Darksiders
Review
THE Zelda Alternative
by Chris Davis
reviewed on X360
One Hundred Million Angels Screaming (cntd)
Darksiders plays just like any other God of War clone that has come along in recent years but to give it a title as such is both demoralizing and disrespectful. As one of the Four Horsemen you are endowed with the ability to rip foes asunder in increasingly more brutal ways than before. And, that, my friends, is nothing short of FUN.
This game is brutal; devastatingly brutal. As players progress throughout the game you gain access to more tools to decimate your enemies with, several of which start off as being merely puzzle solving and exploration oriented. However, in the end the best weapon you can use is also the one you start out with: the Chaos Eater. This prolific bringer of organ destruction is longer than War is tall and will tear through your enemies in a most enjoyable fashion. The combo system for the Chaos Eater allows for an almost infinite amount of hits based on the situation before you so you will be evoking those Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden feelings quite quickly. This, along with Wars Chaos Form, which allows him to turn into a twenty foot tall demon for a short amount of time, makes for a fun and enticing combat system.
The enemy variety in the game is a mixed bag unfortunately and is really the only true downside to the game. While there are plenty of enemies around to keep the blood on your weapons fresh, the variety you will find is disappointing. Many of the common enemies have three or four different and progressively tougher versions of themselves and exhibit almost no changes whatsoever other than a different skin. The amount of closed-in arena battles can lead into the realm of annoying as some dungeon areas have you stopping to dispatch foes with seconds between encounters.
The Whirlwind is in the Thorn Tree
What makes this game really interesting is its blending of genres. Despite being a combo-based hack-n-slash game it is also a bit of a platformer and even incorporates exploration and RPG elements. Put quite simply, it is the closest blending of God of War and Legend of Zelda to date, taking elements from both and coming out with what seems to be the Reeses of 2010. Players can actively upgrade their weapons through repeated use and can purchase enhancements and new attacks for each one. Various attachments can be found in the environment that will both actively and passively enhance the weapon of your choice. Given the right combination thereof farming for souls or finishing off enemies faster is easily done.
Vigils freshman product is not without a couple freshman errors, none the least of which is the games forced lengthening. Several instances in Darksiders force players to enter arena battles in which players have to meet certain conditions in a battle (usually killing enemies a certain way) in order to progress on to the dungeon ahead. Now, had these been optional it would have been tolerable but for these to be required to advance is simply irritating. This reviewer does not know if these arenas were designed to train players on how to utilize Wars different abilities (especially these arenas occur early on in the game) but the forced lengthening of the game by an hour or two is simply a waste of time. Next time Vigil, make these fights optional; players will have more fun with them that way.
9.0
fun score
Pros
Enticing story, great Zelda feel without the Nintendo branding.
Cons
Repetitive battles, forced backtracking.
