Darksiders Review

Eons ago, the Charred Council called a truce between Heaven and Hell, creating Seven Sacred Seals to serve as a boundary for both forces. They also created the Kingdom of Man, who they believed would help decide the Final Battle between the two forces when the time was right. However, in Darksiders, the Apocalpyse has started early and War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, has been summoned to bring order. And so begins the tale that Vigil Games have created in their first ever title, which sees Joe Madureira - best known for his work with Marvel Comics - take the helm as creative director.

Upon arriving on Earth, War finds that his fellow Horsemen haven't been summoned, and he fights in vein against the forces of Hell. In his weakened state, he is no match for the Destroyer's Chosen, Straga, and is simply cast aside by the colossus. The Charred Council believe that War was the person to bring the Apocalypse around prematurely and offer him penance in reward for re-aligning the balance of power and slaying the Destroyer, a deal which War gladly accepts, as he looks to seek revenge alone against those who have framed him.

As has become common-place with games, the Charred Council strip War of all his powers and he must start again from scratch as a shadow of his former self. War battles to regain his powers and while doing so, players are treated to a story that's very well told. Characters throughout attempt to throw bones for players to gnaw on, but they often appear to be red herrings, and as the true nature of the plot unravels, it makes the trials and tribulations that War suffers through seem worthwhile. It does take a little while for the story to get going in full force, but by the end, players will be wanting it to continue.

Although War's powers have all been stripped, he is still able to use his trusty sword, the Chaoseater. Combat is ultimately quite simple, with all sword combat being controlled by a single button. Directional buttons can be used to enter into different combinations, as well as being in the air, but there isn't a huge variety of attacks to be performed, even after they have all been purchased. Extra variety comes in the form of a secondary weapon, which is controlled by another button. This can be combined with the sword, or simply used on its own, and as with the sword, extra combinations can be bought to further increase the array of attacks. Each of the weapons can also be upgraded by repeated use, which increases their damage. However, it's really down to personal preference which a player uses, as the sword is more than capable of doing the job on its own.

Combat can get a little tedious at times due to the lack of variety, but what helps to make it more interesting is the usage of blocks, evasion and special moves. The timing required for blocks is quite specific, and landing one can really make a huge difference to the outcome of the battle - it's also very rewarding. Evasion is also an extremely important part of combat, especially against some of the more robust opponents. Plus, if an opponent is damaged enough, it can be executed in glorious detail. It would have been nice to see some variety with regards to executions performed on the same monster-type though. War can also use four special moves at the cost of Wrath, which can make him into amongst other things an Inferno, or give him hardened skin.

As War progresses, he also gains numerous accessories. These can be used in combat, but they are mostly used to help War solve the puzzles, which get progressively more difficult as the game draws to its close. What starts off as flicking some switches using a shuriken quickly becomes teleporting in real-time and using grappling mechanics. With each new accessory is an associated boss, which must be defeated by utilising the new-found abilities and they are something of a throw-back to an older style of gaming. Bosses don't have health bars, instead, players must learn their cycles and counter them numerous times to achieve victory.

The art-style in Darksiders, as expected, is brilliant. The desolate Earth manages to create such an atmosphere, whether it be in the barren Ashlands, or the greenery surrounding Ulthane's home. It's just a bit disappointing that there isn't a larger variety in enemies to follow suite. Enemy types do get upgraded as the game progresses, but strategies for killing them don't. Performing executions is also an effective way to avoid damage in combat, as War becomes invincible while the preset animation is being performed. Voice acting is also on the whole very good, but War's voice sounds like someone who is trying to sound menacing and strong, not someone who actually is menacing and strong. It can be a bit distracting sometimes, especially when War is involved in conversations involving multiple individuals. There were also some very noticeable frame-rate drops when riding on War's horse, Ruin, and attempting to manually aim.

Darksiders is a surprisingly lengthy game, clocking in at around 12 hours on normal difficulty. Having said that, upon completing the game there is no option to carry over anything to a new game. This is slightly disappointing, as aside from wanting to complete the game on a higher difficulty, there isn't much incentive to play the game again. There are lots of items to collect, such as cores to increase health and acquiring War's Abyssal Armour, but there's no real benefit to doing so, other than wanting to be as strong as possible.

8

Great

Darksiders is a solid game, which many will find exceedingly rewarding to play through. This won't simply be because of the story that grows as the game progresses, but because of the challenging puzzles and gorgeous art design. Unfortunately, there are some deficiencies in the combat system and there isn't really any incentive to play the game through a second time, but these deficiencies don't stop Darksiders from being a great start to 2010 for the action genre.