Darksiders II

Blog Post: I liked this game. Only a few issues.

Vinsent — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 05:11:00 GMT

I really liked this game so much and wanted it to have a higher score so bad! Playing as Death was awesome. It took the all powerful character idea and turned him into something faster, more agile. And I really appreciated that sort of different element which was brought to the table.
The first thing I noticed right off the bat was the soundtrack to this game. Holy crap. It's freaking awesome. The music fits in every environment and situation damn near flawlessly. The visuals were nothing ground breaking, but nice to say the least. But the music was incredible.
Gameplay was great. It felt more like an RPG, with loot that has stats and a level progression system. Mixing your fast double sythe attacks with giant, slow heavy weapon (everything from giant Glaives, to hammers and maces) makes for some neat combos. Two talent trees allow you to spend your skill points in which are awarded for leveling up or just given to you at certain points of the game. Originally, I went with Necromancy, summoning ghouls and swarms of crows to help kill my enemies. I later changed it to the other tree to improve physical combat, crit chance, ect. Puzzles were challenging and felt like they were at least fairly well thought out. Fighting the enemies and bosses were enjoyable as well.
I only had a few concerns. I'm not really a fan of collect-a-thons. But the game has some flaws in counting the pages of the dead and relics that you collect. Getting 39 out of 40 pages because one of them wasn't counted can be frustrating. I've completed many collect-a-thons in games for the trophy/achievo. I went through the game a second and a third time and encountered this problem. Had a written walkthrough printed out, a video guide, and a charted I made on Excel and printed out to track them and still had this problem. I was so sure it had to be me, like I just missed one. Hey it happens. But three times? So I checked on online forums and found that it's actually quite common. *sigh* If there's an in game trophy or achievement tied to something that glitches or bugs out, I'm forced to take a point or two away as that prevents 100% completion. For some people, like myself, 100% completion is important. This is because some of us dont make a ton of money to buy games all the time, so we buy some here and some there, and grind to 100% to get our money's worth. With out the item counting thing, it's a great game.
Now let's talk about it's originality. I hate having to do this. This is all just speculation and doesn't affect the score of the game. But, has anyone who played this game (or the first one) ever played World of Warcraft? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that War looks like a Blood Elf Death Knight who wields a runeblade just like a DK. Then that horse looks just like a DK mount, for both horsemen. I remember from the first one, there was a scene that looked just like Tridsfal Glades and even had creatures that looked just like Duskbats. People are saying the franchise rips off God of War and Zelda for it's combat and dungeons. But if every game that has an overpowered badass is a ripoff from God of War, then many many other games fall into this category. No, I see a huge distinction in the visuals that only says "World of Warcraft"
Personally, I don't give a damn. The game was sweet, so I don't care. Besides, it doesn't take much to top that outdated annoying MMO called WoW anyways. So what if they ripped off them. There's no real proof that they did either. I'm just pointing out something I observed.
Not a fan of the season pass either. I'm talking about you too, Batman Arkam City.
I recommend this game, especially now that the price finally dropped. It's fun and it will suck you in. You'll have a good time your second run as well, with it's new game plus.

Wow, and I am having a hell of a time publishing

Blog Post: Vigil Games' Death Was Not In Vain

DrJoeystein — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:25:00 GMT

Darksiders 1 is an enjoyable experience with a standout cast of diverse characters, biblically/mythically inspired story, excellent choices for voice acting, unbelievably fantastic art direction, and is just simple fun with the hack-and-slash/puzzle solving/platforming gameplay. I know this game was the product of a bunch of passionate people that poured all their creativity into it, but certain things hold DS1 back from greatness. To name a few, there isn't much replay value or side-content to delve into (excluding the fact that it's a lengthy game that takes 15-20 hours to complete), a significant amount of the settings are mundane, and the gameplay isn't revolutionary by any means. The main solution to problems like these could have been addressed with one word: expansion. This would have made it even better than it already was, which is why I was super excited for the sequel after reading Gameinformer's cover story on it two year ago. I'd heard about the first game before and decided to give it a try last summer. And since I've already presented my thoughts on DS1, it'll suffice to say the problems (albeit small in comparison to the pros) I had with it were being resolved in Darksiders 2. After months of anticipation, I've finally been able to realize if this is actually true.

...Why write a review on this game now? I'm certainly late to the party, but the reason why I'm doing this is because I want to dedicate it to Vigil Games due to their recent disbandment resulting from THQ's bankruptcy. It was a sad state of affairs that no one offered to take in the entire studio when they were on auction (only a part of them were offered jobs at Crytek USA), which is why the future remains uncertain for Darksiders since an inconspicuous publisher called Nordic Games acquired the franchise. But for now - out of an obligated sense of gaming evangelism - I would like to tell you why DS2 was an indicator of the series riding on the undeniable path to the near-perfect actualization of this franchise.

Developer: Vigil Games

Publisher: THQ

Release Date (USA): 08/14/12

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC

Genre: Action-Adventure/Hack-And-Slash/RPG

Reception: 82% (Metacritic score average)

Gameplay

Unlike most games, it's not easy to compartmentalize DS2's gameplay. It's a conglomeration of several genres and borrowed formulas that work together quite well. To start out, the combat consists of hack-and-slashing reminiscent to God of War. And from what I've played, it's more similar to its inspiration this time around. Combat is more fluid, varied, quick, and intuitive in contrast to the slow heavy hitting of War in DS1. Death is a lightweight with plenty of agility and speed, which constitutes for a lot of fun combos and moves to pull off with his scythes and new secondary weapons like hammers, maces, and claw-like weapons. War's sword, Chaoseater, was practically the only weapon with a pivotal purpose in combat for DS1 (besides a few weapons with very simple functions). The sequel fixes this lacking area with a plethora of essential arms to choose from on a frequent basis. There's even a surprising amount of varying designs for all the weapons, and some of them even have origins to read about that tie into the overarching history of Darksiders.

You can pimp out Death with some poppin' getups and rad bling...yeah.

Besides the hack-and-slash style gameplay, the RPG elements of DS2 have been amped up a ton. Stats for almost every kind of item and for Death himself are shown and can be upgraded in different ways. The likely percentage of critical damage, item drops, and elemental abilities can be viewed for weapons and Death has strength, defense, health, and other stats. There are also all sorts of armor like boots, gloves, and chest armor that affect the stats of Death in different ways. And since he stockpiles on so much inventory, you can sell and buy anything as well to some vendors. There's even a skill tree with several abilities that can be unlocked with Skill Points from leveling up. These abilities were present in DS1, but weren't as interesting or plentiful as they are in DS2.

Getting used to keeping track of the health, arcane (ability energy), different enemy types, and possible combos and abilities is a fun learning process that's easy to master and incredible to watch on screen. This is especially true for the boss fights, which range in scope and size throughout the game. One such boss is thousands upon thousands of times larger than Death, and to be able to topple such an imposing villain after figuring out his weaknesses is an absolute blast and spectacle to behold. For you see, DS2 isn't necessarily a hard game. Even on one of the hardest difficulties, it isn't too hard to conquer the most difficult bosses. And although this is disappointing in some ways (I'm looking at the final boss here), I can see that DS2 is more about the experience than about providing formidably impossible challenges.

The enemies that Death encounters result in a slew of epic battles to remember.

