Darksiders II
Producer: THQ
Release Date: August 14, 2012
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, Windows
Rating: Mature
Genre: Action/Adventure
Death Becomes You
Written by Jesse Seilhan
Let’s get the easy stuff out of the way: Darksiders II is a hell of a lot like a whole slew of classic games. Zelda, God of War, Portal, and dozens of other storied franchises have had the best chunks ripped off like a Christmas ham and stuffed into a new package. Luckily, the glaze poured upon these delicious morsels brings the whole meal together in a solid manner, giving gamers another reason to dive back into the unholy world of Darksiders. In the previous title, War was the main character and he fought in a battle between angels and demons, ultimately hung out to dry by a mysterious council for forsaking all of mankind. Cut to the near future, and his brother in arms, Death, is now looking to redeem his horseman companion and attempt to save humanity at the same time.
After opening with a lush green forest, I was afraid that the world would be too bright and cheery for a character named Death, but the scenery flips ten hours in and feels way more at home with a myriad of skulls, skeletons, and ghosts. The graphics are sharp, but the Xbox version did suffer from the occasional hiccup and slowdown reared its ugly head during some of the most frantic battles. The game offers some pretty awesome scripted cut scenes, including conclusions to boss fights that most developers would force players to Quick Time Event their way through. Beyond the graphics, the gameplay has a brand new dynamic that games like Diablo uses to keep players coming back for more: the loot grind. Players can spend hours customizing loadouts, comparing weapon stats, and even feeding weaker items into specialty tools of destruction in order to maximize damage and other vital stats. It gives players more connection with their warrior and control over equipment that strengthens their style of play.
The controls are well crafted, even with the myriad of contraptions the developers throw at the player. At first, the hookshot equivalent known as the Deathgrip was wonky and hard to understand the exact timing involved. Eventually, as more puzzles, dungeons, and enemies incorporated this tool into their wicked ways, predicting where one can and cannot use such an item became much easier. The traversal is more of a star than the combat, and far more challenging. After my first dozen hours in, I had nearly 50 deaths, 49 of which occurred while running, jumping, or climbing while only a single foe had defeated me in combat. Stats like these are available for all who appreciate the minutia of their experience and there are even hit counters attached to enemies showing how much health they have left, making giant numbers pour out of skulls like coins out of a hot slot machine as each blade pierces their skin. The bosses have a tendency to be gigantic and difficult, something I appreciated during my nearly 20-hour experience. The story had some plot pieces I was not thrilled with, mostly involving killing three things before finding three things after talking to three guys, but the rule of three plagues almost all narratives. All in all, Darksiders II is superior to its predecessor in almost every way and should hopefully keep THQ afloat long enough to make another proper sequel.