Darksiders - PlayStation 3

For a game I've never heard of, it really impressed me. Beginning was a little rough, particularly the areas before the first couple of bosses. There are decent sized dungeons you must navigate before fighting any boss, and some of the puzzles seemed a little weird and sometimes unnecessary and the backtracking made me nod in disapproval a few times, but the story wasn't bad and the characters are very believable in their roles and I really liked how the main character interacted with everybody, so I persevered. After the first couple bosses though, I got used to these little quirks and the game became really quite enjoyable. In terms of graphics, top notch. The characters and voice acting were also top tier. Music is great and so is the atmosphere. Story starts off alright, but by the end it's so ridiculously amazing it makes you want to know what happens next. Gameplay is really good too, though I'd suggest going through this game on the easiest setting during your first playthrough. Many enemies have patterns that you need to know if you don't want to be dying and the bosses need to be killed in specific ways that I normally died the first time I went up against them, simply because I'd figure out the patter and my health would be too low to take the inevitable hit or two before I could finish them off properly. Also there's plenty of things to upgrade and skills to get and it was nice for me to have a bit of leeway where I could make more mistakes and figure out more of how the game worked before I tried a more difficult setting. But you start off relatively weak going up against relatively weak enemies, but as you progress through the game your character becomes more and more capable until he starts to feel OP as heck. But that doesn't meant the game isn't challenging and you won't still die if you're not careful, even on the easiest setting. No, it just means you can start facing the really difficult enemies that you can only defeat with a ridiculously overpowered character. Now there are some bad points of the game I should bring up. When I first started playing this game, I felt like I was playing a hack and slash game where I could just turn my brain off and mow through enemies. But no, the game makes you think, makes you do puzzles, collect items and do really specific things. It makes you think, "why am I doing this? Just give me the boss and let me kill it!" But, as stated earlier, by after the second boss, it doesn't feel as bad, and you start getting used to this. War begins to feel unstoppable. Enemy or obstacle, it doesn't matter, nothing can prevent War's wrath. You feel less and less limited in the best ways possible. This is a game that only gets better the farther in you get. And the best part is, this game only cost me like $10. Thank you Vigil Games for this excellent game at this excellent price, I look forward to getting Darksiders 2.

Awesome game

There has been a lot written about Darksiders in terms of it plagiarism of other games and also it's difficulty settings, control scheme and combat. I'm about 1/4 of the way through and so whilst not a complete review I wanted to share thoughts on those 4 issues. Other games - I have never played God of War (I know) but I guess that there is some similarity in the sword, scythe etc and the combo button mashing with an instant kill option (circle) once you've beaten the enemies up enough, but so what? There is very little originality in games these days as a lot has been tried in some shape or another. If it works, go with it. It also "borrows" from Zelda in that there are dungeons and puzzles but in my experience they are a lot more adult that the Zelda games with more fighting involved a long the way. Personally I think there is a good balance so far and it's the sort of game that pushes you along - you want to see what's next. Difficulty - I am 39 and play games, but not all the time so I normally play on normal. However a review I read said that the game gets easier when you get all your kit and power ups etc so I chose Apolyptic difficulty. For me, this is fine. It's a challenge, but not so I'm chucking the controller around. There have been sections so far where I've failed a few times and had to retry or go back and fine life shards to boost my health, but I've done it and feel more satisfied for doing so. If you want to rush through the game choose normal, for a decent challenge but certainly not impossible, crank it up to Apolyptic. Controls - Darksiders gives you lots of weapons, combos, gear etc that I think makes it interesting and fun. So far, a new piece of kit should be used in combat, it's not just for one specific purpose, which again makes it interesting. Getting to use most of the gear is straight forward but some things are a bit complex. You'll get there but you'll need to practice a bit (e.g. assign the crossblade to R2, press R3 to enter aim mode, hold L2 to tag enemies and R2 to fire....). Overall its' fine but there's more than 1 button to press. Combat - Most combat is button mashing but the game varies how many and how challenging the opponents are. Some enemies require constant dashing in and a few strikes before retreating away or you will suffer (probably more so on Apolyptic) and the mini-bosses / bosses require a bit more thought. Final thoughts - I bought Bayonetta and Darksiders at the same time and so far I found the first hour or so of Bayonetta to be very irritating (story, cutscenes etc) and whilst I will definitely go back to it and will no doubt love it I am most likely to play through Darksiders first. It has a great blend of action, exploration and puzzles that keeps me coming back for more. Overall, highly recommended and I hope that Vigil is successful and is able to make more games like this in future.

