeons of the Legend of Zelda games, then you will enjoy doing that in the Darksiders. In every dungeon that you go to you will be solving puzzles that are not hard exactly but very time consuming. You will spend a good amount of time going back and forth before being able to unlock the door to proceed to the next area.

NOT

Screen Tearing and Hiccups
One of the things that can ruin everyone’s experience while playing this game is the excessive screen tearing. If you have a HDTV this is noticeable and it can give you headaches. Most of the time you will see the screen tearing, but I myself managed to get used to it since the game is so enjoyable.

Long dungeons
There are parts in the game that have a huge dungeon where you have to go over and over again until you solve the puzzle. It can get a little annoying because there are times that it was easy to get lost. There is a map provided, but sometiems with the area so big you will not know where you are.

Button Mashing
Throughout the game I spent most of the time pressing the B button (or the Square if you have the PS3 version). Sure there are combos in the game, but most of the time you will not need to learn them because using the default attack button is enough to beat an enemy.

VERDICT

Darksiders is indeed a great way to start the new year. It has a great storyline and gameplay that resembles the things we loved from past games such as God of War and the Legend of Zelda. The platforming and action were mixed together making an overall product that everyone will love. If you are looking for a great game to kick off 2010, then Darksiders will be your best bet. Do not worry about the screen tearing too much because the gameplay will make it up for it. It is not the best game of the year but no action-adventure fans should miss it.

[Editor’s Note: Darksiders was reviewed on a Xbox 360 platform. The game was supplied to us by the publisher.]