That first panel is pretty accurate, in that Darksiders is
in the same vein as the Zelda series. This isn't to the game's detriment at all
though. Rather, Darksiders is a pretty solid title, one that if you're a fan of
adventure games where you go out through an open world, find a dungeon, find a
special item within that dungeon, defeat the boss of that dungeon, and then are
able to progress further into the open world, but are looking for something a
bit more adult because you don't necessarily want to run around with a fairy
for a companion, then Darksiders is a definite buy.
You are War, as in one of the four horsemen of the
apocalypse. Something has gone terribly wrong, and the world has basically
ended prematurely, becoming the battlefield between heaven and hell. You're the
only horseman that shows up to the party, and are punished because it is
believed you have acted on your own. A deal is cut, and you are sent back to
earth, 100 years later, to try and uncover, and bring to justice, whomever
falsely brought about the end of days.
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| Jamming a sword through a demon's face. Talk about a good reason to play this game. |
As War, you're pretty much a badass. You go about killing
anything and everything in your path, and while this mostly consists of demons,
you tear the wings off of more than a few angels as well. You're main weapons
consist of a sword known as Chaoseater, a scythe that is great for dealing with
packs of enemies, and a fist weapon with a fast attack. Each of these can be
upgraded through enough use, and each one has an augment slot. Augments are
items that, when placed in a weapon's slot, alter how it functions, such as
restoring a bit of health on hit. Some augments give active bonuses, others
give passive, and a few more give additional bonuses when combined with
specific weapons, such as one which gives bonus souls, this game's currency, on
kills, but grants additional souls when combined with the scythe.
That currency has a couple of uses. There is a store NPC in the
game that sells you all manner of consumables to restore health, or increase
your wrath, a bar which allows the use of special abilities. What you'll
probably end up spending more of your souls on, though, are various attacks,
and the upgraded versions of each, so you can do enough damage to actually kill
things. You're basic attacks are okay, but getting special ones, such as using
your sword like a bat and basically swinging for the bleachers on an enemy's
face while simultaneously setting it on fire, make the game so much more fun.
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| I'd totally trust this guy with my soul. |
Beyond what the vendor sells, there are several key items,
which are mostly found in one of this game's dungeons, and have their greatest
use within that specific dungeon, as well as usually being the key required to
advance out in the open world. A few examples include the crossblade, which is
a thrown weapon that can be locked on to multiple targets, or the abyssal
chain, which is used to latch onto certain surfaces or enemies. If any of these
sound familiar, they are pretty much the boomerang and hookshot from Zelda.
There are more ways to kill enemies beyond just hacking them
to death with your sword, or shooting at them with your pistol. The devs made a
pretty interactive environment, so grab that car and knock the angel out of the
sky, and then, when he is down and wounded, instead of continuing to just smash
his face in, go ahead and use your execute ability, to instantly, and graphically,
finish him off. That's particularly useful when you're getting low on health,
because you usually only get it when you kill enemies, even though by now you
were probably expecting to find hearts in pottery.
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| Is it beyond the point where I could say "I'm on a horse."? |
I'll admit, this game has plenty in common with Zelda,
including some of the weapons. Now you can call that derivative, or a homage,
or whatever you want, but it still makes for a pretty good game. There are
plenty of good parts to this game, including some cool mechanics such as being
able to turn into a giant demon and basically one shot everything, or some
really fun boss fights, or a good story with some surprising plot twists you'll
never see coming. I picked it up for $10, though I would recommend getting it
at $15 or lower. If you pick up most of the collectables, including all weapon
augments and the improved armor, you're looking at somewhere around the 21
hours I got out of it. More if you're a perfectionist, or just generally faster
than I am. Overall, a fun game, and I'm looking forward to the sequel, and then
we'll have to see if it'll beat this game's score - 7 out of 10.
So, the final breakdown:
Score: 7/10
Suggested Price: $15
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