Darksiders Review (360)

Hardly a revelation in revolutions

Hear the phrase ‘Forget everything you know about gaming!’, and the optimist in you will declare that you’re about to play a masterpiece that’ll revolutionise the future of your thumb twiddling hobby. However, you’re here for the pessimistic view, the one that says the only reason that’s being shouted at you is through sheer fear that any fragments of gaming memory over the last ten years will re-ignite a the fan-boy in you, forcing you to hate Darksiders with a passion. With such a name and apocalyptic plot, you’d expect a title which would drag your mind through a journey of colossal danger and substantial depth. However, it’s nestled itself so snugly into the realms of nostalgia that it seems happy to declare itself a run-of-the-mill thrill ride.

Despite a resolute peace between heaven and hell caused after years of feuding, grisly Horseman of the Apocalypse War causes a prime slot for Hiroshima’s You’ve Been Framed and brings upon the end of the world earlier than everyone expected. Now, with humanity completely wiped out and both the forces of good and evil not speaking to him, War must walk the tainted Earth alone. With no brethren to accompany him, he must attempt to rebuild bridges between Heaven and Hell, uncover the conspiracy and clear his name, thus proving that this complete cock-up wasn’t down to his efficiency in the workplace.

The multiple death utensils on offer practically force you to sit back and kick ass

Taking a look at the complexity and imagination of settings in this now war torn Earth, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the apocalypse was the best thing to happen to the planet, despite the lack of human beings. The fury filled chaos and uprising of the supernatural causes modern day structures to become infused with demonic architecture, in many cases causing some truly magnificent rifts in locations. Character models show impressive attention to detail in design, and the voice acting of all characters (especially of that provided by Mark Hamill) compliments artistic implements even further.

Despite War being punished at the very beginning by having all of his powers evoked, the heathen is still a tough nut to crack. So much so that we had to notch up to the highest difficulty setting in order to get some form of challenge out of battles. Combat is so simplistic that anyone with a basic grasp of the X button could’ve written the strategy guide. It’s a basic hack ‘n’ slash formula, but it’s one with impeccable fluidity and brutality, making it stupidly good fun to slice through waves of minions.

It’s only a matter of time, however, that the structure of Darksiders begins to crumble, revealing a development team on a binge Zelda and Motorhead marathon. Collecting four Lifestone Shards to form a complete Lifestone, increasing War’s health? Gaining a unique item in each dungeon that will eventually be the weapon of choice in the next boss battle? It may be able to let small nuances like this pass by, but when the blue and orange ‘Portal Gun’ comes into play, the similarities all point towards a team that weren’t struggling to find new ideas, but just couldn’t be bothered with them.

These clichés all follow tried and tested formula, and despite possibly angering some, the gadgets on offer can add slight complexity to battles for the mildly adventurous. Reaping the souls of your victims can earn you more combat moves (should you ever really need them), upgrades for projectiles and can level up your main set of gore inducing mellee weapons. The constant gift offerings, weapon upgrades and collectables encourages player to scour the open world offered to them, as well as fight their way to the very end of it all.

As long as you’re not representing Nintendo in court, Darksiders many debts to much loved franchises can easily be paid off with a smack on the wrist and a solemn tutting of ‘Boys will be boys’. The amount of collectables and upgrades to purchase is practically a siren to those who take comfort in 100% completion, and the multiple death utensils on offer practically force you to sit back and kick ass. Due to the slight lack of ingenuity, however, it doesn’t feel like Darksiders was truly pushed to the limits, stopping it from breaking through the boundaries of greatness and becoming something of a masterpiece. Still, it seems that a glistening stage is set for a franchise that’ll go from strength to strength should it choose to innovate, perhaps by starving Satan to death as Famine.