There's also the platforming and puzzle solving aspects of DS2 to take into consideration. As for the former, when I mentioned Death's fluidity in combat earlier, this applies directly to the platforming too. Vigil Games expanded the amount of ways that Death can traverse throughout the world around him compared to his huskier brother. He can flip over and drop onto ledges, run and jump along parallel walls, and perform sequences of parkour-like stunts with surprising ease. The platforming was decent in DS1, but it's a more integral, developed, and fun part of its sequel. When it comes to the puzzle solving of it, DS2 expands on its predecessor's puzzles with new and more advanced abilities and items to use. "Constructs" are stone giants Death can ride on that provide ways of passage, the Soul Splitter allows Death to make two copies of himself to access impossible areas, "Interdiction" grants Death the ability to travel back in time to affect the environment around him in the present, and so forth. The puzzles can therefore be positively challenging at times, and although there are a few puzzles in dungeons that are dragged on for needless amounts of time, they are largely fun to solve.

As I said in the beginning, one cannot simply describe the gameplay in a quick fashion. It's a mixed bag that - put short and sweet - blends together to make DS2 a more unique game than its predecessor.

Rating: 8.75/10

See that tiny person on that stone robot thing? That's Death having the best kind of rodeo.

Sound

Death travels to many exotic landscapes by finding his way through perilous dungeons while battling a barrage of intimidating enemies. This means that there's a lot of time spent taking in the world around Death with a steady influx of combat scenarios to keep things exciting. Unlike fast-paced games such as Call of Duty, it's natural to pay attention to and analyze smaller details in DS2 that would otherwise be ignored. The sound effects are one such example, and they do not disappoint. Death's footsteps vary in sound on different materials; grotesque enemies' cries of battle and unique sounds (like the shambling of skeletons' bones) can be easily distinguished; weapons make weighty, satisfying sounds as they slice/sling through the air or into the ground, and environments contain sounds that clash together like wind, lava, and streams of water. I cannot efficiently describe sound effects through writing, but they are important to mention as a pivotal part of the sound of any game. And for DS2, they're just excellent.

The music in this game is more important than it would normally be in any other game. Instead of specific tracks for levels, DS2 relies on music as a constant ambience. There's only so much that Jesper Kyd could do to keep the music from getting annoying, and he surprisingly succeeds in avoiding this misfortune. I thought for sure in the beginning that commonly occurring tracks would become boring after a while, but they fit in so well with the atmosphere of the game that it never did. The Assassin's Creed composer manages to pull this off with beautiful vocals and eerie/gritty-sounding effects and instruments in his Celtic influenced songs. It's an awesome soundtrack that plays a larger role in DS2 that I didn't expect.

I don't know if it's just me, but I think the voice acting in this game is absolutely awesome. It's pretty good in the since of how it balances out between believable and badly acted, but that's not the point. The voice actors for this game just sound incredible in and of themselves. They also match up with their respective characters perfectly. Death has a gravely, deep voice marked by sarcasm, bottled anger, and calm collection (courtesy of Michael Wincott); the Makers (ancient giants that formed many worlds with their craftsmanship) have booming, thick Irish accents, and demons are characterized with horrifyingly dark voices with varying signs of wear-and-tear. I could go on describing other voices, but I'd simply be dragging this out; it's like you truly listen to ancient and powerful god-like beings.

Rating: 9/10

Death can actually question characters about other matters, which opens up for important, revealing conversations. But it's all up to you whether or not you want to hear them...

Visuals

I've heard from several people that the textures of DS2 are noticeably bad in many cases. However, I'm not sure if I agree with this. Although there are occasional slowdowns of the frame rate and loading times while playing, I find it hard to decide whether these so-called bad textures are really there or if they're intrinsically part of the art style. It gives everything a stylized, thick, comic book-like look. This might not appeal to some, but I'm captivated by it (which is Joe Madureira's work). There isn't a single room, item, or character that isn't detailed. In fact, I'm extremely impressed by the amount of work that went into making the environments of DS2. They're stunning to take in, which is especially true for the insanely large vistas throughout the game. I had to stop and look around in awe on a daily basis; the worlds in this game are bursting with vibrancy, mystical, and otherworldly qualities. I truly feel like the architecture and landscapes are one of the greatest parts of DS2. Death is on the journey of a lifetime, and the things he traverses and sees along the way are just as satisfying as playing the game due to their grandeur.

Rating: 9.5/10

There are moments like this where you'll want to just stop and be amazed.

Story

To make a quick synopsis, Death is on a quest to avenge his brother, War, after he is convicted of starting a war between Heaven and Hell on earth before the appointed time. As a result, all humans are destroyed, Hell gains control over the earth, Heaven is in disarray, and creation is in a state of imbalance and chaos. Death is also out to restore humanity, but throughout his journey, his goals and motives will be prone to clash with his friends, foes, and dark past.

I love the story and universe of Darksiders as a whole, but I can't get over the fact that it was held back a bit here. Although the lore of Darksiders is exponentially increased in many ways by this game, the story's plot is linear and less impactful than the first game's story. The primary reason for this is that the entire game is one big treasure hunt. Each time I retrieve an item or artifact I need, I'm tasked with finding another, then another, and so forth. This isn't an entirely bad thing, but I would've enjoyed seeing some more variety in the types of objectives throughout the story. This also affects the significance of the events that occur in DS2. Although broad in scope and important for the universe of Darksiders, hardly a scratch is made to further develop events or answer burning questions from the first game. By the time DS2 ends, the story doesn't reveal any secrets or plot twists, which has left me a bit unsatisfied and wanting more from this anticlimax. Besides this, the story is still fun to watch as Death grows as an amazing character while making his way through a host of new locations while meeting new characters and learning about ancient events; this add a lot of depth and meat to the established universe.

Although my overall point may sound negative, the positive aspect overpowers it. The story stands pretty well on its own by telling Death's tale (which is the primary goal of DS2's story), but I expected many more connections and ties to the first game. There are a couple...but only a couple.

Rating: 8/10

Although shocking upon sight, War isn't who he appears to be in this fight...

Length and Replay Value

When I purchase a game that lasts for hours and hours without becoming stale, I know that a developer has done something very right. This is the case with DS2, and I'm very happy to report that it's a substantial and rewarding adventure. Although DS1 was a 15-20 hour-long game, there wasn't a lot of side-content for or reasons to come back to it. This is completely reversed for the sequel, which contains a plethora of side-content that feels like a natural part of the main story. What I mean by this is that the majority of the extra content doesn't feel like it drags me out of the primary objectives to simply acquire new gear or items. It allows for the exploration of surprisingly great dungeons with some new characters to meet and story tidbits to uncover along the way. When I saw places that were off the path, I always felt a pull of curiosity to check them out...not knowing that I'd be taking several 1 hour-long detours! There's an arena where Death can fight against waves of enemies to win prizes, mysterious quests that span the entire world of DS2, and even more. My playthrough of the game lasted for a whopping 30+ hours, and I was hardly at a lack for entertainment. The length and replay value of DS2 is quite astounding and worth every single penny.

+DLC: There's not much to say about the DLC of DS2. There are three major offerings that have new dungeons and bosses to defeat, but their high prices are a bit too unjustifiable considering they last for a measly 1-2 hours each. If you're a major fan of Darksiders, I recommend simply reading the story synopses of these offerings off of the Internet or watching them on YouTube. However, if you were to purchase one, I recommend Argul's Tomb. It has some excellent scenery and one of the best boss fights in DS2.

Rating: 9.25/10

Death contemplates on the overwhelming wealth of objectives at his discretion. What to do...

