Okay Geek Farm
PS3 Review: Darksiders
Alex Tretrop
Darksiders caught my attention when I first read about its (mostly) original story, and how many people told me it was a combination of the Legend of Zelda and God of War, with hints of other games like Portal, added in for good measure. At first I thought that this would be a great combination, Legend of Zelda's fantastic puzzles combined with God of War's fun and gruesome combat could make for some good times. As I kept playing, however, repetition and a ridiculous amount of "borrowing" from the other games started to show that this game wasn't as great as it sounded.
Story: Darksiders takes place during the modern day world where Heaven and Hell are preparing to fight a final war that will choose their ultimate fate. In between this conflict, a truce is taken by the 2 sides so that they can wait until humanity is ready for that final battle. The truce is kept intact by the Charred Council, who along with the 4 horseman of the apocalypse, maintain the peace until the kingdom of man is ready to, essentially, face the apocalypse. Something happens that destroys this peace and the angels and demons clash on Earth early, resulting in the kingdom of man's extinction.
You play as War, one of the four horsemen, as you try to find out who did this, why you've lost your powers, and why the other horseman have not been sent to earth.
The story, which can get confusing, gets the job done and overall is pretty solid compared to other games.
Graphics: Graphically this game looks pretty good; there is never any slow down even with tons of enemies on screen and most of the environments you explore have a more colourful palette than you'd expect. Personally, I thought it could have used a better art direction during its portrayal of the apocolypse but the art style does work to the game's favor when inside dungeons.
Some great looking environments like sprawling volcanoes, to eerie yet colourful cathedrals, make some parts of the game stand out, though, there were never enough great looking structures to make the graphics memorable. War himself looks very strong and powerful and he definitely fits with the art style of the game.
Gameplay: Being a huge focus of Darksiders, the gameplay borrows heavily from many other hit titles, most notably God of War and the Legend of Zelda. The game involves you usually exploring an overworld area on your way to the Legend of Zelda type of temple.
The combat is simplistic but can still be a challenge, with you essentially doing all your combos with one button, but with all the enemies doing tons of damage it forces you to be on your toes at all times and hit the dodge button in the right direction and at the right time (Bayonetta anyone?). And while some of the combat gets challenging sometimes it felt too much like a button masher for my taste - pressing one button until you pull of a brutal, but very repetitive finisher, isn't all that fun. Repetition and boredom begin to creep in prematurely.
The better parts of Darksiders is when it rips off the Legend of Zelda, because once you reach a “temple”, the game switches from being a combo heavy button masher, to a puzzle based dungeon crawler that bears a striking resemblance to Nintendo’s famous franchise. To prove it, when you enter a temple you are faced with rooms filled with puzzles that you have to solve by using the items at your disposal, and like Zelda, there are sections that are barred off, with you needing a specific item that you must find in that dungeon to move on. The items “borrow” very heavily from Zelda; from the very first thing you acquire - a wannabe boomerang - to others like a "Portal" gun and a hookshot. War even can use bomb plants to help him solve puzzles!
The creators of Darksiders obviously have some creativity issues but the actual dungeons themselves are all pretty well laid out. Not only that but interesting weapons - even if they are all from another game - and some fun boss fights make it worth while. Though, moments like those are far in between.
Audio: Everything sounds completely appropriate for this kind of game - the angels sound heroic and heavenly, while the demons sound hellish and evil. While many of the character performances were hit or miss, the sounds of combat all are great; whether it's the slam of your sword or some of the brutal finishing moves, they all make for some great audio.
Difficulty: Darksiders can be difficult if you aren’t paying attention. Similar to God of War and Devil May Cry, you can’t button mash your way through this and expect to survive in the earlier levels until you earn some Heart Pieces..... I mean, Skull Pieces to survive more attacks - (See what I did there?)
Once you get further along, it does get a lot easier in terms of combat because you've acquired of slew of weapons, health, and powers to keep you safe. It can be all over the place in terms of difficulty and that frustrated me. In terms of the dungeons, they do have some very good puzzles and platforming sections that add to the challenge, but it never really gets tough enough that you have to really use your head.
Who is this game for? Put very simply, if you think you would enjoy Zelda style gameplay mixed in with combat that is fast paced, but maybe not as good as the Devil May Cry or God of War series, you will enjoy this game, usually enjoyed better when done in short play sessions. If you want an original game or something slower paced you won't find it here.
Final Thoughts: Darksiders does have its problems, with no originality, repetitive gameplay, some confusing plot points, hit or miss audio work, and a difficulty curve that’s all over the place, but what kept me interested was the fun dungeon design, detailed and well thought out puzzles, and creative boss battles that when you come down to it makes this game pretty fun right up to the end. That's if you're willing enough to look passed its flaws.
I wouldn't recommend this game as a buy, but instead a rent. You won’t be missing out on anything if you want to skip this game, and for some people I wouldn’t blame them.
