The sky is turning a hellish red. Human civilisation lies in decay. This is the classic scenario for nearly all post-apocalyptic games and is exactly the predicament in which Darksiders places you in. With a good mix of engaging puzzles, fulfilling combat and a huge world to explore, the game does not fall short of getting the gameplay balance right.

The Eve of the Apocalypse is coming… and along with it, War, the Red Rider of the Four Horseman. In a sudden turn of events, War is stripped of his powers and abilities and conscripted to join the Charred Council ,whose aims are to maintain the delicate balance between Heaven and Hell. You are summoned to earth with a mission to enforce a type of restorative justice upon the armies of the Destroyer and look for clues as to restoring the now unbalanced forces.  

Its the typical demon infested wasteland that you will ultimately find yourself in. Buildings, set ablaze, lie in ruins. Its basically your conventional and very hostile post-apocalyptic environment where pretty much all of the story is based in. No matter how much you try and avoid it, combat is one of the main aspects of the game and you will often find yourself being drawn into large scale battles, often being outnumbered by the sheer volume of hostile forces. For a warrior who has been stripped of most of his powers, you are still more than a match for pretty much anything that you encounter. The clever thing is that it doesn’t actually feel as though you are overpowered. Your primary weapon is your massive sword  with which you can deal out mega damage to enemies. You can also unlock a secondary weapon in the form of a scythe. There are numerous combos you can execute and even perform an execution move on some opponents. However, the controls can be slightly tricky to grasp when doing this and may occasionally seem bit unresponsive at times. Although few in number, there are a few quick time events mixed in which keep you on your toes. As War regains his abilities, the combat becomes even easier, especially when he can transform into his “Chaos” form which offers invincibility and limitless destruction for a short period of time. Although you will be doing a considerable amount of button-mashing, you will never get tired of these frequent combat sequences as they are extremely fun to play through and offer tremendous replay value.

If you are familiar with games from the Legend of Zelda series then you will find that Darksiders has quite a lot in common in terms of gameplay with a good mix of combat, intriguing puzzles and plenty of boss fights both large and small. Although the story is rather linear, the well balanced combination of these elements will rarely present you with a dull moment. You will get a good 15-20 hours out of the solid storyline. Although good on the whole, it can become rather predictable at later stages and the poor narrative doesn’t help it much either. Excessive and dull bactracking is one of the biggest letdowns of the game but the compelling aspect of wanting to complete the game overshadows this problem 

Unlocking new equipment, weapons and abilities as you progress through the game certainly gives you a big incentive to carry on playing and also adds to its re-playability. As you venture deeper into the games many dungeon areas you will be able to use more new equipment such as grappling hooks and deadly bladed boomerangs. These can all be used in later stages of the game to help you navigate the terrain, solve puzzles and defeat enemies/bosses. You also unlock upgrades and extra powers to integrate with your weapons. Its a shame that this aspect of the game is rather under-developed though as weapon upgrades seem hardly noticeable when put in overall context to the rest of the game. Nevertheless, this is a very minor flaw which does very little to hamper your experience.

For a post-apocalyptic / end of the world sort of game, there is a tremendous amount of colour; more than most people would expect to see. This is by no means a bad thing but it adds an element of innovation to the game’s theme. Visuals overall are superb and the environments look awesome in contrast to one another. For example, the lush green forests and glowing hot lava lakes both look stunning and will definitely not disappoint even the most scrupulous of players. The only minor problem in terms of technicality are the in-frequent frame rate shudders (especially in large battles) but these are few and far between. The camera angle is spot on for most of the game, partly due to its large focus on combat which enhances the experience. 

Darksiders: Wrath of War is a game which does bring a fresh abundance of gameplay elements to the table. The fun puzzles, engaging combat and mysterious sense of adventure all bode well with a solid storyline. So far it is arguably one of the best games released this year.

+ Lengthy & well paced story

+ Fun Combat system

+ Amusing Puzzles to solve

- Pulling of combos can a pain due to inadequate control layout

- Some frame rate issues

8.4/10

By Ian Ratledge Posted Monday, January 25th, 2010 5:23 pm