Customer Reviews
Prepare for War
I picked up 'Darksiders' on it's release date (yesterday) and while I have not yet completed it, I wanted to drop in a quick review so others would have something to consider before parting with your hard-earned cash. In case you know nothing about the game, the basic premise is that you play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Seems War answered the call that the seventh seal had been broken but was then accused of starting the Apocalypse himself. The law of the Council was violated and in an effort to clear his name, War is permitted to return to figure out exactly what happened. You first start the game with quite a few powers but of course, you will lose them soon enough and have to start rebuilding as War works to clear his name and discover the truth. The plot isn't exactly stellar but it's unique enough to keep your interest and at least seems to have a point.
Now onto the appearance of the game:
The graphics take full advantage of the PS3 with bright colors and less of a washed out look that seems to be prevalent in many action games. The voice work is top notch and the same is true of the musical score and general sound effects. The characters look interesting and unique and you'll see everything from demons, zombies and angels. War himself looks nice and has very fluid movement. He looks heavy and sounds that way when he moves...which isn't to say that the movements are awkward or clumsy, just solid. He doesn't flit around like the Prince of Persia...I mean come on, he's War.
If you're expecting a 'God of War' type game there are similarities to be sure however the mechanics of 'Darksiders' are not quite as sophisticated. You could play as a button masher though there are combos to master which will improve your score and playing experience. The finishing moves found in the 'GOW' games (you know when the circle button appears and then you press the various button or joystick combos as they appear on the screen) are primarily reduced to a circle icon and once you press the button, War mostly just handles things by himself. I don't really feel this detracts from the game to be honest.
The game controls are easy to learn and intuitive. You collect souls which can be used as currency, wrath points or health. You level up and obtain more abilities that are tied to your weapon, combo moves, health, etc. War's weapon is one big a$$ sword to be sure and he handles it like a champ. As you progress on your journey, you will achieve more and more weapon abilities and skills which really add to the game playing experience overall.
The atmosphere of the game is first rate. The developers obviously dedicated a great deal of time and attention to the details and it really paid off. Cars, buildings, creatures, all of it, look realistic, (well as realistic as a freaky demon can look). The game gets increasingly better as it progresses...in fact, though you'll have a blast during the first 45 - 60 minutes of the game, it is probably the weakest portion at least in my experience so far. As you move through the game, the areas, enemies, your weapons and abilities get bigger and better. The story line keeps things moving and you want to see what comes next. There are quite a few puzzles as you move through the game, most are simple though a few can be frustrating.
Again, I have not yet finished this game but so far, I have to say I am quite pleased with it and feel it is definitely worth the purchase and is one of the better PS3 games I've played. I've yet to find any glitches or issues in the PS3 version. If you like action-adventure games with puzzle elements, you are probably going to like this one as well.
Epic Game, Beautifully Executed
Overview:
Graphics: A+
Gameplay: A+
Mechanics and Controls: A
Storyline: A+
Artwork / Visual Design: A
Originality: B (original story, familiar mechanics)
Fun Factor: A+
This game is gorgeous, simple as that. The developers have taken the time to create a visually stunning world and a fluid gaming experience, but that's just the beginning. The storyline is very unique and definitely keeps you interested. All of the game mechanics are well handled, with nothing feeling labored, repetitive, or unnecessary. If I have criticism, it is a minor one. This game was clearly built off of God of War's engine, with similar controls, combat styles, leveling systems, etc. At least in my opinion, however, that is a minor issue. I'm a huge God of War fan, and I see no problem with the way the build was handled.
While the game may show a large amount of mechanical similarity to God of War, that is really where the comparison ends. Darksiders drops you into a post apocalyptic nightmare of a world that is an amazingly organic blend of Heaven, Hell, and the modern world. The game contains many beautifully designed levels that have you running down city streets one moment, and fighting in a Hell spawned cesspool the next, with one flowing beautifully into the other. Character and monster design leave nothing to be desired either, with wonderfully detailed nightmares and angelic warriors coming at you from all sides. This game definitely has the eye candy taken care of.
As far as the mechanics go, as I said, think God of War and you've pretty well got the idea. You're going to collect souls in order to level up. You'll learn new skills, get new toys, and those toys will need to be leveled as well. You'll run around unique, artistic maps solving complex puzzles. Combat is largely combo based versus multiple opponents, with multiple weapons to choose from. One of the amusing additions to combat is the ability to use just about anything in the environment as an improvised weapon. Street signs, street lamps, cars, you can use them all as either projectiles or beating implements. When the boss fights come up, you'll be working to beat them down to a context specific cut scene finale. If you enjoyed the GoW's gameplay style, you'll feel right at home here. And honestly, there is something to be said for that. The familiar mechanics mean that there's no time wasted figuring out how the game works, and more time spent actually playing the game.
Finally and most importantly, the storyline. Darksiders is the story of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War is summoned by the start of the Apocalypse, and comes to Earth to complete his task, but finds himself the only Horseman to do so. Turns out, somebody started the party early, and War ends up taking the blame. In a bid to clear his name and earn back his power, War returns to Earth to track down those responsible. I'm a big mythology buff, and this concept really intrigued me. No one had really attempted to tackle the Four Horsemen before, despite with well known, widespread nature of the story, and it is rich with possibilities. While I won't include any spoilers here, trust me when I say that you won't be disappointed by how they handle it and what they do with the material. If you have an interest in mythology, this is a game you will want to play.
