I’ve spent a couple of hours or so with THQ and Vigil Games’ Darksiders. I can glean from these initial hours that the game is more than what I thought it was: a God of War clone with some Zelda spice. No, it appears that Darksiders is its own game with unique combat scenarios and satisfying dungeon-crawling sections. Neat, right?
I wish I could say more, but it would be unfair to the parties responsible. But the good news is that you can say whatever the hell you want, and you can get some fuel for your thoughts via this Ten Minute Taste.
You’ll notice that Darksiders starts rather slowly -- the combos are done with just the X button, while the blocking mechanic isn’t even mentioned. All the same, this first bit of the game does show off Darksiders’ narrative, art direction, and even to some extent, scenario design. Kick back, check it out, and tell us what you think.
Well. After that taste, I definitely want to give it a try. I was under the impression that it was a bit of a open world game? Still a possibility? Or is it a bit more linear than that? Understandable if the opening is just linear.
I like the mix of styles. It's like a mashup of Prototype and a different God of War in that city that make something new and unique.
And is the main character's name seriously War? Killing both the bad and the whatseemtobe good guys at the same time? With a huge ass sword? Can't forget to mention is pretty awesome Chaos Form, though I would have liked it a bit bigger.
Well, I've bought and finished it. The prolouge is kinda boring, slow and a bit confusing (imo). But it really kicks off one or two hours in.
I don't know if I would call it a GoW -CLONE- but it is quite combat heavy indeed. I would say it's more of a Zelda game with better combat (kinda).
And lastly, the "open world" is indeed 'open'. However, it's open in a linear fashion. Kinda. Sort of. (Also smaller than I would've thought)
All in all, great game. I had a blast playing it and hope more people will. Really. It's a great game.
Brad, even though this wasn't a review, it's nice to see someone state that the game is more than GoW/Zelda. I think my favorite part was when you fell in the lava pit. ^_~
This game wasn't even on my RADAR, but I am no wthinking it is a must buy with all the coverage.
Quick hits:
Ryo Geo: "Brad Nicholson, is it true that the character of War in "Darksiders" was based on Vigil happening across you at the gym, mid-power lifting workiout?"
Brad Nicholson: "Yeah man! Vigil was, like, checkin' out me toppin' my max and immediately thought of the apocalypse! I just wish I could hit the combos faster on the controller, man, but my hand muscles are all shot from liftin'! Dragons, man!!!"
The only things that I don't like about this game that I've seen so far are the combat challenges and the look of the main character. he looks more like a comic book character than one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Other than that one character looking dumb though, the game seems pretty tight.
Looks pretty good; however, if the rest of the game is broken up by a cinematic showing you where to go and what's happening every ten seconds, it could get pretty dull. And that coming from a guy who loves God of War. Not that I want to hold every game that is similar up for comparison.
the biggest let down in this game for me was that it ended. i enjoyed it big time. there is a certain someone i wont mention (dont want to spoil) that i cant wait to brawl with in the sequel. old boy is cruisin for a bruisin
the idea seems to be GoW under christian mythology. i say mythology because during the time of GoW's story their crazy ideas were religious belief as well.
I don't think this game is anything like God of War. Dante's Inferno is a GoW knockoff, not this.
I like the comparison someone above made to Soul Reaver. Linear with some freedom to move, lots of chests and items and platforming.
And Panzer Dragoon sequence, OMG!
@Naet Hermanzon
Sir, he is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His name has been in the list of bad-asses for a couple millennium now.
I laughed quite a bit at the random woman who tried to run by him and got clipped with the sword though. Just when I was really getting into it the vid had to go and end. :[
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
7:00 PM on 01.08.2010
| 
I like the mix of styles. It's like a mashup of Prototype and a different God of War in that city that make something new and unique.
And is the main character's name seriously War? Killing both the bad and the whatseemtobe good guys at the same time? With a huge ass sword? Can't forget to mention is pretty awesome Chaos Form, though I would have liked it a bit bigger.
Throw his name into the badass ballot.
Looking forward to giving this a try.
I don't know if I would call it a GoW -CLONE- but it is quite combat heavy indeed. I would say it's more of a Zelda game with better combat (kinda).
And lastly, the "open world" is indeed 'open'. However, it's open in a linear fashion. Kinda. Sort of. (Also smaller than I would've thought)
All in all, great game. I had a blast playing it and hope more people will. Really. It's a great game.
This game wasn't even on my RADAR, but I am no wthinking it is a must buy with all the coverage.
Quick hits:
Ryo Geo: "Brad Nicholson, is it true that the character of War in "Darksiders" was based on Vigil happening across you at the gym, mid-power lifting workiout?"
Brad Nicholson: "Yeah man! Vigil was, like, checkin' out me toppin' my max and immediately thought of the apocalypse! I just wish I could hit the combos faster on the controller, man, but my hand muscles are all shot from liftin'! Dragons, man!!!"
That said, I will also say that the game is an excellent conglomerate of said cloned games. 9/10.
It's quasi-linear, like Soul Reaver. It's definitely not fully open-world like Prototype, nor is it linear like God of War.
Think "I need this power-up to open this path later on in the game" - like a Metroid-Vania.
Also, Can you fly in chaos form?
I may give it a go but right now i'm a bit meh about it.
I like the comparison someone above made to Soul Reaver. Linear with some freedom to move, lots of chests and items and platforming.
And Panzer Dragoon sequence, OMG!
Sir, he is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His name has been in the list of bad-asses for a couple millennium now.
I laughed quite a bit at the random woman who tried to run by him and got clipped with the sword though. Just when I was really getting into it the vid had to go and end. :[
and i didn't like God of war.