Darksiders 2 Review

Let's get this out of the way first, I played the first Darksiders and I did not enjoy it as much as everyone else. In my opinion the combat felt stiff and dull and I realized there were a few bugs here and there. But do not misunderstand me, I did not outright hate the first Darksiders in fact the things that drew me in the most were the character designs and the story. The game just needed some polishing up in certain areas especially combat. Now that Darksiders 2 has been released and I played it I can tell you that many things have indeed improved but a few things have not.



Darksiders 2's story examines the Horseman of Death's quest to clear his brother War's name after War was accused of ending humanity by summoning the apocalypse before its appointed time. The story is hard to describe without giving any spoilers but just know that Death's quest has him going in search of something that may or may not restore humanity in order to save his brother. Along the way there will be various opponents who will stop at nothing to see Death fail at his quest.Cliche plot tools such as the Tree of Life and the Well of Souls make their appearance as well. There is also a plague ravaging the land called The Corruption which basically covers everything in a black goo and turns them evil. The Corruption will form a huge part of the story in Darksiders 2 and would involve Death investigating not only how to stop it but its true origin as well. The story in the game is predictable and you will see main plot twists and betrayals from a mile away if you have been paying attention.

Bad ass doesn't even begin to describe how cool Death is. 

The main strength however lies in the fact that Darksiders 2 adds to the mythos of the franchise and it is done so with much thought and consideration that it leaves the gamer wanting the franchise to continue. In the story important plot points such as the origins of Death and the other horsemen and the importance of mankind in the war between heaven and hell among other plot points are all explained effectively throughout the game. The game does a brilliant job in conveying that everyone is affected by war and gives the player the urge to end this conflict once and for all.

The voice acting is superb and just add to the overall feel of the game. Death (voiced by Michael Wincott) may look and sound cool but there something more to his bad ass look and demeanour. Death is a complicated character and Wincott conveys this well because as the game goes on the more we see his back story and how selfless Death can be in the face of annihilation. Some other standout acts include the Crowfather (voiced by Keith Szarabajka), the Dead Lord(voiced by Phil Proctor) and Maker Elder Eidard(voiced by James Cosmo) all of whom will contribute to Death's quest in some shape or form.

Death finally gets to meet Santa Claus and like everyone in the game he's badass.

The gameplay is a welcome improvement over the first Darksiders everything from combat to level and enemy design to the puzzles have all been reworked for the better. Combat revolves around your primary weapon which are scythes, your secondary weapon (which can range from big, slow, high damage dealing hammers and glaives to fast, swift, combo linking armblades and gauntlets) and your magic skills (which itself is split between the damage increasing Harbinger tree and the minion summoning Necromancer tree). There are also tools that Death can use such as a gun, a ghostly arm called the Death Grip, the "You are thinking with Portals now" Void Walker, the Soul Splitter and a couple of others that I can't spoil. There are also situations that require you to call upon your trusty steed Despair to help you out against certain...large enemies, there is also a bird called Dust...more about him later.

Death can also summon his reaper form which is essentially your super form in the game, all of Death's attacks are increased significantly and he takes less damage...but most important of all he looks awesome while in this form

uhhhh...yeah I can't put out a witty comment about this...it speaks for itself.  

The game also has a levelling up and loot system much like an RPG. The loot system although very welcome will result in you opening a chest only to find some gold or a piece of equipment that is inferior to what you have on.  The missions in the game revolve primarily on fetching a particular object in a particular dungeon and to put it in its most simple terms the game can quickly devolve into a fetch quest game. But the fact of the matter is that each fetch quest is unique and each one presents its own challenge calling upon its own strategy to beat the particular level but nevertheless I did wish for a little more variety to the missions.

The combat is so much more superior to that of the first game. It feels so good to dodge in the battlefield slicing down enemies with your slice and to follow it up with a few rapid jabs with the gauntlet and to finish them off by summoning a murder of crows to rip them apart. The only disadvantage about the combat is that I still can't transition between my primary weapon, secondary weapon and magic to form one long combo.

The enemies themselves are varied, you have your standard hack and slash adventure mainstays like the skeleton warriors and giant insects but there are also golems, hellspawn and corrupted angels that make an appearance throughout the game. The standard minions require very little strategy to beat and they tend to try and swarm you with massive numbers. Also while in combat with several enemies in a small room the camera tends to be highly unreliable and you are forced to dodge to and move the camera to a better position while in these encounters. Some enemies can be quite cheap as well, enemies like the corrupted construct will shoot a blob of energy at you and there is only a split second in which you can avoid its damage radius.

