Darksiders Review (Xbox 360)

Darksiders is like a amalgamation of several classic games. It takes freely from such titles as Devil May Cry, God of War, and the entire Zelda Series. Now, many games try to do this, and fail. Darksiders, however, succeeds enough to not only be mentioned, but enough to be entered into the pantheon of great action/puzzle/platformers.

The Action in Darksiders is tangible.  The game has tons of visceral kills, and it even keeps track of how much demon blood you’ve spilled. Every different type of enemy has their own special finishing move, and they are all pretty brutal. There is blood flying everywhere, but not enough to block your vision or distract you.

The Gameplay is amazing. As I’ve said, it lends itself from games like God of War, Devil May Cry, and the granddaddy of them all: Zelda. This is like an M rated Zelda game. As much as I hate to compare games when reviewing them, it just has that classic platforming, puzzle-solving, monster-slaying feel. Now, while it’s reminiscent of such games, it does have a style all it’s own.

The fighting comprises of button mashing, as you might expect. As you fight enemies, a small ‘b’ might appear above their heads, and should you press b, you’ll do a special finishing move. As you progress, you also get other weapons and special items that can be mapped to the right trigger, and Y. These other attacks can be a big help, but the X button will receive the most wear from this game.

There is a currency system in the game. Souls can be traded for items and special moves. Unfortunately, this game has the most shrewd merchant since Moneybags from Spyro. This guys charges a little too much, and is one of the creepiest characters in the game. He looks like a more demonic form of the merchant from Starfox Adventures. He constantly whispers and taunts you.

The controls are great, and I felt like I had been playing the game for years within minutes and they’re super easy to adapt to.

Visually, the game is great. I had no qualms with the graphics. They were exceptional in the cutscenes, and the in-game weren’t too shabby either. There is tons of little details to be seen. The set pieces were absolutely breathtaking, and quite varied. The enemies look awesome, and I was never bored by the character models. I’ve heard complaint of screen tearing on the 360 version, but truthfully, I haven’t had a big problem with it.

There are a few things that irk me about this game, however. The basic enemies pose a much bigger threat than the bosses. I found myself being decimated by the grunt and somewhat more elite enemies, but I would barely lose any health at all against a Boss. Also, The shops aren’t in the ideal locations, and the prices are a bit high when you first start out. These aren’t major concerns, as they simply add to the challenge, but they seem a little off.

The voice work is amazing. A great vocal cast, with lots of interesting characters. Mark Hamill even lends his voice to the game as your snark sidekick. The main character is a bit cheesy, but overall the sound is great.

I’ve saved the biggest question for last. The story. You play as War, one of the infamous four horsemen of the apocalypse. You are summoned to Earth to enact judgment day when you believe that the seventh seal (the only thing stopping the end of days) is broken. However, you come to learn that none of the seals were broken, and you showed up unannounced, dooming mankind. You are sent back to Earth by the Charred Council, (an ancient group that keeps the balance of good and evil in check) and must kill the Destroyer, who you believe fooled you. Unfortunately, you must embark on this quest with nearly all of your power stripped from you, and with no idea where to begin. Not the best story I’ve ever heard, but enough to keep me going throughout the game.

Frankly, I love this game. It uses a formula that works, and gets it right, and adds it’s own brutal feel. If you loved the classic platformers/puzzle-solvers/action/dungeon-crawlers, I can bet you’ll love this game. It’s challenging, fun, looks great, and plays even better. A must-buy, as far as I’m concerned.