VERDICT

Darksiders was an ambitious new IP that had a fantastic execution. Although some found it to be unoriginal and lacking in ideas, I found it to be an excellent conglomeration of famous inspirations with a wonderful story and vision that had lots of potential. When I first read about DS2, I knew that it was going to be an improvement in many areas, and I wasn't disappointed! The gameplay is one of the most noticeable improvements with a much larger focus on RPG elements and a tightening of the hack-and-slash and platforming. The music by Jesper Kyd and voice acting are incredible, the graphics have an appealing style with eye-popping vistas, and the length of the game is massive. While the story isn't completely satisfying in its entirety, it does manage to greatly expand on the universe of Darksiders in a positive way.

I don't know what Nordic Games will be doing with this beloved series, but I hope it's in good hands. Vigil Games has treated Darksiders with ardency for several years, which has been evident in the amount of hard work and passion they've invested in it. Hopefully the recent adoption of this franchise has arrived in the care of a publisher that will treat it with the same respect. But for the sake of closing on DS2, I'll say that it's a successful sequel in every sense of those words that deserves praise. And if you haven't played it, I highly recommend doing so before Death beckons at your door to claim you.

Blog Post: A Tribute to Gaming's Greatest Franchises

BRAV0 F1VE — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:55:00 GMT

While many gamers argue that titles such as the Darksiders copy and rip-off other popular titles, I believe that THQ has crafted one of gaming’s most beautiful and intricately crafted tributes in this console generation. While staying original, Darksiders pays homage to popular titles such as Prince of Persia, Zelda, God of War and even Portal. Darksiders 2 combines the greatest aspects of all these games, but somewhere along the way it forgot to tell a story.

Darksiders 2 starts players off as Death, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, trying to find absolution for his brother War. Death is an all-powerful buttkicker, and through the game’s 20-hour main quest, players will be laying waste to demons, corrupted angels, and large, Shadow of the Colossus-esque giants. Players can put points into the agile harbinger skill tree or the Necromancer skill tree. I chose to put most of my skill points towards the Necromancer tree, which allowed Death to summon flesh-eating ghouls to fight for him. These ghouls allow Death to focus on single targets while leaving the zombies to mop up the rest. In the Darksiders, battles are frantic, and players may have a hard time tracking death amidst the flurries of attacks and magical combos. As expected, this can be both a good and bad problem to have. Navigating the environment is a breeze thanks to Death’s improved acrobatic abilities. Death is built for speed, and players can chain a flurry of combos by using his deadly arsenal of weapons. Death’s tools of trade are his twin scythes, but the game’s dungeons offer a dizzying collection of loot and players can build Death into whatever playstyle they like. Possibly the coolest feature in the Darksiders are the Possessed weapons. These weapons allow you to “feed” them other weapons to level them up and increase their stats.

Death would make for an interesting protagonist if not for Darksider’s lackluster story. Within the first couple of hours into the game, Death’s journey divulges into elaborate fetch quests with little means of plot progression. More often than not, Death’s main purpose is to travel to [Insert Dungeon Name Here] to get a key so he can unlock a new dungeon with an even bigger key. While not necessarily eventful, Darksider’s dungeons are well designed and a pleasure to look at. Darksiders 2 is a graphical masterpiece, and the game’s overworld is well designed and unique. These dungeons were blast to play, with the exception of a gameplay piece centered around an angelic firearm. This level played out like a repetitive third-person shooter level, with bland enemy and loose controls.

While Darksiders 2 doesn’t have the most polished narrative, it is a great action experience and a homage to some of the biggest titles in gaming. If you’re looking for an action based lootfest, you could do worse than picking up Darksiders 2.

Wiki: Darksiders II Guides

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 03:13:00 GMT

Guides for Darksiders II

Blog Post: Death's Growing Pains

Eric Watson — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:15:00 GMT

This was a tough game to review. Darksiders 2 is actually a pretty big departure from the first game, both in story and gameplay. The game world opened up a lot more with tons of content, dungeons, and collectibles, and they also introduced the concept of Diablo or Borderlands style random loot drops and equipment slots. While I enjoyed the abundant chest hunting for newer and better loot, and the possessed weapons that you could feed your old loot too to make stronger the chaotic brawling gameplay never took full advantage of all the little stats like increased health or fire damage. The only one to make a huge difference was life steal as you could only have a limited amount of health potions. The combat I feel was actually a step down from its predecessor; while faster and more chaotic, I felt like I was just hammering on the X and Y buttons while occasionally throwing in some Necromancer abilities, whereas in the first game I really learned the combos and felt far superior by the end of the game. Also, Death's dodge is annoyingly slow and awkward compared to how fast he attacks.

A lot of the changes could be forgiven as just trying different things had the story picked up where the first game left off (Darksiders was considered by many to have one of the best endings of this console generation). Instead they told a sort of parallel prequel that was basically "While War was incapacitated during the prologue of the first game, here's what Death was doing in a totally different world." At one point Death does actually travel to Earth for a weird shooter segment that only made me miss the original Darksiders even more.

While the sequel is not a bad game by any means, I do feel the developers went a little overboard on expanding the content and the collectibles. By the end of my 30hr adventure I still had a ton of those collectible side quests left, and no desire to go nit picking through various beaten dungeons to find them. Remember the Gold Skulltula quest in Ocarina of Time? Yeah there are like four of those here. New Game Plus would've been really interesting but again after 30hrs on my first playthrough I just didn't feel like committing the time to retread through everything. The original Darksiders, however, I did replay on Apocalyptic and got the full 1000GS (Xbox 360).

I enjoyed the game, despite running into a game breaking bug that stopped my progress right in the last dungeon until a patch a month later allowed me to finally beat it. But its a weird game to recommend as it is significantly different than the original. I appreciate that sequels should not just be full retreads of their previous games with just a few tweaks, but in this case I feel like the devs got a little overambitious and lost some focus along the way. I would be interested in a third game based on the world they've created and I still love the Zelda style gameplay, but it might not be the day one purchase that Darksiders 2 was.

Blog Post: Review - Darksiders II (PS3)

BLiNDFATES — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 00:04:00 GMT

The original Darksiders was highly criticized for it's "lack of originality", and now with a sequel among us, people are wondering if Darksiders 2 will creating something new, or provide much of the same. Darksiders 2 makes several improvements over Darksiders 1, but fails when it comes to diversity.

PRESENTATION

Up front, Darksiders II's graphics wont blow you away. in fact, it almost looks close to previous gen graphics. however, there are still moments that inspire a bit of awe, with bright lush colors. combat is probably the best looking. when you lock on to an enemy the camera zooms and focuses on it, providing quite an awesome looking combat view. flashing numbers representing damage counts and experience gain, along with the enemy flashing yellow when it is hit, are small details that you'll either love, hate, or completely ignore. i for one enjoyed it because of the chaoticness of everything when i began to string combos.

Darksiders II visit a number of different locations, each drastically different from the other. these worlds look fantastic, but the dungeons you spend most of your time in will tend to look and feel the same. it's a good thing that the dungeons layouts are actually well made.

The character models look pretty good, Darksiders 2 has a much larger cast than the original Darksiders did, and each has their own details. voice acting isn't special, but Death's character at least sounds a bit less cheesy than the gruff sounding War. you can actually depict some emotion this time!...sometimes.

unfortunately, a couple larger flaws will get in the way. for one, i did come across a number of glitches. though none of them were threatening to my gamesave, they caused me to fall to my death, and in some larger instances, reset the game. another large flaw is more of an annoyance. seemingly random loading times will constantly stop play for a few seconds, and this came be rather irritating, and takes a lot of the gaming experience out of it.

