Darksiders
Review
THE Zelda Alternative
by Chris Davis
reviewed on X360
The Whirlwind is in the Thorn Tree (cntd.)
The world of Darksiders is large to say the least. While some areas may take a mere minute or two to traverse you’ll find yourself desiring transportation later on in the game. Thankfully Vigil anticipated this and incorporated Serpent Tunnels that link areas as well as War’s horse Ruin… despite the fact that you’ve played half the game before your proverbial Horseman becomes one. The tunnels are an excellent way around and help to make back-tracking a less painful. Exploration is a surprisingly large part of Darksiders and once you find a new weapon or tool you’ll quickly be back-tracking into previous areas searching for new locations and rewards.
Backtracking can be a double-edged sword though and unfortunately Vigil nicked its finger on this one. Allowing players to return to previous areas is a good thing and usually works when this is passively enabled. Vigil chose to make this mandatory unfortunately as near the end of the game players are forced to visit several areas they’ve previously visited with a new ability in order to collect pieces of an item that is to be used in the final boss fight. Had this have been optional this reviewer would have certainly done it anyway but for it to be forced on the player is simply a bad design decision.
It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom Come
From a visual standpoint Darksiders is a beautiful game. Joe Madureira, the creative director for the game, brought his comic design A game when it came to the art direction and the results are nothing but stellar. Characters, enemies, and environments alike are supremely detailed and always great to look at. While the environment variety is your typical color wheel variety with very little blending between any of them they are still nice to look at and give you different ideas on how the Apocalyptic landscape feels.
War is not one to be trifled with if Vigil has anything to say about it. Quite possibly he is the baddest mofo in the entire Darksiders universe. Every character in the game knows this too as War is issued a small amount of respect before all the main villains and allies alike. You will be offered everything in the world in exchange for your sparing of the enemy; too bad War has a one track mind. The respect offered up is actually quite refreshing in comparison to most hack-n-slash titles out there like God of War as only a handful of times in the genre have I actually felt like a badass when not fully powered up. Good job Vigil.
The sound design for Darksiders is enjoyable as well and immerses the player into the game quite well. No two environments share similar sounds other than those of the protagonist so props for that. Indeed, from the overgrown plateaus and waterfalls of Anvil’s Ford to the wind-swept desert of the Sea of Sand, the environmental sound design is great. The voice acting is no slouch either as the cast is a nice variety of famous voice actors with Liam O’Brien (Gaara from Naruto) taking the helm as War. Mark Hamill’s rendition of the Watcher is excellent as well, though it almost comes off as a rhaspy version of the Joker from Batman Arkham Asylum. Prolific voice actor Phil LaMarr, whose done everything from the Simpsons to Metal Gear Solid, plays Vulgrim, a greedy demon who serves as the game’s merchant. Even Moon Bloodgood, one of the actresses from Terminator Salvation as well as the holder of the title of one of the most enviable names in history, takes on a role (Uriel). Overall it’s a nice cast that lends well to the characters they portray.
And Hell Followed With Him
Darksiders is, by far, one of the best hack-n-slash titles to come out in recent years and is a remarkable first effort from Vigil. That’s not to say it’s a godsend, but if you’re looking for something that screams satisfying dismemberment without rampant quick time events then Darksiders is something to pay attention to.
9.0
fun score
Pros
Enticing story, great Zelda feel without the Nintendo branding.
Cons
Repetitive battles, forced backtracking.
