THQ | Craig's Movie Report

I haven’t done a game impressions for a long time, and was sort of moving the blog away from gaming related posts (with a few exceptions) but I felt compelled to tell people my absolute love of the game Darksiders 2 by Vigil Games. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed fantasy adventure game, this follows the story of Death, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who during the same time his brother War has destroyed mankind and struggles to right his own wrong (in Darksiders #1), Death is out to destroy Absalom from corrupting and destroying an alternate dimension. Ok, I probably didn’t have a clue what the story was, too side tracked by exploring beautiful dungeons and solving puzzles, collecting loot and upgrading my character with new outfits, weapons and abilities. The world presented to the player here is absolutely vast, made up of various realms, all of them huge and full of secrets and stacks of enemies. The balance however compared to similar games is just right … plenty of exploration, with bits of fighting thrown in, usually leading up to an encounter with a huge boss.

This kind of stuff is gaming gold for me, a gamer who prefers to explore, have time to think and not just brainlessly button bash his way through hoards of enemies until the credits roll. The world, with endless imagination is a wonder to behold, like a graphic-novel brought to life and hats off to the art team at Vigil for creating something truly awe-inspiring. Truly one of the best looking games on XBOX 360 (or PS3 for that matter).

I finished this just a few minutes ago, having clocked in a whopping 34 hours, and although I defeated the final boss, I can still go back and explore to my heart’s content, finish any left over side-quests or just download extra levels and pad out my time in the game even more. For now I think I’ll give it a little break, with several other games on my to-play list, but for now may I recommend Darksiders 2 to any gamer who is a fan of dungeon exploring, huge worlds, RPG elements and a few nods to the likes of God Of War and The Legend Of Zelda. This is quite simply one of the finest games I’ve played in a long time.

Well after buying a PS3 recently, I was eager to sink my teeth into a game that would really absorb me, and after seeing this one being played in a games store recently, and having read many positive reviews, I thought I’d take the plunge. This action / adventure slash ’em up pits you as one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who after bringing about the end of the world prematurely, is ordered to return to a ravaged and destroyed earth to fight the denizens of hell and somehow restore order once again. The story is nonsense, but the action, borrowing heavily from God Of War and to some extent The Legend Of Zelda, is chock-full of style as you explore the richly detailed, comic-book inspired world defeating the undead in your quest, and solving a few puzzles along the way.

As the first game by famed comic-book writer / artist Joe Madureira this oozes personality and is a vibrant treat for the eyes, even if on a technical basis it doesn’t push the PS3 much compared to the likes of Uncharted 2. There’s a deep combat system to master and you can upgrade your abilities along the way, unlocking new weaponry and gadgets at the same time. The combat feels satisfying and requires a bit of thought more than mindless button mashing, and the variety of enemies is decent, which along with the eye-catching environments, means there’s plenty to keep you enthralled. I hear it also clocks in at an above average 20 hours, so you won’t be finishing this one too soon either.

So if like me you’re a fan of this sort of game, loved God Of War but can’t wait until God Of War 3 appears, then this will fill the void nicely.

UPDATE (20/01/2010): Well have done about ten hours of the game so far, and am loving every minute of it. The gradual build up of abilities and weapons, upgrading and learning new combos can’t be faulted. The graphical style is superb, and the animation and detail of all the characters, from the demonic enemies to the various bosses is brilliantly done. War himself is a moody but visually stylish creation and probably looks a bit tougher than God Of War’s Kratos. Playing it the game for me most resembles PSOne classic Soul Reaver than what some reviews have said it resembles Legend Of Zelda – why? Bacause it has a boom-a-rang thingy? On a negative note the game suffers quite badly from frame-rate slow down at times, and screen tare is evident throughout, despite what you may have heard when in comparisson to the 360 version. This doesn’t spoil the enjoyment of the game though, and I am eager to get back to this one as soon as possible!