STORY

As in Darksiders, the story was a bit hard to follow. it seemed really simple until the end where they threw a ton of information and plot twist at you and you had to take it all in to understand it (i had to google it just to verify that what i got out of it was actually what was going on. shh!). but it was a good twist.That's not the case this time around.

I'm quite thankful for the less complicated story this time, but this story makes me wish it was a little more complicated. It's very anticlimactic, with about zero plot twist, and quite honestly, it's just boring. essentially you have to get to point A. when you get to point A, it turns out you have to get to point B. but in order to find out where point B is, you have to do a few errands for this guy, only to discover that in order to get to point B, you have to first stop at points C and D, which each have their own detours.

The scenes themselves are ripped from the typical action adventure, "let's make this fight epic" kind of thing. the lines come off kind of cheesy, and Death is always certain to finish a fight in some "epic" way with his reaper form.

Darksiders II's story takes place right after the first level of Darksiders 1 while War is currently imprisoned. The story does ties things all together, but the result of Death's mission shows no difference in the events of Darksiders 1, nor of what's to come, and it really feels like all that Death did had no impact. not to mention the very anticlimactic ending which leaves a very unsatisfied taste in your mouth.

Still, the ending seems to promise more Darksiders to come, and this i am still interested in, because i think combined, this chain of games can equal up to something. but for Darksiders II, the story is definitely it's biggest flaw.

GAMEPLAY

This is where the most improvement lies. RPG elements such as leveling with skill points and skill trees, loot in the form of weapons and armor, and a number of sidequest, are new additions to gameplay that initially give out potential. the game still mainly consist of hack-and-slash, light platforming, and small puzzles, but this element adds a little more to the series.

Unfortunately, none of these RPG elements are very well developed. Loot is great, but you'll find the same weapons and armor throughout the entire game just with different stats and a slightly altered look. The skill trees are small, and leveling itself doesn't feel very rewarding. Side missions are there, but there is really little incentive to do them, and they often require you to backtrack to places you've already visited.

A big problem with this is that the game literally has you going from dungeon to dungeon with little else. almost all quest are in dungeons, and it becomes tiresome.

The puzzles in the game aren't too challenging, but some will require you to scratch your chin for a second, and it's a nice change of pace from the high paced combat.

speaking of, combat is a lot of fun. rather than blocking, you dodge. it provides a new fast paced, yet methodical form of combat, that is actually quite fun.

Platforming, the last big part of gameplay, is very simple. there's always a straightforward path for you to traverse. the same platforming objects will always be oh so conviniently present, that platforming wont ever really provide a challenge.

There was a unique style of gameplay closer to the end that i absolutely hated. i wont spoil anything, but i hated that level.

Ending on a high note, if there is one thing that makes Darksiders II shine is its boss fights. these are really awesome. they work and look great, and though some may be easy, boss battles were something i always looked forward to.

RECAP

I honestly like Darksiders, and i was hoping to write up a good review for it, but when i laid out my full experience, i had to face the facts that it is what it is. Darksiders II is a lengthy game, at least for today's standards. I did few sidequest and clocked in around 20 hours. i had a lot at first, but about halfway through, i was doing the same thing, crawling through yet another dungeon, with enemies and puzzles ending in a boss. what could've been a great experience and a major comeback for Darksiders, is heavily brought down by repetitive gameplay and a very unsatisfying story.

I don't think i've given up on Darksiders just yet, as i'm still interested as to how things will all come together in the end. so which horsemen comes next?

Blog Post: A Sequel to Die For

Craigaleg — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 20:29:00 GMT

Score: 9 / 10

Darksiders II

Xbox 360 - PC - PS3 - WiiU
Developer: Vigil Games
Publisher: THQ
Release Date:August 14th, 2012

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-04g7z0YL0]

Pros:

A grand art style, with vibrant personality
Seamless, fluid platforming
Fantastic puzzle design and dungeons
High tempo combat keeps you engaged

Cons:

Camera issues can hamper both platforming and combat
Lackluster final segment compared to other sequences in the game
No ability to toggle "lock on"

I only recently completed the original Darksiders, and found it hard to properly categorize the game. Several nods to other established franchises combined into one title; mixing God of War esque combat with puzzle style dungeons similar to Legend of Zelda. Darksiders felt like a hybrid game that was able to utilize these gameplay elements, while still maintaining its own identity with brilliant character design. After setting itself up for a sequel at its conclusion, Darksiders II continues to expand the established backstory of Earth's apocalypse instead of picking up right where the first game left off. Despite going back in time the game not only refines the initial formula, but provides a more expansive and addicting adventure.

Come at me, bro!

Darksiders II stays true in its previous pattern of melding together many different franchises, and it is hard not to draw comparisons when these cross your path. Hordes of zombies swarming your position at the sound of a howl like Left 4 Dead, scaling a large boss akin to Shadow of the Colossus, and even the dialogue wheels of Mass Effect make their appearance. Their adapted gameplay does not compell you to cry "copycat" but rather serve to bring variety to the overall experience. Despite the similarities the exceptional set pieces, unique character design, and memorable original soundtrack give Darksiders II its own personality.

Taking place during the incarceration of War for facing accusations of starting the apocalypse early, you assume the role of Death. Convinced of his brother's innocence, Death marches on for answers and a way to restore humanity. Though playing as Death does not have the fear-inducing effect you would expect when you enter a room, the cast of characters you encounter along the way keeps the story lively. While the quest to free War initially proves interesting its continual chain of collecting items to stave off corruption begins to wear thin, but it's the backstory of the Nephilim and haunting burden of their fate that becomes the most intriguing aspect of the plot.The story is given life through wonderfully crafted cinematic sequences, and top tier voice acting.

Two scythes are better than one

As Death you will constantly switch between a healthy mix of platforming and combat, both seamless in transitions and fluid in movement. Platforming consists of the expected wall running and grappling acrobatics, and thanks to Death's speedy movement it can become a joy to watch when everything comes together. Combat in the game is faster than before, as Death's speed and ferocity is much greater than his brother War. Established combos require only slight memorization, as experimenting with timing and mixing up variety between heavy and weak attacks can work out the abilities with the greatest impact. The controls work fine, except for the fact that there is no option to toggle the lock on ability, requiring you to continuously hold the Left Trigger/Shoulder. It would be no issue if I did not have to hit R1 to dodge and hold L1 in conjunction with the face buttons to use my special abilities, resulting in controller "Twister" sessions.

Beyond the combat and platforming you will also be working to solve the dungeon's various puzzles. These can be as simple as wall running to hit a switch or using something heavy to hold down a button. There will be a few puzzles that stop to make you scratch your head, especially on the later stages that involve splitting yourself in two pieces or utilizing portals in conjunction with platforming. The feeling of satisfaction when figuring out the solution is quite satisfying, and there are plenty of trial and error situations to give off that effect. While the puzzles are entertaining, you cannot get past Vigil's obsession with the number three. A majority of the time you will have to use three waterways to clear to the boss, or bring three souls to sacrifice to summon the boss; it was as though I knew where I was going, but not how I was going to get there.