Bottom line, I really don't have any criticisms of this game. I've been looking forward to it for some time, and it has fulfilled its potential completely. I have no doubt that we can look forward to sequels down the road, and I look forward to them. This is a masterfully crafted game, beautifully designed, and a pleasure to play. Do yourself a favor and buy it.
Very Disappointing
First off, I'd been highly anticipating this game ever since Joe Mad! stopped Battle Chasers and began doing game design work. After he released some early concept art, I was hooked. After watching some of the interviews with those responsible for Darksiders, their love for classic games and their boasts of bringing all those old-time standards up to date, I was salivating. I really wanted to like this game and I picked it up immediately when it was released to be promptly disappointed. For easy access, I'll break my review into Pro and Con sections.
Pros:
The game is not without its merits. For one, the graphics are topnotch. Someone compared them to WoW, which I can see from the standpoint that WoW and Darksiders rely on a relatively bulky, cartoonish / anime style. However, you can view screenshots and concept art on numerous sites and know exactly what you're going to get with Darksiders, it's Joe Mad! and his style is... well, bigger than life cartoonish / anime. However, WoW graphics look like they tried to achieve their cartoonish style via massive collections of kleenex boxes. It looks very polygon'ish and dated up close in my opinion. Darksiders does not suffer from this and is very smooth, very polished. If you liked Joe Mad!'s work or anime style in general, you'll like the graphics. It honestly looks and feels like you're playing an anime cartoon.
Along with the very stylized graphics, the sound is great. Little details make all the difference to me and they seem to have put a lot of effort into making every connection, every character, every moment of contact in game have its personalized sound. For instance, just shopping off Vulgrim and listening while his fingers *clack* together and he whispers under his breath, it definitely adds to the atmosphere in a very good way.
Unfortunately, that's about where the good ends for me.
Cons:
The game feels like 85% filler. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good "turn off your brain hack and slash" game. But, I'm not even talking about good filler where you expect to mow down legions of bad guys mindlessly. I'm talking mundane, glorified FedEx type puzzles and pointless linear landscape where the developers couldn't STOP talking about exploration. If later in the game you get to do a lot of exploration and cool stuff, then I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to play a 10/12 hour game for 3-5 hours to get into the good stuff. Clue to developers, at that point, you've LOST your audience.
To begin with, the opening is basically 45 - 60 minutes long. It's a combination of cutscenes and playing in essentially an invincible, original powerful War mode. It acts as a bit of a tutorial, but honestly, the controls are so easy it doesn't seem to warrant such a long, boring walk through. To me, the whole "invincible" mode is lazy and it turned me off to the game greatly. The cutscenes ran long and I found myself watching my game more than I was playing it, which seemed unnecessary considering the simplistic storyline. After a bit it seemed they were less interested in creating a playable game than they were showcasing Joe Mad!'s work.
Beyond the extremely lengthy, tedious opening you have a quest shortly after that consists of "Kill *INSERT NUMBER* of Enemies in *INSERT TIME*" and "Kill *INSERT NUMBER* of Enemies While in the Air". I'm sorry, but when I'm already bored and annoyed, the last thing I want to do is be TOLD and TIMED to kill enemies in a totally unimaginative manner. It's lazy and frankly, I think it demeans the player to do such a tedious, moronic task. On top of that, to put one so close to such a BORING intro was simply poor poor planning. I could forgive them if it was near the end when I was more engaged and detached from the horrible intro. But to me, it simply screamed, "We're out of ideas already... but hey, the game looks great right?"
Next, you're inside a Cathedral where you need to open a multitude of doors in a system of "puzzles" to gain access to the boss. However, they aren't really puzzles, they're FedEx quests where you essentially need to run to the opposite side of the stage to get a piece to run to the other opposite and then run to another opposite etc. for around an hour or two. It's all very linear and they try to make you think there's some thought involved with some pretty impressive looking areas, but there isn't. You just end up running for large amounts of time to do tedious, boring collecting. On top of that, while being totally and completely bored out of my mind, I'm thinking the entire time about why a giant boss needs such a convoluted locking system to guard itself from a foe. Not to mention the boss has WINGS... so you know, it's not like she couldn't just FLY away if she really didn't want to face someone. Most games make it so a locked door makes sense somewhat, but this to me was a ridiculous test of patience that pushed my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point... and I'm playing a game as War after the Apocalypse that I was excited about. To me, that's saying something.
Lastly, the controls are just as ridiculous as the amount of filler. For one, the block button is the same as the dash button. You have to not be moving the analog stick if you want to block, if you do touch it, you dash to the other side of the room. I don't know about you, but this is a huge inconvenience for me, especially when I'm wanting to block and then quickly move in a confined spot or with massive amounts of enemies. I like to know where I'm going and when. Another issue is that the combos go from mind-numbingly easy to absolutely ludicrously complicated. From tapping a button three times easy to hold every button on the controller after a jump and then move the analog stick forward then tap X while still holding everything. Obviously exaggerated, but seriously, I skipped upgrading my combos because I HATE it when a game turns into me pushing pause to A) Look up the ridiculously long or convoluted sequence or B) Make sure my fingers are in the right positions to execute. It destroys the experience and completely ruins what should be a seamless flow of the game for me.
TL;DR version. Graphics and sound are excellent. The game feels mainly like filler showcasing the graphics with ill-conceived controls.
