There are many games you will play in 2010 that will be unique, original creatures. Titles that truly innovate, and for years will be remembered for the trail theyâve blazed. Darksiders is not one of those games.
Instead, itâs an action/role-playing game hybrid where you play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, whoâs been tricked into starting said Apocalypse when he really wasnât supposed to. Whoops. So youâre sent to make amends, and by âmake amendsâ, I mean âkill everyone and everything responsible.â
Playing through the game, it often feels like every element of Darksiders has been lifted from somewhere else. It plays like The Legend of Zelda (you even get a horse!), only with God of Warâs aesthetic and combat. Thereâs also a bit of Prince of Persia platforming tossed in for good measure and even some Panzer Dragoon, all the above crudely cobbled together to form something else. Itâs the Frankensteinâs Monster of January 2010.
But is that such a bad thing? Letâs find out.
Loved
Demon Killer: Fairly early in the game, you gain the ability to transform into what is essentially a giant Balrog. And you can do this once every five minutes or so. Sure, it makes the game too easy as you progress, but when you can click your fingers and turn into a 20-foot flaming monster which can crush enemies at will, I simply do not care.
Mark Hamill: Mark Hamill is in the game. Itâs not his finest role, but hey, itâs still nice hearing the guy, especially since heâs playing Darksidersâ version of Ocarina of Timeâs Navi.
Finish Him: Darksiders includes a neat feature whereby enemies close to death (say, theyâve got 1/3 of their strength left) can be wiped out instantly with a single button press. Whatâs more, those enemies are lit up with an icon indicating this. When youâre in the midst of a battle against 5-8 bad guys, itâs a big help, as it lets you plan your course through the carnage and deal with enemies one by one.
The Futureâs So Bright⊠â Iâll get to my grievances with the gameâs art style later, but one thing that doesnât disappoint is Darksiderâs colour. Despite being a post-apocalyptic title, the game pops with colour, from Warâs bright red tunic to lush green and blue water levels to swirling yellow deserts. Even the bad guys are dripping with aqua blues and bright greens. Sure makes a pleasant change from the browns, greys and more browns youâd expect from a game like this.
Itâs Dangerous To Go Alone. Take This. Itâs a genuine surprise to see that, in some cases, Darksiders actually manages to succeed in feeling like a Zelda game. After a slow, combat-heavy opening youâll soon encounter large dungeons full of puzzles, then go about unlocking new weapons to unlock new puzzles and defeat new enemies/bosses. Just goes to show that, at least in terms of mechanics, the Zelda formula isnât as hard to copy as youâd have imagined.
Hated
Mad Indeed: Much was made of the involvement of comic book star Joe Madureira as the gameâs creative director. Pity, because Darksiders is a creative mess. Its bulging, ridiculous characters are like something built to appeal to 16 year-old boys from the 1990âs, the story is left untended for most of the game and Darksidersâ worlds and opponents are so mired in clichĂ© that at times you wonder whether the gameâs secretly deriding every fantasy game thatâs come before it.
Ratchet & Clunk: For some reason, there are platforming areas in this game. There really shouldnât be. Warâs movements are far too cumbersome and âclunkyâ for wall-running and flying⊠foxing, meaning some obstacles and areas are far more difficult to traverse than they ought to be. This is also the best spot to complain about the âdemonic growthâ, which is the only substance War can climb in the game. You see, despite the fact the protagonist has metal claw fingers and is a horseman of the apocalypse, he canât climb rocks, or walls, or trees. All he can climb is conveniently-located âdemonic growthâ. Itâs not the first game to do this, sure, itâs just the best example of the way this game implements some ill-fitting and outdated elements.
Hope You Like Fighting: While Darksiders gets the Zelda formula right in some instances, in others, it falls short. In Zelda, the mechanics are only half the fun; the rest comes from exploration, interaction with NPCs and side-quests. Darksiders has mostly⊠fighting, meaning your only compulsion to advance through the gameâs sprawling levels is the promise of more combat.
Screen Tear: I played the game on 360, and experienced the worst screen tear effects Iâve seen since Saints Row. Which, coincidentally, was also published by THQ. Itâs tolerable most of the time, but in some areas itâs almost unbearable.
Thereâs an over-used saying that goes âjack of all trades, master of noneâ. Iâm going to use it one more time, however, because thatâs exactly how Darksiders feels. Yes, it takes the best elements of some of the best games of the past decade and throws them together, but it never manages to mould them all into something truly unique. Itâs like watching a YouTube mashup of your favourite games in lieu of, well, actually playing through your favourite games.
Youâve also got to wonder about the timing of the gameâs release. Zelda inspirations aside, youâll spend the bulk of your time in Darksiders brawling, and with God of War III and the sublime Bayonetta on the way, maybe THQ should have got this out the door a little sooner.
Since they didnât, though, what weâre left with is a game that initially disappoints with its bland levels and uninspired premise, but will, for those willing to ride out its humdrum opening hours, gradually unfurl into a competent action RPG.
Darksiders was developed by Vigil and published by THQ for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Released on January 5, retails for USD $59. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played game to completion on Xbox 360 (normal difficulty).
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