RPG adaptation is becoming a common occurrence, and Darksiders II manages to incorporate it into the game both in and out if combat. Armor and weapons now drop off of enemies or are discovered in chests, littered with the expected stats like strength, resistance, or crit. While the menus can take a bit of time to load, the ease of slipping on a new piece of armor is immediate upon its drop allowing you to continue a dungeon with a new weapon or stash it away to sell later. Not only carrying stats, but aesthetic appeal warrants immediate gratification upon equipping a strong piece of armor or weaponry. These stats work in conjunction with a skill tree that you can upgrade with each level or milestone, to craft your character into a full fledged melee warrior or necromancer that bids undead minions to do the work for you.

I can see my house from here!

Darksiders II becomes a nightmare for completionists, as the game is littered with multiple collectibles and sidequests. The open world gives opportunity for many tucked away secrets including additional dungeons, labyrinth puzzles, and arena challenges. Where sidequests usually fall flat due to repetition, the consistency in puzzle design and combat does not lessen with these additional ventures. Upon completing a dungeon to recover a hammer for the blacksmith, I was able to complete a sort of "mini-dungeon" in addition to procuring a boosted list of available items to purchase.The promise of quick rewards and simplicity in fast traveling to a location through the map entice you to set aside your main goal for a grab at additional loot.

I walked away from Darksiders II eager to see more of the franchise. The subtle shadowy figures of Fury and Strife give teases at the possible futures offered (co-op play?). If the fantastic narrative and gameplay of Darksiders II is any indication, the series can only go up from here. Despite a lackluster final encounter, the game as a whole is a fantastic improvement upon the original and multiple difficulties including a nightmare difficulty where death is permanent is enough to keep you coming back for more punishment. The fine tuning and new additions to Darksiders II make it a high point for the franchise, and a subtle tease as to what could come...

Blog Post: Death's Boring Embrace

goatr — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 04:53:00 GMT

The moment the original Darksiders concluded I was already anticipating the sequel. Thinking only great thoughts about how Vigil could expand upon its' mish-mash of tried and true concepts, I eagerly pre-paid and patiently waited this game to arrive. As it turns out, I waited for nothing.

Instead of guiding this sequel from the closing credits of the first game and moving forward, Darksiders 2 actually turns back the clock and has Death attempting to find absolution for his brother while he is imprisoned. That may make you believe that there is a story to this game, but believe me, nothing could be further from the truth. There is absolutely no narrative in this game whatsoever. Darksiders 2 is nothing but people telling Death to run from point A to point B and back again while providing him nothing in return other to "go talk to this person because I really can't help you," type quests. And then it's over.

It might not sound like much, but not having a story truly does kill this game for me. Even after defeating the saddest excuse for an end boss ever, I gained nothing. There's barely an ending, but I guess I should have expected that having gotten nothing throughout the entire journey. Luckily the combat system is worth talking about. Whereas War was a straight up brawler type of character with a couple of handy special attacks, Death comes fully equipped with two separate skill trees full of varying special and magical attacks. Unleashing a murder of crows, initiating a devastating teleport slash or raising the dead from there graves to fight for you adds some much needed variety to combat. Add to this the new loot system which is filled with all sorts of armor pieces, quick and heavy attack weapons, and talismans and combat and exploration receive a welcome boon.

Speaking of exploration, Death is quite the agile mover through environments. Running along walls and scaling and jumping over cliffs with ease makes for a much more fast paced game. One thing that did bother me was that there would be a couple of scenarios requiring Death to leap and bound up a vertical surface while a flaming spike trap would rise below him. In these, admittedly few, sections Death's over-zealous animations would sometimes make him move one way when I clearly had the analog stick facing another. Having to stop completely before changing direction during these parts caused me several infuriating deaths. Luckily I only recall two of these sections throughout the game, but they were quite maddening regardless.

As fun as it can be to traverse the environments (especially in the expertly crafted dungeons, of which there are quite a few) the outside environments tend to be as exciting as the story. Sure you get some wide open plains and fields to run around in with your horse, Despair, but there really isn't anything compelling about them. Thankfully there is a fast travel system in place to help move you along through the worlds at a faster pace.

Having the story run parallel with the original Darksiders was Vigil's biggest mistake. After playing through the game for only a couple of hours it started to sink in that I wasn't going to be in for the proverbial ride that I had hoped for. There are good ideas in this game for sure and combat can be quite invigorating, but when it feels as if it serves no real purpose then why should I even bother? I eventually found myself bored with the entire undertaking and when your main character is the most feared horseman of them all you have truly dropped the ball.

Blog Post: A Masterpiece . . . or Not . . .

Anthony Oury — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:35:00 GMT

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Darksiders 2 Review

Review By: Anthony Oury

-Special Game Notes-

· - On the PS3 I crashed multiple times (5-8) and had to restart the system

· + Length: 15-20 hours with side missions, more if you go for trophies or Crucible rounds

· + Every time you start a game session the last story section is summarized

· - There are too many loading/saving times that interrupt you when you go through doors

Intro and Story 7/10

I’m going to assume you played Darksiders 1 during this review so I don’t have to tip toe around the lore of two games. In short, Vigil Games screwed the story up. BAD! The game starts out by letting us understand Death’s goal and you begin to learn a lot about the world. You meet many helpful characters or some guys who will help you because you are useful to them. You learn about the lore of the game’s early universe; created beings, different realms, and the way the afterlife works. However, after the first two places the worlds go from gigantic to minuscule which at first seems to focus the story more, but the later characters become only cameos. When I first heard about the worlds I heard that one world would be bigger than the one world in Darksiders, however, the developers better learn fast that the “smaller” world in the first game had a more focused story and was filled with FAR more interesting NPCs.

In this game there are more enemy variety and you learn about Death’s, and the Nephilim’s, past. The structure of the world and Death’s movements reminds me of the game Soul Reaver since that game had portals to other worlds and both main characters have the appearance and movements of a feral animal, or a creepy undead wraith. The character development for Death isn’t too big but you understand his personal conflict well enough and the game almost seems similar to God of War 1, except without the major enemy that Kratos had in Ares, which is another problem with the game. Although you find out soon enough who the main antagonist is, he isn’t as threatening as the Destroyer was in Darksiders 1 and didn’t have as interesting of a backstory as Kratos had with Ares. That is why it seems as if there should have been a bigger build up to the end since the final battle, that you see coming halfway through the game, ends up being emotionless and quick. The game succeeds multiple times in making itself cinematic in the beginning of the game, but there are many points in the later parts of the game in which there should’ve been a more fleshed out narrative to make meeting certain characters more meaningful. If you played Darksiders 1 then be aware that it FAR exceeds the Darksiders 2 story, even though Death’s past is explained more than War’s past in the first game.

Gameplay 9/10

Most of the beginning of the game has you learning and getting used to the combinations of weapons you can use. You will take much time leveling up, especially in the second world, but it gets you used to Death’s fighting style. As much as you can play the game as a straight up hack-and-slash there will be plenty of enemies you must learn to dodge which is pretty much the opposite of War’s style. Although you can make Death very resilient with certain abilities, you must learn to move quickly across the battlefield without running into the enemy’s strong attacks. You can play in two ways: High damage close range scythe attacks or mid-long range magic type attacks. You can customize Death in a multitude of ways thanks to the game’s RPG elements, unfortunately mastering this system can be too easy since I was able to finish the last 3 world bosses a LOT quicker than the second world boss. While playing at Apocalyptic difficulty the game was exactly how I expected during the first two worlds, sometimes even approaching Dark Souls difficulty if you did some side missions too early. However the game really rushed to the end during the last two worlds, which is a shame since they are the most interesting locations in the whole universe within the game. One major issue I had was that the first world had 2 or 3 truly difficult optional bosses who were really satisfying to defeat, but these type of optional areas disappear completely at the second half of the game since the main story becomes the focus.

