For over a year I have been anxiously waiting for this game to be released.  From the moment I saw a video preview of the game in its beginning stages, I was hooked.  Darksiders happens to be the game I am talking about.  The game was released just last week, which seemed like an eternity since its announcement.  Darksiders is the product of collaboration between a comic book artist Joe Madureira (Uncanny X-Man and Battle Chasers) and developer Vigil Games.

The game begins in a present day city, presumably in the United States.  There appears to be some sort of an invasion and the player is thrown right into the fray taking the role of one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse named War.  There are Angels and Demons fighting each other as well as reining terror on the human inhabitants of the city.  After spending some time wandering the city waiting for the other three Horsemen to arrive, War is confronted by a huge monstrous creature whom he engages in battle.  During the battle War loses his powers and the scene cuts to what appears to War standing before a Council who has stripped him of his powers and sentenced him to an eternity of imprisonment.

War is told by the Council that he broke the laws concerning starting the Apocalypse and that he started it early without the Final (Seventh) Seal being opened.  War later realizes that Hell has tricked him into starting the Apocalypse early and he has sentenced all of mankind and Heaven itself to doom.  Well further in the conversation War learns that it's been over 100 years since the day he started the Apocalypse early and the whole earth have been destroyed and demons walk the Earth.  The Council gives War a chance to clear his name and turn back time and events preceding his mistake.  The Council reluctantly allows War to return to Earth with a "parole officer" called the Watcher who is bound to the Horseman until his quest is complete.

Darksiders features gameplay with elements borrowed from other games.  Many critics have complained that these elements were stolen, but the game designer says it was done to pay homage to those games and that these elements of gameplay have become staples in the action and adventure genre.  The game uses the third-person point-of-view for the entire game like most action and adventure games.  The combat system is very similar to what is seen in the God of War series.  War uses a huge sword as his main weapon by pressing the Square Button and can perform different combos in conjunction with the other buttons after purchasing new techniques throughout the game.  The X Button is used to jump and the O Button is used to pick up objects like cars, trucks, lamp posts, etc.  War can pick up almost any object in the environment and use as a weapon as well as having the ability to throw the objects at his enemies.

The O Button is also used to interact with the environment and the player is prompted when to use it.  When an enemy reaches critical status the O Button appears above the enemy allowing the player to execute a special "finishing" move (like ripping the arms of a zombie, nailing a giant's hand to the ground with your sword and ripping it's head off, etc.)  The O Button is also used to open doors, treasure chests, and talk to certain characters in the game.

Like most action and adventure games, the Left Analog Stick is used to navigate your character around the environment and the Right Analog Stick controls the camera angle as well as having the ability to bring up on-screen crosshairs to aim at your enemies when using projectile-like weapons by clicking the Right Analog Stick.  This is helpful especially when you pick up cars or lamp posts and use them as projectiles.  War can pretty much go anywhere in the game.  He can climb up the side of some buildings, he can swim underwater, traverse pipes and power lines to get to where he needs to, etc.

War also has the ability to purchase weapons (and other items) from a demon shopkeeper named Vulgrim throughout the game.  War collects souls of the enemies he fights and uses them as currency (as well as finding hidden relics to trade for souls).  The soul collecting in Darksiders is similar to what is done in the Onimusha and Devil May Cry games.  Blue Souls are used as currency, while the Green Souls fill up his life meter and the Yellow ones top off War's "Wrath Meter" which allows him to perform special skills he has learned.  Also certain characters you come across bestow some powers on you that allow you to fly/glide across high places, etc.  All of the characters you come across have hidden motives behind helping you so you have to be careful and watch your back.

Darksiders isn't just a hack-and-slash/button mashing game like most critics have complained about.  Sure there is some of that type of gameplay, but the game also requires that you retreat at times as well.  The game is hard at times and many of the larger foes you come across require 20 to 30 hits.  The first part of the game you run into fat-blobby looking guys that deal a lot of damage.  You have to go in and hit them a few times and then runaway and come in from a different angle.  And once you do destroy them they explode into a ball of fire and deal an extensive amount of damage to you.  You really have to think about how you dispose of your enemies.  As the game progresses you gain new moves and combos normally only seen in fighting games like Soul Calibur, Tekken, etc.

The game also has its fair share of puzzles just like the God of War series.  There is a lot of dragging large objects to reveal hidden passages; pressure plates that open doors, etc.  And the puzzles get harder as you get further into the game.  Many of them aren't very straight forward either which makes you have to sit back for several minutes and figure out how to approach the puzzle.  There are also certain situations that require you to compete in timed events that have you defeat a set number of enemies by using a specific technique (like killing an enemy using an aerial attack after launching it in the air, etc) or you fail the challenge.

A "Horseman" would not be complete without his trusty steed.  At certain points in the game you can summon War's horse which is named Ruin.  The riding sequences are similar to the modern Legend of Zelda games as well as the horseback riding elements of Shadow of the Colossus.  In fact the sequences of the game that require you to use projectile weapons like the Cross-Blade are reminiscent to the bow & arrow and boomerang segments of these two games.  The horseback riding sequences can be a little tedious and clunky at times, but fun nevertheless.

Graphically the game is very good as well.  And just like in Ghostbusters, the environments are almost 100% interactive.  The environments react to your every move.  When you walk through puddles of water they ripple and splash.  Old newspapers and litter get stirred up and blow around as you walk by.  Tables, chairs, grand pianos, etc all move and get knocked over when you bump into them.  You can even use your weapons and break open these same objects and release Souls as well.  My favorite thing to do is smash fire hydrants on the street levels which allow a geyser of water to spring forth and drench the street.  The lighting effects are accurately rendered and the shadows and reflections fun to look at.  The reflections in the water were well thought of too.  When your character jumps off from the top of a high place and lands, a crater is produced where he hits on the street, etc.

