Shazam!
02-19-2010, 12:23 AM
Darksiders (DS) is an action game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Darksiders_Cover.jpg
The forces of Heaven and Hell are kept in check by the Four Hoursemen of the Apocolypse. When the Seven Seals are broken signaling the Apocolypse, the Horsemen come to judge and condemn all. When one of the Horsemen, War, is summoned into a battle between Heaven and Hell in the Kingdom of Men (Earth), he is wrongly accused of inciting the war, and stripped of his powers. He seeks to clear his name, uncover the truth and regain his powers and status.
What's with all the Heaven and Hell games all of a sudden? Bayonetta, Dante's Inferno, and now this. What gives?
The opening film of DS is fantastic. It's all downhill from there.
Even at the start when you have all your powers, War is supposedly this all powerful being, yet it doesnt make you feel that way.
The controls are clunky. You seem to be hammering the same button (blue on 360, square on PS3) over and over again with the occasional dodge and power used.
The combat in general is not smooth and equally clunky. Normally this would not be too big of an issue and I could deal with it, but after playing Dante's Inferno and Bayonetta, DS seems cheap and almost lastgen. Also there are weird climbing and platforming sequences that not only doesn't seem to fit with the character, but they seem to have been thrown in as filler. War is built like the incredible Hulk, yet he has this terrible jump (again, all powerful?) but nimbly climbs certain scalable walls, hangs from ledges and shimmeys across pipes and the like. The platforming seems out of place and forced.
The graphics are done in a kind of anime style, and I didn't like it. Too many things in the environs look mediocre.
To top it all off, there is blurring, slowdown and horrendous screen tearing throughout the game at what seems to be every shift of the camera. They've corrected this issue through a download, but it still made it's way into the final package. To me, that is a major red light when a product is released with issues like this.
There are cool sections where you ride War's horse Ruin, but are overshadowed by bland, repetitive combat. There are a few button sequences for certian actions to be activated (like kills), but only one press triggers the event. It seems cheap and tacked on. There's quite a few puzzles thrown around, some are interesting but others seem like they're there to just slow you down and extend the game.
The soundtrack is very good, but War's voicework seems to hold little weight, considering the character's status.
The story of War's betrayal and the events are very good and have an epic touch, but DS is overshadowed by too many weaknesses and hampered by too many issues when there are many better hot action games to be played.
Dante's Inferno is much, much better. Bayonetta's presentation may be awkward and flawed, but the in-game graphics are gorgeous and the silky smooth combat are top of the line. DS is worth a possible rental at best.
5/10
Rated M for Mature- Blood and gore, intense violence, strong language
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Darksiders_Cover.jpg
The forces of Heaven and Hell are kept in check by the Four Hoursemen of the Apocolypse. When the Seven Seals are broken signaling the Apocolypse, the Horsemen come to judge and condemn all. When one of the Horsemen, War, is summoned into a battle between Heaven and Hell in the Kingdom of Men (Earth), he is wrongly accused of inciting the war, and stripped of his powers. He seeks to clear his name, uncover the truth and regain his powers and status.
What's with all the Heaven and Hell games all of a sudden? Bayonetta, Dante's Inferno, and now this. What gives?
The opening film of DS is fantastic. It's all downhill from there.
Even at the start when you have all your powers, War is supposedly this all powerful being, yet it doesnt make you feel that way.
The controls are clunky. You seem to be hammering the same button (blue on 360, square on PS3) over and over again with the occasional dodge and power used.
The combat in general is not smooth and equally clunky. Normally this would not be too big of an issue and I could deal with it, but after playing Dante's Inferno and Bayonetta, DS seems cheap and almost lastgen. Also there are weird climbing and platforming sequences that not only doesn't seem to fit with the character, but they seem to have been thrown in as filler. War is built like the incredible Hulk, yet he has this terrible jump (again, all powerful?) but nimbly climbs certain scalable walls, hangs from ledges and shimmeys across pipes and the like. The platforming seems out of place and forced.
The graphics are done in a kind of anime style, and I didn't like it. Too many things in the environs look mediocre.
To top it all off, there is blurring, slowdown and horrendous screen tearing throughout the game at what seems to be every shift of the camera. They've corrected this issue through a download, but it still made it's way into the final package. To me, that is a major red light when a product is released with issues like this.
There are cool sections where you ride War's horse Ruin, but are overshadowed by bland, repetitive combat. There are a few button sequences for certian actions to be activated (like kills), but only one press triggers the event. It seems cheap and tacked on. There's quite a few puzzles thrown around, some are interesting but others seem like they're there to just slow you down and extend the game.
The soundtrack is very good, but War's voicework seems to hold little weight, considering the character's status.
The story of War's betrayal and the events are very good and have an epic touch, but DS is overshadowed by too many weaknesses and hampered by too many issues when there are many better hot action games to be played.
Dante's Inferno is much, much better. Bayonetta's presentation may be awkward and flawed, but the in-game graphics are gorgeous and the silky smooth combat are top of the line. DS is worth a possible rental at best.
5/10
Rated M for Mature- Blood and gore, intense violence, strong language