The one thing that stays consistent is the feeling that the whole world is one big puzzle. While walking around the world or dungeon you might see an item and while attaining it you realize it is part of a larger puzzle. There are still “room puzzles”, but you will be surprised how many times you will take a branching path and simply end up finding a treasure chest or hidden item. A major reason why some areas are so hidden are due to the surprising moments when you can use your platforming skills to go up a wall in a seemingly dead end path. Many of the puzzles are truly hard and would easily give Portal 2 a run for its money and so in terms of puzzles the game far exceeded my expectations.

One part of the game that I wasn’t able to play, but heard plenty about was The Crucible. There is not much to say other than that it sends 100 waves of enemies at you and you beat them. Beating many rounds can earn you items, and there is a mechanic to send your friends weapons, but unless you want to trophy hunt or practice some of your fighting prowess there really isn’t much reason to play it.

Graphics 9/10

The graphics are in the style of a graphic novel style, like The Darkness. The worlds are all different in their own unique ways, but it all changes when you go into the dungeons. Unfortunately the central enemy for the game has contaminated each of these worlds making many enemies look pretty similar but with different colors and the dungeons look very similar since black “corruption” and bland stonework make up most of the dungeon backrounds in all of the worlds. A major setback when compared to the first game is that your horse is never upgraded, and has no true use or story element unlike in Darksiders 1. The character designs for the NPCs are very interesting and all of them stand out; unfortunately there aren’t many of them.

Sound 7/10

The songs remind me of Assassins Creed and some Celtic nature melodies. Nothing mind blowing or even original, although Death’s main theme is decent enough. The enemy noises and sword slashes are what you would expect. The one thing that saves the game is the ancient and grand sounding dialogue and the backstory for each world.

Final Thoughts

It does not improve the Darksiders 1 narrative, however certain weapons and moves greatly improved the gameplay. In my opinion the story is more important than gameplay and this game certainly shows that. However if you can’t get enough of the gameplay then you will really like Apocalyptic difficulty and The Crucible, but if you are interested only in the story, then the puzzles will be enough challenge for you on the lower difficulties.

File: Darksiders II Wii U Screens

Jim Reilly — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:52:00 GMT

File: Darksiders II Wii U Screens

Jim Reilly — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:52:00 GMT

File: Darksiders II Wii U Screens

Jim Reilly — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:52:00 GMT

File: Darksiders II Wii U Screens

Jim Reilly — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:52:00 GMT

Blog Post: RFXRage's Review of Darksiders 2

RFXRage — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:35:00 GMT

I've been done with Darksiders 2 for quite some time now, at least until the dlc comes out, but hey it's never too late to write a review. Personally, Darksiders 2 was a great ride for me. I literally couldn't stop playing it for a straight month. The gameplay was simply so amazing and smooth, it never got old. Transitioning from scythe to secondary weapon was a breeze and all of his other abilities were quite simple to access during combat. I personally focused more on the Necromancer side of Death's skilltree, summoning, but the skilltree in of itself allowed for great variety in play style. The variety in weapons and armor was also incredibly amazing. I literally looted every single chest just to see if I could find better weapons/armor. Every piece of weaponry would present new gameplay. Maces, axes, claws, they were all so unique (I <3 maces). Darksiders 2 definitlely is on the top of my list for weapon variety. The different types of collectables were also great to collect, from the stones to the book of the dead pages, because they all gave Death unique items to equip that just made him that much more awesome. If this game was rated solely on gameplay, it would be a flat out ten, but sadly it's not. A lot of times during the cutscenes the sound wouldn't match what the images were depicting. So many times I found myself saying, "There should have been like an explosion of something there instead of silence." Also, at times the frame rate would drop to incredibly poor quality. Perhaps that is due to the Xbox 360 not being able to handle the game. Gameplay wise, Death is astounding. He possesses uncanny abilities to dodge, jump, grapple, slide,and basically every parkour ability you could ever dream of. As enemy after enemy fell to my scythes I felt that much more powerful, but then again he is death incarnate.....so it kind of gives him an unfair advantage against....everybody. Death as a character, however, slightly disappointed me. He did have some personality to him with his dark and often sarcastic nature, but I wish he would have had a little more. Perhaps his relationship with the other horsemen should have taken a little more of the spotlight or maybe his remorse for killing his brethren should have been made more apparent.

Unlike many reviews I've seen, I personally love the Darksiders storyline. I find it to be incredibly engaging and entertaining. I mean come on, demons, angels, everything in between, the apocalpyse, four *** horsemen, what more could you ask for? The entire theme of different dimensions was greatly intriguing. Heaven, hell, earth, they were all amazing. So many times I found myself just looking at the scenery, just as a rogue skeleton came to spoil my sight gazing. The environments of this game were literly some of the best I have ever seen. It even competes with Assassin's Creed on environmental graphics, that's how good they are. The inner areas of the worlds all consisted of dungeons that held puzzles that reminded of games like the Legend of Zelda. Sometimes theses puzzles could get a little lengthy, but it was all too worth just to fight that final boss. The enemies also added to these environments because no two worlds had similiar enemies. All the enemies were crafted with great detail and all had their strengths/weaknesses. Finding out the different weaknesses of these enemies and then exploiting them to defeat these enemies was one of my favorite aspects of the game. If I had but one complaint about the storyline, it would be that much of the info about the story is gathered the same way: ask somebody a question and then they reply, but other than that the story is great.

As for the game itself, it is literally a refreshing blend of various games ranging from God of War to the Legend of Zelda. It, however, is still it's own unique game all in it self. I found myself so many times saying "I'm going to die" because the enemies were simply so unique and blatantly awesome. Now I don't want to spoil any of the game for anyone who hasn't played it, but some of the boss battles were simply incredible. You'll know what I mean once you play it. Albeit some flaws, the game was still great and will have you coming back again and again. It is definitely a must buy game for 2012. Now about Darksiders 3.....STRIFE ALL THE WAY.

Thanks for reading my review, I hope you found it to be informative. Please like and share this page. If you don't feel like it, thanks for reading it!

Blog Post: Darksiders 2

Hectorien — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 23:05:00 GMT

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Darkisders 2 demands and tests the player’s patience. It’s game that doesn’t start off with a bang and it takes time to get the gears rolling but when it finally does, it offers one of the most thrilling and engaging action RPG experiences in recent memory. Although a direct sequel, it’s not essential to have played the original since the plot runs parallel to it’s predecessor’s timeline and the game does a good job of bringing the player up to speed on the overall Darksiders storyline. Darskiders 2 could have been it’s own standalone title or the first game in the series and it would have still worked on almost all levels.

Death’s motivation, and his number one goal, is to redeem his brother War of a wrongly issued sentence of eternal suffering. I guess that’s what happens when you’re accused of prematurely starting the Apocalypse that brings the end of days. That’s a pretty serious driving force and Death will stop at nothing to prevent that from happening. Let’s just say that Death has a reputation of being a bit irrational in his actions and playing through the game you understand why. Death will murder anything that gets in his way without a second thought. They either give him what he needs or they die. It’s really that black & white and while moral ground would be questioned with any other protagonist in any other game, this is Death we’re talking about. He’s the most feared of the four horsemen for a reason.