Boss creatures on the other hand are an entirely different story, they are always fun to do and they always force the player to think on their next move rather than hacking and slashing mindlessly like they do with the minions. Some bosses require you to use all your abilities and tools to bring down while some require you to fight on horseback to even stand a chance, it's the level of thought and complexity that differs from boss to boss that makes these fights so memorable to the player. In one situation I had to use my superior agility to get out one bosses projectile range while another can only be beaten if you use the Death Grip to get close to him. These are some of the best bossfights I have seen in any game.

Giant rock creature vs Death on a flaming horse...I am about to cry at the sheer badassery of this. 

Another aspect of the game is its puzzles which in turn ties in with the level design of the dungeons the puzzles are set in. Some puzzles are simple "fetch that key over there" quest while others are so difficult and mindboggling that after walking around the level for an hour you would want to throw your controller at the screen...which is why I love them with all my heart. Most of these more difficult puzzles require you to scale the entirety of a dungeon to solve and some even require you to use your abilities like the Death Grip and Voidwalker as well.

The level design of the dungeon just adds to the depth of the puzzles, these dungeons are large and varies from level to level. One moment you could be diving into a large body of water to get to a room which contains a switch to a machine which is essential to the puzzle and  in another situation you could be jumping off walls to get across a room full of lava to get to a lever that opens a gate. By not treating the player like an idiot Vigil Games have made me fall in love with adventure game puzzles once again. There is one serious and mighty annoying thing I hate about the levels at times, although getting lost in dungeons in adventure games is  nothing new being led in the wrong direction is. The crow known as Dust is by far the most annoying in game ally since the dog in Duck Hunt, the flying rat is supposed to aid you by flying in the general direction of the objective but most of the time he circles around like an idiot and at other times he flies off and leads you in circles which makes you shoot him with the gun in pure anger!! Phew...let me compose myself...

Must...not...kill bird...must not kill bird...must...kill bird...I HATE YOU SO MUCH DUST!

Anyway...getting back to the review, platforming in the game is both fun and a hassle, although it's super fun to run and jump off walls there is very little consequence to failing a platforming section because every time should Death fall off a wall into a pool of lava he always manages to fly out before he dies and this just reduces the challenge and tension that is supposed to be present in platforming sections. There are a few parts where the camera can get in the way of these sections as well.

Spiderdeath...Spiderdeath...He can do anything a Spiderdeath can. (apologies) 

Some parts of the game allow you to explore the open worlds of Darksiders 2 and they are indeed quite large and varied. There are luscious green plains, cold ice areas and my favourite area is where everything looks like it should be on a heavy metal album cover. The thing about these areas is that they are sparsely populated, the enemies that roam these lands are few and far between. It would have been amazing if I could see an army of corrupted golems went up against an army of Makers (an ally race in the game) or the very least that the developer could have done is throw in a few more enemies at me. But I am really nitpicking at this point for faults in the game.

There is no mulitplayer in the game to speak of but don't worry about the replayablitly of the game, not only is there a new game plus mode where you can carry over your powers and abilities over to a new game but also included with the game is the Crucible mode, think of it as a cross between a horde mode and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. In this mode you fight wave after wave of enemies until you reach a point where you are given a choice, accept the prize given to you at that point and walk away or refuse it and keep on going to face more and tougher enemies for an even greater prize however if you die during the course of this action you lose and there will be no treasure given to you. How I wish more game shows were like this.

My other house is flaming guitar... 

Darksiders 2 is a brilliant game with a few missed points here and there, I wish the open world was less lonely, the camera angles need some work to be patched, the minion AI needs improvement and some need to be less cheap in their fighting styles but that aside I loved this game and it converted me into a Darksiders fan. The acting, puzzles and combat are so good it just makes me want to play the game even more. To call this game a shameless clone of Zelda and God of War is an insult to it and something that I can't take sitting down. It is a game with faults but it's a game where the player feels a sense of accomplishment when they finish it. I give this game a brilliant score and the Macho Man thumbs up...get this game it is your duty as a gamer to do so.

Darksiders 2
Developer : Vigil Games
Publisher: THQ 
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and Wii U (late 2012 release date)
Platform Used for Review : Xbox 360
My Purchase Date of the Game: August 16th 2012