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At a glance...
| Reviewer | Platform | Publisher | Developer | Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Pilot | Xbox 360 | THQ | Vigil Games | 1 |
| Requirements | Also on... | Buy from Amazon.co.uk | ||
| None | PS3, PC | Click here to buy Darksiders. | ||
Darksiders review
In the post-Uncharted 2 world, Xbox 360 fans have been dying for their own triple A action-adventure game and Darksiders doesn't disappoint. From the very start, Darksiders sets the tone as you come crashing to Earth in a trail of fire and blood. Lets get one thing out of the way. Yes, this game feels like Legend of Zelda HD. But is that really a bad thing?
Darksiders is the first game by fledgling studio, and the relatively unheard of, Vigil Games, a Texas-based company owned by THQ. On first impressions, Vigil Games have done themselves proud and this is a great first step out of the gate. Any good action games needs an intriguing story to hook their gameplay, so lets take a look at the story behind Darksiders.
You play as War, one of the four horseman of the apocalypse and after a brief cut-scene you find yourself right in the middle of one. As it turns out, you’re the only horseman who showed up for the party and you're feeling pretty upset about it. This is where the game picks up from as you guide War through this post-apocalyptic world and find out about the events that led up to your release. From the very start, you're thrown straight into combat, facing demons and angels alike. The motivations behind this are not easily explained as War is tasked with finding out who summoned him to Earth and why. The story takes you through a few twists and turns and whilst I won't spoil the ending for you, it teases you enough to want more. Aiding you in your quest for answers and vengeance is your not-so-trusty sidekick, 'The Watcher'. Part Midna (from Zelda: Twilight Princess), part 'something else', The Watcher provides you with direction throughout the ruined cities of Earth, offering helpful hints, tips and sometimes advancing the story. The character is given just enough dialogue to engage the player, but not so much that they become annoying. In fact, it is voiced by the fantastic Mark Hamill of Arkham Asylum fame (and maybe something called "Star Wars"? -Matt). In fact, Vigil Games have managed to get some amazing voice talent, including Liam O'Brien, who provides voices in Japanese anime "Naruto", and together they lend a huge amount of credibility to game, pulling you further into the story.
As you journey through this world, the majority of the gameplay is focused on two main styles, hack-and-slash combat and puzzle solving. The various angels and demons that inhabit the world don't take too kindly to War’s interference and thus you will need to dispatch them. You have a basic set of moves; sword attack, air attack, etc, but these quickly become a flurry of fluid actions due to a fairly extensive combo system. Once an enemy is near death, an icon will appear above their head, allowing you to perform a finishing attack on them. This usually involves slicing them in half or executing them in a multitude of violent ways. Whilst a little bloodthirsty, the comic nature of the art style means that it's never too gory. No matter how you dispatch the foes you face, they will inevitably drop some collectibles, and here the main currency is souls. Represented by various colours, each type of soul will power up your various abilities. Green ones grant you more health, red ones will power up your weapons, while orange ones allow War to power up his special abilities. These range from a blade geyser which shoots swords out of the ground, impaling nearby enemies, to a poison cloud that slowly wears down the health of your foes. Another collectable is wrath, which fills up a meter on screen; once you've collected enough, War can turn into his second form, a powerful demon that can pretty much mop anything its path. Whilst this ability doesn't last long, it's a handy power to have when you're in a tight spot.
As I mentioned at the beginning, you can't help but notice the Legend of Zelda influences throughout this game, and this is most notable in the area of level design. A key part of Darksiders involves you working through a number of dungeons, and just like the Zeldas of the past, these dungeons are organized into a series of floors, with various puzzles to solve. You can really feel the influence of Nintendo's great titles of days past. Speaking of influences, highlights from other great games of the past decade make an appearance; there's the 'portal gun' from, well, Portal and the combat style of a God of War title. A key thing to stress after all this, however, is that when I say 'borrow' or 'influence', I'm not treating these as negatives. These gameplay additions don't feel tacked on, nor does it feel like it's trying to pander to the audience. Instead, the developer seems to have gone out of their way to ensure that these features feel at home with the rest of the game. The best way to describe it is my first experience when entering the dungeon for the first time. When I solved my first puzzle or when I picked up the crossblade, aka, the boomerang, I got a strong sense of nostalgia. This enhanced my experience of the game, and it took these concepts further than the originals games they appeared in, allowing me to use them in new and exciting ways.
A recent bad habit that I've picked up is achievement hunting, so I thought I should share how I found them in this game. For most achievements hoarders out there, you'll be pleased to know that most of them can be obtained in one or two play-throughs, depending on your choice of difficulty. There's the obliquity 'collect all the items' achievement, but most of these can be gained relatively easily. The worse achievement however, is "Aerial Predator" which can only be obtained in one section of the game and requires restarting the section if you fail it.
Whilst I'm nitpicking, some of the items got more attention than others. This was mainly caused by their late appearance in the game. The Mask of Shadows, which allows you to see hidden items and locations, feels very underused and leaves you wishing they could have incorporated some particularly interesting puzzles. War's horse, Riot, also appears late into the game and feels a little redundant due to a warping system granted to you early on.
These minor gripes aside, the level of quality in Darksiders really astounded me and you can certainly see the effort that the developers at Vigil Games have put into the game. The post-apocalyptic world they have crafted is brimming with details, both in terms of the character designs and the small effects littered throughout the game. Unfortunately, we didn't get to play to see these effects a second time as there isn't much of a replayability factor, with only the increased difficulty and the associated achivements to encourage you. The game often points you down a narrow path and holds you hand along the way, such as during a scripted on-rails sequence or fighting side-by-side against one of your allies. However, whilst the end boss isn't much of a challenge even on the higher difficulties, the story comes to a solid and satisfying conclusion. The ending certainly sets itself up for a sequel, and its one we eagerly look forward to playing.
Ratings
| Overall | Darksiders is a really fun game and one of most refreshing titles this reviewer has played in a while. Whilst you won't come back to it after you've finished it, the story and art style are more than worth the entry fee. | 8/10 |
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