Game: Darksiders
System: PS3 (also X360 and PC)
Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Vigil Games
Release date: January 5, 2010
Pros: Coherent game world, good storytelling, accessible combat system
Cons: Derivative, slow start, some screen tearing and slow down
It's difficult to judge a title like Darksiders. Technically the game is superior, but there's hardly any original ideas or mechanics at play. Almost everything in Darksiders is borrowed from other series, most notably from God of War and The Legend of Zelda, but also from franchises like Prince of Persia, Gears of War, and, yes, even Portal. The game plays like a greatest hits album from the previous two generations of video games.
And yet, surprisingly, it's great. The developers at Vigil Games managed to turn Darksiders into something greater than its component parts, a game that excels on both the technical and mechanical levels.
Like God of War, Darksiders is interested in mythology, in the cataclysmic battles between the forces of Heaven and Hell. Players take on the role of War, one of four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who finds himself hunted by both demonic and angelic enemies in the war-torn ruins of Earth. The art directors and graphic artists at Vigil Games did an excellent job of bringing apocalyptic Earth to life in Darksiders. The game's several environments come together to form a cohesive and coherent game world, across which War will travel back and forth, a la Zelda, to uncover power-ups and hidden items.
Unlike Zelda, however, Darksiders is dark and gloomy, violent and gory. Some critics described it as "Zelda grown up," which totally misses the point, but at least from a cosmetic point of view it holds true. Also unlike Zelda, the protagonist in Darksiders speaks, early and often. His gravelly voice and strong, unwavering sense of duty and honor make the character War an instant classic, a rare anti-hero who, unlike Kratos from God of War, is actually likable.
The gameplay in Darksiders, as mentioned earlier, is equal parts God of War and Zelda. Players will spend half their time chaining together combos against demons and angels, and the other half exploring dungeons and solving puzzles. The combat system is not nearly as complicated or as satisfying as those in games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but it's still fun, and, more importantly, accessible and customizable. Players can purchase weapons, "wrath abilities," and special moves from an otherworldly shopkeeper throughout the game to customize their move set.
So Darksiders is derivative. It borrows liberally from older games, and doesn't make much of an effort to cover its tracks. Yet it manages to escape the fate of other, lesser games that borrow ideas wholesale without any attention to detail. What Vigil Games accomplished with Darksiders is quite the opposite: the careful selection of what works, and the dismissal of what doesn't. The result is a smooth, often wild ride though the apocalypse, standing on the shoulders of giants but with a spirit and mythology all its own.
System: PS3 (also X360 and PC)
Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Vigil Games
Release date: January 5, 2010
Pros: Coherent game world, good storytelling, accessible combat system
Cons: Derivative, slow start, some screen tearing and slow down
It's difficult to judge a title like Darksiders. Technically the game is superior, but there's hardly any original ideas or mechanics at play. Almost everything in Darksiders is borrowed from other series, most notably from God of War and The Legend of Zelda, but also from franchises like Prince of Persia, Gears of War, and, yes, even Portal. The game plays like a greatest hits album from the previous two generations of video games.
And yet, surprisingly, it's great. The developers at Vigil Games managed to turn Darksiders into something greater than its component parts, a game that excels on both the technical and mechanical levels.
 |
| War swings a scythe at a demonic enemy. |
Like God of War, Darksiders is interested in mythology, in the cataclysmic battles between the forces of Heaven and Hell. Players take on the role of War, one of four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who finds himself hunted by both demonic and angelic enemies in the war-torn ruins of Earth. The art directors and graphic artists at Vigil Games did an excellent job of bringing apocalyptic Earth to life in Darksiders. The game's several environments come together to form a cohesive and coherent game world, across which War will travel back and forth, a la Zelda, to uncover power-ups and hidden items.
Unlike Zelda, however, Darksiders is dark and gloomy, violent and gory. Some critics described it as "Zelda grown up," which totally misses the point, but at least from a cosmetic point of view it holds true. Also unlike Zelda, the protagonist in Darksiders speaks, early and often. His gravelly voice and strong, unwavering sense of duty and honor make the character War an instant classic, a rare anti-hero who, unlike Kratos from God of War, is actually likable.
 |
| War in Chaos form. |
The gameplay in Darksiders, as mentioned earlier, is equal parts God of War and Zelda. Players will spend half their time chaining together combos against demons and angels, and the other half exploring dungeons and solving puzzles. The combat system is not nearly as complicated or as satisfying as those in games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but it's still fun, and, more importantly, accessible and customizable. Players can purchase weapons, "wrath abilities," and special moves from an otherworldly shopkeeper throughout the game to customize their move set.
So Darksiders is derivative. It borrows liberally from older games, and doesn't make much of an effort to cover its tracks. Yet it manages to escape the fate of other, lesser games that borrow ideas wholesale without any attention to detail. What Vigil Games accomplished with Darksiders is quite the opposite: the careful selection of what works, and the dismissal of what doesn't. The result is a smooth, often wild ride though the apocalypse, standing on the shoulders of giants but with a spirit and mythology all its own.
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