Darksiders – Review

Legend of Kratos? God of Zelda? Both of these descriptions have been bandied around the internet as a way to sum up Darksiders. The game itself contains many elements of both: some it disappoints in; others it excels. The art direction for the game is fantastic. For an apocalyptic game, there is a great deal of colour which makes a refreshing change to the browns and greens of Fallout. It looks and feels like a comic book adventure, which the deisgners have clearly pulled off. The character models are detailed and the scenery suitably in keeping with a world that has been pummelled by both heaven and hell, the plot for the game being that you have been blamed for unleashing the apocalypse early and you must track down those responsible.

The story, whilst fairly easy to follow, is packed with a fantastic cast of characters to deliver it. The Watcher and Vulgrim are both as detailed as War, with excellent animation and voice work which lends to the cinematic feel that the game is obviously trying to instill. Sound and music are well executed, and the game has the most effective use of rumble technology since Lylat Wars. When you fall from a massive height, the ground literally crumbles beneath you and it feels like you are a massive demon smashing deity.

So is it as good as Zelda? Well, yes and no. With Zelda’s established format of 3 dungeons, mastersword, 8 dungeons, end, you know that you are in for one very long adventure that has essentially remained the same since Link to the Past. With Darksiders, the adventure lasts around the 15 hour mark from start to finish and rather than feeling rewarded, you can’t help but feel that there should be more to do and see. Also with Ruin, War’s horse, a missed opportunity presents itself in that there are very few sections in which to use him effectively, which is a shame because the horseback combat is amazing.The majority of travel is done through sewer systems and subways, but again the detail and variety is very well done so no area feels samey. With only 5 ‘dungeons’ to visit, instead of being hungry for more, you feel unsatisfied with the course, however delicious it was. the world doesn’t feel open for exploration, with a handful of locations and early access to a warp system losing much of the feel of rampaging through a destroyed earth.

The dungeons themselves are brilliant. The puzzle design is an incredible blend of Zelda, GOW and even elements of Portal are present, really making you have to think your way forward. The bosses also are well executed, the first few being brilliantly taxing, before your super abilities making the last few a bit too easy to get past. combat again is geared towards making you feel like a complete badass, which it does very well, although limiting finishing moves to one per enemy quickly makes the experience a little shallow in the wake of Arkham Asylum’s freeflow system. Customisation of weaponry is also limited to a few powerups, with levelling of abilities taking far too long to feel like you’ve acheived much. The Fracture cannon however, is my new favourite weapon EVER!

All in all, Darksiders was a game that I was really looking foward to and it did live up to my expectations. It provides a really enjoyable experience that whilst feeling too short does deliver a decent story, excellent characters, BRILLIANT puzzles and combat that quickly becomes a doddle to unleash some amazing combos. It would have been difficult to be as good as GOW or Zelda, but as a first foray into a new IP, Vigil have created a game that has started my new year with a real hunger for more adventures and head scratching.

8/10