If you’ve been following me on twitter you’d know that my weekend has been absorbed by beer, wild card playoff football and one game. No, it hasn’t been WoW. Oh no, it definitely hasn’t. Between an extra PS3 blu-ray remote and a $25 gift card I received from Christmas it was high-time to pick up a new game to pry me away from my keyboard. There were a ton of options before me dating back to August and when it came time to pick out ONE game to buy, I went through decision overload.
Do I pick up Batman Arkham Asylum which I’ve been dying to play since the demo? Should I pick up Borderlands which I’ve been hearing so many good things about? How about Uncharted 2 to give my newly acquired PS3 some love? Or if not Uncharted 2, what about some older PS3 titles that I’ve missed out on such as Infamous or Metal Gear Solid 4? Should I ignore the past and go with something just released such as Bayonetta or Darksiders?
As I said, if you’re a follower of mine, you already know which game I picked up and realize that I’m only building up some suspense. What game did he pick up? C’mon tell me already! It was a difficult decision but fortunately the store I was in at the time, Target, limited my options somewhat. In the end it came down to either Batman, Uncharted 2, Bayonetta or Darksiders.
I gave serious consideration to all 4 games and it took me a good 20 minutes to sort it out in my head. It almost caused me pain to not decide on Batman, but I figured that soon it’ll go platinum/greatest hits and I’ll be able to pick it up at a discount. I passed on Uncharted 2 for purely vanity reasons as the cases they had at Target were plastered with marketing phrases: 25 perfect reviews, 10 out 10! Sure they were probably stickers on the shrink-wrap, but for some reason when I see marketing that tells me that YOU NEED TO BUY THIS GAME NOW I take a contrarian position and look elsewhere.
So that left me with a decision between Bayonetta and Darksiders. Two games with a lot of similarities, but enough differences to stand on their own. I knew what I’d be getting with picking up Bayonetta: lots of action, Sailor Moon’esque transformation sequences, and an overly complicated plot that teeters on the edge of detracting from the game itself. I absolutely loved the demo so picking up Bayonetta presented little risk.
Darksiders on the other hand was mostly an unknown. Sure it has been touted as the love-child of GoW and Zelda, but the general opinion of the game has been mixed at best. The first time I heard of the game I was instantly intrigued. The characters, premise, and gameplay all resonated with me. I mean how fucking cool would it be to play as War slaying demons and angels? So when the first reports of rampant screen-tearing for the 360 version hit the ‘net a little part of me died inside. It only supported the opinions of the game being average at best; an amateur product of an overly-ambitious premise.
So what game did you get damnit?!?
In the end, the Zelda lover inside of me won out and I picked up Darksiders, on 360. Even though Bayonetta presented little risk, I just wasn’t in the mood for a pure-action game. I desired some exploration, progression, and most importantly a story-line that doesn’t get lost in pretentiousness. I don’t mind complicated plots, but they need to make sense, and I’ve heard quite the contrary when it comes to Bayonetta. I’m not trying to knock Bayonetta for its story-line as I can look past that and enjoy the game for purely the gameplay. I do play fighting games after all and they’re notorious for their story-lines.
Darksiders became a no-brainer for me as I thought about it more and more. So what if it were only average? An average Zelda game is better than a lot of crap shoveled out these days. I yearned to fill that gaming-void that has plagued me since Nintendo decided to focus on DS Zelda titles. So average reviews and screen-tearing be damned, I picked up Darksiders. I desired to step into the boots of War and kick some ass.
So let me be upfront about the biggest criticism over Darksiders on the 360: Yes the screen-tearing is BAD and can sometimes be distracting, but it doesn’t get in the way of the game. Evidently there is a title-update on the way to address the issue, so if you can’t look past the amateurish mistake of screen-tearing you can wait until it is fixed. If you can look past it, you’re in for quite a treat: Darksiders is fucking amazing.
Okay, okay. I am a bit biased towards Zelda games, but Darksiders is solid. Well, except for that pesky screen-tearing ^^; You can critique it for being blatant Zelda rip-off as it essentially Zelda painted with an apocalyptic brush. You have your z-targeting, maps, compasses, keys, tools, environmental puzzles and baddy-clearing rooms. Yes Darksiders IS Zelda, but I tend to not think of it as a rip-off but as an homage to one of the greatest gaming franchises. The gameplay is solid and very very rewarding, and that’s what we should care about right?
