Darksiders II Review By Nicholas Leal In 2010, THQ and Vigil Games introduced us to a Horseman of the Apocalypse: War.

In the original Darksiders, players filled Wars massive shoes as he went on a quest to prove he didnt start the premature apocalypse and inadvertently wipe out mankind. His journey pits him against angels, demons, and things older still, most of which he slaughters in God of War-style combat. The post-apocalyptic wastes are home to Zelda-esque dungeons full of vaguely-familiar items with fresh coatings of cataclysmic paint. Wars quest was a wild, spectacle-filled ride, and ended with a fantastic cliffhanger. Darksiders II had quite a legacy to live up to, and the added challenge of topping its predecessor. Perhaps the first thing players notice upon beginning the game is that the exciting cliffhanger from Darksiders does not serve as the games opening in fact, War doesnt technically appear in the entire game. In place of War, players are introduced to his older brother the Horseman Death. Death, like War, is a powerhouse of a being capable of large-scale bloodshed. Darksiders II runs parallel to the original game, as Death first attempts to clear Wars name, and later to undo the destruction of mankind. Here, THQ introduces players to a universe they did not have time to explore in the first iteration the game is long, and the back-story is much deeper than the previous installments, exploring not only the origin of the Horsemen, but hinting at the beginnings of the universe itself. The expanded backstory, coupled with the experience of the original game, adds a sense of gravitas to the proceedings that keeps the story from descending into mediocrity. However, Darksiders II is much much longer than the original, and there are some pacing issues. Often, large swathes of gameplay have nothing to do with the main plot, but are nonetheless required, such as the quests Death undertakes for the Lord of Bones. The pacing issues mean nothing in the end, however. Gameplay takes point in Darksiders II. It is rare to find a heavy-handed action-RPG that spends less time in cutscenes than actual gameplay, but this is the rare exception. In my first 23-hour playthrough (there is a New Game + feature) I cant remember being in cutscenes for more than an hour or so. Though Death is not a silent protagonist by any means, he is the quiet sort. Instead, he prefers to dash across walls, shimmy up and down columns, and battle all sorts of monsters. Combat feels fluid, much like the first game. Death uses two weapons at any time, his primary Twin Scythes, and a secondary weapon that comes in various flavors. The Execution system (stylizied, automatic kills) is still in play, though unlike the first game Execution Attacks have only a small chance of becoming available. Death also has many special abilities, such as summoning ghouls to attack his enemies, or a huge, crowd-clearing circular swipe of the scythe that can help to vary what would otherwise be a rather monotonous two-button combat system. In yet another contrast with War, Death lacks the ability to block attacks, and must instead rely on

a dodge mechanic that is extremely helpful both in combat and in differentiating the two Horsemen from a gameplay standpoint. Just as War had a Wrath Form (a Devil May Cry - style, overpowered transformation that has a short timer), Death has the Reaper Form, which doubles his physical size and makes his attacks much more powerful in exchange for losing access to abilities and special effects from equipment. This feature is a nice addition both aesthetically and in desperate times during combat, but ultimately proves unessential to the experience. Unlike War, whose equipment was relatively static throughout his adventure, Death makes use of a new loot system, similar to that of the Diablo series, and can wield anything from large metal-encased gloves to gigantic axes and hammers. These secondary weapons are diverse in both shape and combat rhythm. The twin scythes are Deaths come in just as large a variety as the secondary weapons some give the player bonuses to damage, some have life-stealing properties, and some can even have special abilities attached to them. Death can also find various pieces of armor, and similar to the weapons these have many effects and physical appearances. These new customization factors mean that no two players will have the same version of Death by the end of the game, and you can tailor his abilities and equipment bonuses to your own playstyle. The space that Darksiders II takes place in is massive. In place of the first games solitary broken city, the sequel features four distinct locales: The Forge Lands, The Kingdom of the Dead, Lostlight, and The Black Stone. While the latter two are rather small areas with gigantic dungeons, the former pair are massive overworlds with a wealth of content for Death to wander through. The first overworld, The Forge Lands, is actually physically larger than the entire space of the first game. Like the story, the scope of exploration has widened. To assist with traversing the much vaster landscapes of his game, Death gains the ability to summon his mount, Despair, far earlier than War found his horse in the first game. In fact, Despair is with Death from the moment the game begins, and is quite a welcome companion in the games vast spaces. The first game was often hailed as God of War meets Legend of Zelda, and the sequel adds a dash of Prince of Persia to the mix with its parkour-based platforming: Death can wall-run, climb pillars, hang from ledges, and use various objects to lengthen his acrobatic climbs. Platforming is also another of the games flaws, however. While the traversal system is most reminiscent of the 2008 Prince of Persia, Darksiders II lacks that games precise controls and sometimes misreads directions in hectic chase sequences. While this often means restarting the platforming sequence from the beginning, they are never so long that it becomes tedious.

Dungeons are the heart of the Darksiders experience, which is where the Legend of Zelda comparisons are often drawn. Like the magical Kingdom of Hyrule, the lands of the End Times are filled inexplicably with puzzle-strew mansions long abandoned, decaying fortresses with ridiculous traps, and enemy-laden bastions with useful items hidden within that are inevitably used to defeat the boss waiting at the end of said stronghold. The puzzles are often complex, requiring a decent mix of gear and head scratching, but never so annoyingly obtuse that they make the game unbearable. Unlike the plot, the dungeons are well paced, mixing combat, puzzles, and platforming into a fun melting pot of genres. Graphically, Darksiders II is like a comic book come to life; not in the sense that the game is cel-shaded and colorful, but that the characters have a larger-than-life look to them, and it translates well from Joe Madureiras concept art to the games semirealistic, semi-stylized three-dimensions. The game has a much wider color-space than its predecessor as well, with notably less grayish-brown areas and more greens and blues in the locales Death visits. It certainly helps that Death spends the majority of his adventure away from the suffering, apocalypse-stricken Earth. The audio is not revolutionary by any means, but the sound effects have a proper punch to them, and the soundtrack is appropriately haunting, beautiful, grand, and energetic in turns. As Death wanders through quiet, empty areas, the ambient wind is joined by soft and sad acoustic guitar riffs, and heavier riffs as he begins to tear his enemies apart. The voice acting, sparse though it seems in the face of the games massive amount of exploration, is quite good, especially where Death is concerned. While never coming across as truly incredible, Michael Wincott provides the grim and deep sound that one would expect from such a dangerous and grizzled character. If he had more dialogue, it could have been phenomenal. Keith Szarabajka also provides a rather good-but-short performance as The Crowfather, a character who is in turns nemesis, ally, and narrator. Notably missing is Deaths brother War, played previously by Liam OBrien to great effect. Some of his dialogue from the original game is used in a cutscene or two to great effect, but it does seem unfortunate from both an audio and story standpoint that a game where the quest is centered on saving War includes so little of him. Darksiders II had very large, very epic shoes to fill, and despite a few pacing and control issues, managed to expand on the original in every way without retreading old territory. As a genre-blending, adult-oriented game, Darksiders II delivers a thrilling experience full of blood, gore, Biblical and mythological reference, and downright fun. If you havent given the Darksiders series a chance yet, youre really missing out.