Be prepared for quite a bit of obscene violence, the likes of which we haven’t seen since God of War. Unlike God of War, you can customize the violence to your particular taste. There are two skill trees with very different combat options. I chose the Necromancer tree, with an emphasis on spells like summoning of ghouls or a murder of crows to fight beside Death. The other option is Harbinger with skills that cater to a melee heavy combat style. Both are equally viable and fun options and again, which path you chose depends entirely on your combat preference. The talent system is definitely something I spent a lot of time configuring. Every time I leveled up and gained a Skill Point I would agonize over how I would spend it and I never felt like a wasted point. So choose carefully but if you feel like you made a mistake, you can respec easily at minimal cost.

The combat is an absolute blast. Especially when you get deeper in your chosen talent tree and utilize your new abilities. When you finally master it, the combat has an almost Zen-like quality as you hack and slash through enemies with fluidity. The choice of weapons really adds to this empowerment. You have the option of going super heavy melee with options like a mace, axe, or sword that can be comically gargantuan but devastatingly deadly or go smaller with sharp fist weapons that can be just as potent. It all depends on the player’s style and preference. I used both types of weapons at different times and found both to be very comparable to each other. It’s not the weapon, but how you use it! There are an unbelievable amount of weapon choices. But the ones you want to keep an eye out for are the Possessed Weapons, which you can level up by feeding it lesser weapons or gear in your inventory. Every time you level it up you get a significant stat boost to the weapon as well a new stat option. You can level it up a maximum of five times potentially making a maxed out Possessed Weapon the best option when dealing with tricky bosses.

The real challenge in Darksiders 2 isn’t the monsters or even the level bosses, in fact neither posed a serious obstacle to overcome. If anything, they were mere inconveniences as I faced the real challenges in the game, which were the puzzles and a large chunk of time is spent trying to solve them. As you progress through the game you enter dungeons with Zelda inspired design that you complete section by section until you get to the final room with the level boss. While not dismissible by any means, the level bosses are intimidating in size and frightening in design, Death becomes so overpowered towards the end of the game that they weren’t much of a challenge and even the final boss was a one shot. The meat of the game lies in the challenging puzzles.

The art design team at Vigil Games did an outstanding job with the overall art of the game. The overworld environments are exceptionally stunning and are dramatically different from realm to realm. In one you’re up in the heavens and in another you’re deep in the bowels of earth. Each realm is expertly designed down to minutia. However, the team takes a false step in the dungeon design. With a few exceptions it felt like most of the dungeons were an extension of each other with very little variance in between. They were monochromatic and repetitive. When so much time is spent in dungeons, it’s important to have quite a bit of variation to keep things fresh. Even now looking back, I visualize most of the dungeons as one massive meta dungeon. I would have loved to seen the design team incorporate more of the overworld to the overall dungeon design to distinguish them.

Darksiders 2 is a massive achievement for the team at Vigil Games. There were high expectations but the team managed to improve on its predecessor on every level. Sure it’s more of the same, but when that sameness is so thoroughly enjoyable, what does it matter? It’s refined and polished goodness. It’s also very purple. Seriously, I wont be able to look at the color purple without immediately thinking about Death.

Blog Post: Not Many Games Make You Feel As Good As Darksiders II

caniac96 — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:04:00 GMT

Darksiders II hooked me right from the start. As soon as I started playing, I loved the agility of the new protagonist, Death, and his fluidity as he scales walls and takes out multiple enemies at once with his scythes. Another thing that drew me in was summoning and banishing Death's horse, Dispair. Darksiders II does what only games like God of War can achieve, and that is make you feel powerful beyond belief.

When you play as Death and you are throwing your scythes, or smashing enemies with an absurdly large hammer or mace, you get that sensation of "No one can stop me!" You realize that you are one of the Four Horsemen who are Gods of sorts, and not only are you a God, you are the most feared of them all, and that is a pretty amazing feeling.

On top of the agility of Death and the enjoyment you get from swinging an over-sized hammer at enemies, the gameplay is actually really well done. They combat is very smooth and easy to get into and transitioning from Death's scythes to the over-sized hammer is seamless. Death uses everything in his arsenal, from firearms to necromancy.

I was pleased with the skill tree system they use to upgrade either your individual power attacks or your necromancy. I gravitated to necromancy because there is not much that is more fun than summoning ghouls to go attack and distract your enemies and then a murder of crows to swarm and attack them even further while simultaneously , healing you (if you get that perk on the skill tree).

The storyline is a bit dry, it was not the aspect of the game that drew me in, and it also was not the one that kept me playing. Some of the puzzles went on for too long and after figuring out how to solve it, it would become tedious. However some of the puzzles were incredibly fun and made you think outside of what the mind wants to think. Occasionally they would make me feel like a genius, and other times they would make me feel like an idiot. However, the addition of loot (a gamers best friend), kept the dungeons interesting when they would otherwise get bland whether due to tedious work or not being able to figure out the puzzle at hand.

All in all I thought this game was well done, I enjoyed it. Adding loot was one of the best things they could have done to change things up from the first game, and also alternating from the powerhouse, War, to the more agile and quick of the Four Horsemen, Death, was a smart choice for Vigil. I would suggest buying or at least renting this game to anyone, I do not think they will regret it. All I am hoping to see in the future is a game where we can pit Death against Kratos. How awesome would that be?

Blog Post: Better than the sum of (most of) it's parts.

Necroscope7 — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 23:59:00 GMT

As has been stated before, this game, like it's predecessor, takes a little from a lot of different places. Yet, despite that it manages to be it's own thing, and present some originality. yes, it takes from Zelda, but it's more fun than any Zelda game I've played since A Link to the Past. It borrows a lot of it's combat from God of War (who long ago borrowed that combat from Devil May Cry), but it gives me an open world and more freedom than God of war ever did. I'm picking up loot like I was playing a Diablo game, but I don't have to have a group or a sidekick to help me feel *** or to share it with. I'm going back to places I've visited before now that i can get through them, like Metroid, but I can fast travel back to them instead of a slow, steady slog. I'm not saying that it's not without it's flaws, but the few gripes I have are drowned out by the sheer enjoyment of the package as a whole. If you can not only accept but embrace the fact that it pays homage to so many great games from the past, you'll find something great to enjoy here. My only problem now is waiting for the stories of the two horsemen who are MIA so far, not to mention when they finally get together to really wreak some havoc.

Blog Post: A Great Way to Meet Death

DuskMirage — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 03:12:00 GMT

I tend to think of the first Darksiders as being a bit like Frankenstein’s monster: It was a little ugly thanks to its technical flaws, it had a hard time telling a story, and it was stitched together using pieces of other legendary games. However, unlike the mad doctor’s monster, Vigil Games’ creation was worth spending time with, as is its sequel.

Darksiders II improves upon its predecessor’s blend of barrowed gameplay mechanics by adding a few more, but it still suffers from many problems found in the original Darksiders. For example, while combat is smoother thanks to the smart decision to replace the hulking War with his more agile brother Death, it still suffers from the same camera and occasional targeting issues that were present in the first Darksiders. Nevertheless, experimenting on the game’s myriad enemies with new combos and the countless different weapons you’ll find on your journey is inherently fun.

The game’s story is less consistent. Death as a character is well-realized and his goal and motivations are clear and relatable, but the same cannot be said of the story’s antagonist, or indeed any of the other characters players will encounter. Despite Death being a total ***, he is often forced into the role of an errand boy, having to fetch keys, souls, or whatever mcguffin his current quest-giver desires. Additionally, while there are some scenes that are so over the top that they border on the absurd (like when Death rides his spectral steed onto the back of a giant serpent which is in turn pulling a huge castle through the sky), these fantastic moments are few and far between, and players may go for long periods without any real plot progression at all.