Zelda isn’t the only homage I’ve come across in the 6 hours I’ve spent with it so far. Prior to the first dungeon you encounter you’re treated to a sequence that pays homage to Panzer Dragoon, another one of my favorites. It wasn’t quite as refined as Panzer Dragoon, but it was a decent twist in the gameplay and an interesting way to bridge the player to the first dungeon. This wasn’t the only bridge I’ve encountered as prior to the second dungeon you’re given an over-the-shoulder 3rd person shooter sequence which reminded me of Master Chief carrying a turret from Halo 3.
Then you have your ability to purchase moves, weapons, consumables ala Devil May Cry and weapon leveling ala God of War. Yes Darksiders is full of reused ideas from other games, but it does so in a GOOD way. I didn’t go into Darksiders expecting a revolutionary experience, I wanted something fun to play and don’t mind the “I’ve played this game before” feeling. It comes down to the overall composition of the game and Darksiders hasn’t dissapointed me yet.
While I’m on the topic of composition, now would be a good time to give my impressions of the story-line and characters in Darksiders; spoiler-free of course. If you’ve read a synopsis of the game, it is pretty basic: the apocalypse has occurred and the horseman War has been blamed for it and War has to clear his name. While I’m only 6 hours in, the story-line hasn’t progressed much, there are still many things unanswered such as who is behind the events that have occurred and where are the other horsemen?
There have been lots of little plot-devices to explain the progression of the game which are fairly pedestrian. To be blunt, it isn’t the story that has hooked me, I’ve been hooked because of the characters. This game has a lot of character in its characters from Vulgrim the lich merchant to Samael the out-of-favor demon. War, himself, is a very intriguing character thanks to the voice-actor delivering his lines despite him being pretty straight-forward.
Oh god, the voice-acting is top-notch in Darksiders; quality work. If the voice-acting were not as well done as it has been, I’d probably not be professing my love for this game as much as I have been on twitter. The occasional line delivered in demonic tongue makes me wish I knew how to speak demon. I might be overstating my impressions of the voice-acting considering I haven’t played Uncharted 2, but regardless I’m impressed.
But enough gushing about the characters and voice-acting. Let me gush about the character designs themselves. War is fucking bad-ass. His armor, his sword, his shadow wings, his glowing sigil on his forehead, his hair, his eyes … er … right, let’s reign that in a bit. Again I am biased, but the character designs are incredibly well done in Darksiders. Vulgrim, Samael, the Watcher, the gatekeepers, the Black Hammer … all quality. Even the throw-away enemies look suitably hellish (or angelic) and received some love from the artists and designers over at Vigil.
Then you have the (mini)bosses themselves; again, quality work. I encountered a mini-boss called the Jailer that created a substantial amount of OH SHIT! He hurts you, bad, if you don’t get away from him. He sticks out so far if only because when you do down him, one of the prisoners kept in a cage attached to the Jailer frees himself and takes a couple of shots at the dead boss. Hilarious!
If there were one complaint or critique I do have about Darksiders is occasionally the controls get in the way when it comes to boss encounters. Pressing in on the right-stick to enter aim-mode for your crossblade or to precisely aim a bomb toss isn’t the most intuitive thing. That gets compounded by the decreased mobility War suffers while in aim-mode which can lead to taking accidental damage.
There are also a couple of platforming issues in regards to some quirkiness with the camera when attempting to navigate ledges. While slightly annoying, these issues are not rampant with the majority of the gameplay I’ve encountered so far. There’s a good balance between combat and puzzle-elements in Darksiders with a pinch of platforming to keep you on your toes.
So if there’s anything you can take away from my impressions of Darksiders is that it is a worthy game to played. If you enjoy Zelda games even a little bit, there’s absolutely no reason to not give Darksiders a go. If you are as big of a Zelda fan as I am and you’re not playing this game, what is wrong with you?! Go out and pick this game up now. I demand it.
Nevik's Notebook 