Zelda meets God of War. That’s the best way to describe Vigil Games’ debut effort, ‘Darksiders.’ It’s a culmination of gameplay elements from two fantastic video game series, with some new and unique twists. The familiar mixed with the new. The end result is a game that feels nostalgic, but in a very good way.
At the beginning of the game, players are thrown into the middle of a battle between the Three Kingdoms: Heaven, Hell and Man. It seems that all of the seven sacred seals were broken by one of the Kingdoms (or both.) War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, has been called to investigate, as it’s the duty of the Horsemen to interject if all of the seven seals have been destroyed. This is War’s purpose. But something is weird about this particular conflict, especially since the other Horsemen are nowhere to be found.
After investigating the battle on Earth, War is summoned to the Council where he’s informed that the last seal is still intact. It is said that War was summoned prematurely and that he should not have interfered with the battle on Earth, because it was not his place. Instead of being punished, War asks for a chance to make amends by returning to earth to try to find out what happened and to hopefully discover information that will clear his name. His wish is granted, and he is sent to earth to begin his quest. That is when he meets Samael who offers to help. In return, War must defeat the Chosen, remove their hearts and return them to Samael. This sets up a quest that sees War traverse through several unique parts of the world, as well as several very unique dungeons.
The best way to describe Darksiders would be to say that it’s a hack n’ slash/ role-playing mix. The combat system is similar to the type of combat found in the God of War and Devil May Cry game series, but the overall structure of the game is a lot like what you’d find in a game from the Legend of Zelda series. A lot of the game takes place in Dungeons, where you will find some very difficult puzzles as well as some incredibly interesting weapons and items that will aid you in your quest by allowing you to solve puzzles, defeat new types of enemies and reach new areas.
Most of the game’s combat will make use of War’s gigantic sword (‘The Souleater,’) but players will also be able to find (or buy) secondary weapons, including a scythe, a gun and a gauntlet. These weapons will come in handy at certain points in the game, because only one particular weapon is effective against some enemies. Some of them are also helpful in solving puzzles found. Almost all of the secondary weapons can be found in the game’s dungeons, but the scythe is available in the game’s marketplace. Players are able to purchase it by trading souls – the game’s currency.
Much like the God of War games, the combat in Darksiders consists of basic and strong attacks (which are executed using the X and Y buttons respectively,) as well as a combo system. In addition to being able to purchase the scythe in the in-game marketplace, gamers can also customize their main character to their liking by purchasing tons of new (and unique) moves.
Darksiders has a very interesting look. Its character design resembles what you would find in a comic book. This is due to the involvement of Vigil Games’ founder, Joe Madureira, who has a lengthy history in the comic book business. His previous work includes comics such as The X-Men, Battle-Chasers and The Ultimates,) and his influence is very evident in the character design and look of the world surrounding War. The graphics and character designs are incredibly detailed and colourful. The in-game graphics aren’t the best that the 360’s library has to offer, but they’re quite good. The cinematics are where the game’s visuals really shine, as the opening CG cinematic is utterly amazing to look at.
The characters all feature several different animations, which are quite well done. War’s combat and movement animations are fluent and interesting to look at. Also, all of the enemies feature interesting and unique animations to complement their unique move/skill sets.
While playing it, I encountered a couple of frame rate drops, but they were rare. Most of the time, the game had a good and consistent frame rate. The game did feature a lot of screen tearing, but Vigil Games have recently released a patch to fix that issue.
The voice acting in this game is phenomenal. The voice cast includes fan favourite Mark Hamill, Phil Lamarr (Vamp from the Metal Gear Solid series,) and Liam O’Brien (Naruto.) The actors’ voices are clear, interesting, and fit their respective characters perfectly. This is one of the best parts about the game and it really helps one to become immersed in the game’s story, along with the game’s decent original score.
Darksiders is an excellent first attempt by Vigil Games and is a great experience for any gamer pining for a top tier action RPG in the vein of The Legend of Zelda. Excellent audio and an engrossing story create a great experience in an interesting world. Clocking in at between 15-20 hours of gameplay, it’s a game that is definitely worth its price tag. This game has cemented itself as one of my favourites.
Rating: 8.5/10