Fun game!

I have been handing out five stars recently with Bayonette and Wet at the top. And now Darksiders gets five stars as well. Here is why: Star 1: Good graphics I mean nothing really breath taking but when you look at the levels you feel the destruction that has been done and the charater design is great for this kind of game. Star 2: Combat system is similar to GOW but who doesn't like GOW. Pick up and play is what this game is all about. Star 3: Sound and voice acting are done spot on there is no cheesy dialog at all that I found. Star 4: Storyline and game progression is great. There is always something to do or find in the game as you regain your powers back. Star 5: This game is FUN. Bottomline this game is fun to play. this game doesn't really dissappoint but there are a few little gripes that I have about it and that is to do some of the cool magic spells that War does have takes time to refill. Also wished that they let you refill the health or magic crystals that you find so that you don't feel like you are wasting health just to fill a sliver of life that you lost fighting. Those are my only real complaints about the game that I found so far. This game is worth playing and having.

The Zelda influence on this game was enough for me to enjoy it, and finish it. But the lack of precision in the combat, variety of attacks, and weak magic variety kept it from being better. Combat is button mashing friendly, combo-based combat, where precision is helpful, but far from required. Similar to GoW, but easier IMO, and not as varied. Magic is limited. Customization is virtually non-existent, and there is little leveling. Took a bunch from Zelda, in a good way -- but the Dungeons don't have the grand puzzles the Zelda dungeons have. Instead every area/room has a locked door, with is its own self-contained puzzle to open that door -- that is usually quite obvious and very easy, though some were very enjoyable (nothing that should require a walkthrough). 1. Like Zelda, each dungeon has a new ability/weapon. All are repeats from other puzzle games. (a Horn that opens doors, a Boomerang to start that can hit switches form afar, a Grappling Hook, the gun from the game "Portal," etc...) 2. that new ability is used to solve a variety of switch and platforming puzzles 3. that ability is also used to beat the boss of the dungeon 4. Skulls are the same as "heart-containers" in Zelda. You get a full one for beating a dungeon -- but can also find 1/4 fragments around the world...every 4 adding another skull (exactly like hearts in Zelda)(same mechanics for your Magic meter) -- Like Zelda, you don't start full, but only start with 3 skulls as the default after dying, so planning your healing approach before big combat areas is necessary.) 5. Potions are exactly like Zelda -- you need to buy "empty" vessels, which can be used to store healing potions However -- the world is fairly linear, and the story progresses like an action game -- with automatic saving pretty much after each battle sequence. A Linear Zelda, without the cast of characters/communities, and no exploration is just not as fun. the Combat may be better than Zelda for some -- but I prefer precision, blocking and countering...than mashing a button.

Darksiders is the epic tale of what happens if one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse shows up but wasn't really supposed to be there. The game play is pretty straight-forward. You arrive in a large city in the middle of all hell breaking loose. And it's literally, all hell breaking loose. The graphics on the game look great. There were a few times where I thought to myself that if I were playing a real live comic book, this would be it. Not to say that the characters are cardboard like. They're very well fleshed out. The demons look evil. The world looks destroyed. War looks like what you might expect War to look like. The controls didn't take long to get used to. I am more of a button masher and it's still fun. The moves that War can make are pretty cool. Plus you get some neat weapons as you progress in the game to make things more interesting. The game play is pretty solid but is not a solid death and destruction-fest. Rather, it's interspersed with fighting and then puzzle solving. Generally the puzzles are all solvable but I've found that as I've gotten tired, I've forgotten to look everywhere and gotten frustrated. But overall, the designers did a good job not making the puzzles too hard or too easy. Then again, I'm not a hard core gamer and only play two hours a night max. I've heard a bunch of comparisons of Darksiders to Zelda games but I've never played any Zelda games. Basically, it's a hack and slash puzzle solver. Fun. The story can't be taken too seriously. The designers took some liberties with War. And there are a few times where I kept thinking, this is one of the riders of the Apocalypse, why am I not killing everything? But somehow, after you play for a while, it doesn't really matter when you're having fun.

Depending on who you talk to, this game is either Overrated or Underrated. first part of the Darksiders Saga, this game plays in the style of a Platforming Hack n slash. God of War III/Devil May Cry 4 but it looks like World of Warcraft scheme; due to a World of Warcraft Art Designer doing the textures and art. You fight enemies in closed areas, platform objective to reach different areas. Its a wild take on the 4 Horsemen of Hell lore.