While the game’s plot may be shallow, it is set in a large world filled with deep dungeons containing numerous hidden areas to explore. Observant players will find their curiosity well rewarded as Darksiders II’s dungeons are crammed with nooks and crannies filled with loot and secrets waiting to be uncovered. Navigating to these areas is a joy unto itself since Death’s agility extends beyond combat, giving him creative options for stylish environmental traversal. My only complaint concerning Darksiders II’s dungeons is that they lack challenging puzzles. While there were a few over the course of the game that were interesting and made me feel clever, most were overly simple and felt like little more than busy work (the same could be said of many of the game’s boss fights).

Darksiders II shines in areas not directly related to gameplay. The game features one of the most memorable scores I’ve heard in years thanks to the work of composer Jesper Kyd. Comic book artist Joe Madureira also lent his unique style to the game which has resulted in some truly inspired art direction. Unfortunately, you may have a hard time appreciating it thanks to the game’s lack of graphical fidelity and general glitchiness. Screen tearing is a problem on the 360 version and I was forced to reload several times due to the game crashing, as well as Death falling through the world. Overall, these issues did not hinder my enjoyment of the game, but they were distracting at times.

All told, Darksiders II is a very good game, and one that is more than the sum of its parts. It could be a truly great game, but there’s at least one caveat for everything it does right. Vigil Games has crafted an experience that’s worth your time, but I can’t help feeling like they still haven’t quite found the spark needed to truly bring their creation to life. Much like its predecessor, Darksiders II has left me hungry for a sequel that lives up to the promise this series has shown.

Blog Post: Darksiders 2 is not what I had hoped for. It's still worth playing, by the slightest of margins.

Fuzzofpekinopolis — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:16:00 GMT

This game is a disappointment to me. I absolutely loved the first game. But DS2 has just left me wanting more. It simply lacks the spark needed to keep me interested for more than an hour at a time. It's not a bad game, it just lacks in too many areas. It's a shame. :(

I'm not a graphics whore in any sense of the term. Very colorful albeit muddy textures have been a huge distraction to me in this game. Death himself has very bland textures on his person. Their simply is no natural flow to the lip-sync/hair/body of any NPC in the game. Everything seems stiff and muddy. Other than most of Deaths transitions during combat, everything seems overly stiff.

I have had numerous problems with game flow. It's not because I can't figure out the controls. I know the combinations and from time to time have racked up some pretty awesome hit streaks. The controls seem way too soft and unresponsive in dire situations. It just takes the game-flow away when I have to wait for Death to completely stop moving and then press another button. I can't find any reason for me falling off the edge of a platform, other than the fact that Death is not standing perfectly square with it.

It may take me a while to finish it because it just isn't sucking me in the way I had hoped. It's definitely a game worthy of playing. But their are way too many little problems that on their own would be fine, all together not so much. I just find it hard rating DS2 higher than the original. And for these reasons I can't.

Update: 8/30/12

I have noticed that as you equip more powerful weapons with abilities like fire/ice, things start to get prettier. Also, The Kingdom of the Dead seems to have better visuals.

Update: 9/4/12

I have progressed a good bit over the holiday weekend. Weapons are getting more epic, puzzles are getting a bit more difficult, and the bosses/mini-bosses are a bit more fun to fight.

I did run into a few bugs however. I had a boss battle in the Kingdom of the Dead where the boss froze not allowing me to kill him. Had to restart the game and it worked fine. I also have been running into an audio bug both in dialog and combat. Combat is fine, but an in game dialog scene went completely silent (sucked) and I missed everything except what came up on the screen as a caption. I also got stuck on some rocks and had to fast travel to free myself.

I'm trying not to spoil anything so I apologize for being rather vague. But it does seem that the game has picked up a good bit since I started this review. And I'm pretty sure the end draws near.

Update: 9/5/12

Game froze while traversing Shadows Edge level. Too late in day to restart, try again soon. This is by far the most visually stunning of all the levels I have gone to.

Update: 9/10/12

I finally got the time to finish the game. The ending was not that great for me. It ended too fast with not much else to say. The storyboard type still-art did not leave me all fired up for the next installment. Maybe DLC will expand on the ending?

Even after the update I still had audio issues, combat controls are still very soft to the touch. I had noticed that even after Death had come to a complete stop he would not respond to my button presses. The spirit/trainer that sells you the upgraded weapon moves in the Kingdom of the Dead still has a glitch. Even after buying all of them and getting the achievement for it, the Axe is still listed for sale.

The End:

I have played and accomplished everything on the disc except for the Sticks & Stones, and Relics collectibles quests. I can make it to level 75 in The Crucible before the Deposed King takes me out with his freeze blast.

I am happy with the score I have given this game. In my OPINION it started out as an 8 and finished as an 8. I wish that I could think better of this game, but I cannot.

Blog Post: Review of Darksiders II

Buddy Acker — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:52:00 GMT

Holy Zelda, Batman! That thought actually crossed my mind while I was playing Darksiders II, which is a lovely tribute to my favorite video game series of all time. Here is a game that doesn’t shy away from borrowing from other games; it does so obviously and without remorse. The original Darksiders took this approach as well, but Darksiders II does what it did in bigger and better ways. However, some technical issues and a shoddy narrative bump Darksiders II from near-perfection territory into almost near-perfection territory.

As I mentioned, Darksiders II is basically a carbon copy of one of the Zelda games. You will traverse several dungeons throughout the game, collecting chests and battling massive bosses. All of that stuff is very familiar and, fortunately, very awesome. In order to make his way through the aforementioned dungeons the main character, Death, borrows a moveset from the Prince of Persia himself. Running along and climbing walls is just as fun in Darksiders II as it is in the Prince of Persia games.

Death channels Kratos from the God of War series whilst in battle, relying on an impressive and devastating combat system to dispatch foes. Death can become an unstoppable killing force at times in the game, tearing through any obstacle with ease. This can be annoying. The camera can sometimes lose track of Death in the midst of all the chaos, causing confusion and, in rare instances, even cause Death to plummet to his doom. Thankfully, Death always respawns near where he fell.

Darksiders II features an unbelievably great loot system. New weapons and armor lie around every corner and I found myself constantly swapping out my gear for something more powerful. Leveling up weapons with other weapons is a very cool idea and I tip my hat to Vigil Games for that particular addition. Some weapons come ready-made with different attributes (arcane, elemental, etc.), which is to be expected from a game with RPG elements.

Looking for a game with a coherent plot? Look elsewhere. Darksiders II, much like the first game, features a confusing story. I phased out on what was going on shortly after I started playing. I know there’s something in there about a tree or something, but I really don’t care. I was too busy having fun to pay any attention to the poorly written tale of Death’s journey. However, the extraordinary art style kept my eyes glued to my TV screen during cutscenes. Darksiders II doesn’t win if we’re talking polygon count, but it’s still a beautiful game nonetheless.

The first Darksiders sold well over one million copies. I hope Darksiders II sells more. It really is a great game. It’s filled with so much content and is a joy to play, especially if you’re a Zelda fan. Don’t buy it for the story. Buy it for the adventure. Buy it for the fantastic combat and loot systems and creative dungeons. I’m glad I own a copy. It’s one of my favorite games of 2012.