The beginning of the game takes place in a modern day city complete with traffic, people running around screaming, news crews trying to cover the mayhem, etc.  The city is highly detailed, from the mock billboard advertisements to the flat screen televisions in stores and apartments.  You can break windows, pick up cars, smash televisions (which is fun to see the sparks fly), etc.  Meteors are falling from the sky hitting the cars on the street as well as the sidewalks, etc.  When you are sent back to Earth 100 years later, the city is in complete ruin and it really feels like you are in a post-apocalyptic city right out of a movie.  Skyscrapers are falling down, windows are busted out, cars appear to have been engulfed in flames before being smashed, skeletons line many streets, and the "survivors" are now zombies roaming the alleyways and streets.

The sound effects and music score are well done.  The sound effects are accurate.  The beginning of the game takes place in a city thrown into chaos with police sirens going off, people screaming, demons growling, angel warriors shouting commands, etc.  You go from a lot of noise to almost no noise 100 years later.  The game uses a subtle amount of sound while on the abandoned streets.  Sometimes all you hear is a gust of wind, water splashing around when you walk through a puddle, or a raven letting out a sharp cry.  It can be quite startling with the absence of sound at times too.  Especially when you go around a corner into an alley only to find that a zombie followed you in and the only reason you know that he's there is the sudden sound of his blood-curdling moaning coming from the rear speaker in your 5.1 surround sound set up...

At times the score is epic and sets the mood especially in heavy action sequences.  But for the most part it takes a back seat to the sound effects and the actual action in the game.  I think the absence of music in most instances makes the game more atmospheric and you really get lost in the moment more than you would if there was a big music score.

The developer and publisher got some big names to provide the voices for the main characters in the game.  Most notably is Mark Hamill (Batman, Robotech, etc) who provides the voice of The Watcher who talks along with War, who happens to be voiced by Liam O'Brian (World of Warcraft, Spider-Man, etc).  The dialog is for the most part like it's out of a comic book and can be over the top.  But that's part of what makes it fun.  Hearing War's deep, angry voice makes you want to go and kick the tar out of the demons who tricked you into causing the downfall of mankind.  The Watcher sounds a lot like the Joker from the Batman animated series and games.  Mark Hamill didn't bother trying to come up with a new voice.  He did add a "raspy" hiss in the voice normally absent from the Joker though which is nice.

The game in my opinion has some replay value despite what a lot of others are saying.  The game is fun enough to want to play through again as well as the opportunity to earn Trophies in the Sony PlayStation 3 version of the game.  I am really not upset that there is no online play, but I am disappointed that the game does not have any downloadable content (DLC) for new levels, weapons, items, etc.  Online play is down at the bottom of my list of necessary features.  I have had a chance to see both versions of the game being played and I have to admit that the X-Box360 version suffers from a lot of graphical glitches especially when a lot of action takes place on the screen.  The PS3 version does not suffer from any of the glitches and pixelization that the ‘360 version does.  The graveyard sequence with skeleton warriors popping up from the graves is an example of the problems with the ‘360 version (and that sequence wasn't as busy as ones you are thrown into later one...)  I think that the developers were keeping the PS3 version in mind first instead of the other way around like most developers have been doing.  The PS3 is a much more powerful system when it comes to graphics processing and the PS3 discs hold more info allowing for a greater opportunity to utilize the PS3 console (that's why you'll never see Uncharted 2 or Metal Gear-Solid 4 quality of graphics on the ‘360.  Close at times, but length and quality of gameplay are sacrificed).  In fact when the game was first announced I never saw a listing for the X-Box 360 version up until this past summer.

I was surprised to see the game receive a "Mature" rating since the game has no nudity or sex and contains no foul language other than using the world Hell in its appropriate context.  The violence can be intense and War finds creative ways to destroy and/or kill his opponents (like hanging onto a giant bat and stabbing it while it's trying to get away) but the flood to me looks too blobby.  Maybe it's the amount of blood that's spilt (in fact there is a counter in the options screen that gives an ongoing tally of blood in "gallons").  I guess at the beginning of the game you have the option to kill humans, but I had more fun running up to one and just standing and looking at them.  They would bend over and cower while whimpering.  As long as you didn't leave they would just hunker down until you left or turned your back.  I thought that was more fun than slaughtering innocents.  So I guess the Mature Rating could be considered appropriate (as well as the "End of the World" theme).

Overall the game is one of the best I have played in a long time and I am not disappointed with waiting over a year for it to be released.  A lot of my friends thought I was crazy for being this excited about the release of Darksiders...until they played it themselves this past week.  The game takes the best elements of the most popular games and combines them into one game.  Darksiders effectively uses all of these elements and it's like you are playing a game that invented these elements.  I sure hope that there is a sequel planned within the next year because I think that THQ has produced a new franchise worth pursuing.  The game is a lot of fun and I rank it with games like God of War II and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

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[GAME]
Darksiders

[PLATFORM]
Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3)

[DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER]
Vigil Games/THQ

[RELEASE YEAR]
2010

[GENRE]
Action/Adventure

[ESRB RATING]
M for Mature
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© Copyright 2010 Chris Billings

Special Thanks goes to Jeremy for adding this game to the Epinions Database!

Recommended: Yes