In amongst the big budget, epic, serious nature of the top end video game market, it is nice from time to time to take a step away, and play something that take itself a little less seriously, a game that in a weird way have me some nostalgic feelings, and is purely just fun. Darksiders 2 happens to be one of those games. Yes, it is over 3 years old, and it is yet another ‘definitive’ (or in this case Deathinitive – I see what they did there) edition that I am totally sick of seeing now, but I couldn’t help but really enjoy myself every time I booted it up.
You are Death, setting out to prove that your brother War is innocent the crimes he has been said to have committed, and to restore mankind. I never thought that I would describe a game you play as Death as light hearted. But that’s really how it feels, from the art style, to the conversations Death has with other characters it comes across as a game that developers Vigil wanted to have fun with. And if that was the case they have most definitely succeeded.
It is a bit of a mash up of genres – action, adventure, hack and slash, RPG and platforming all have elements present and they have been brought together really well. It strangely reminded me of playing the original Playstation when I was younger with titles such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, and in more recent day’s games like Kameo on the 360. While it can’t be a direct comparison with the former two, the enjoyment and experience I got from the game harked back to the fun I had with them. And there was more than one occasion where I thought – why can’t there be more games like this? Simple and effective third person action fun, in an industry that likes to focus on the next big blockbuster.
Darksiders 2 is a long game though, clocking in at around 20 hours, but it doesn’t feel a chore. The story itself is interesting enough to last that long, interacting with ancient races and lands and exploring the well crafted lands. At the beginning of the game I found the camera angle to be extremely limiting, and I almost stopped playing the game. But the ability to lock on to enemies seemed to fix that problem for me, and allowed me to see more of what was actually going on and enjoy the combat a lot more. It is a smooth combat system that, as with many hack and slash games, focuses around light and heavy attacks. But using different abilities, dodging and a host of different weapons keeps it fresh. Another success in the game is how Death traverses the environment. Death will jump, climb, wall run and more, and it is all done through one button. There can be a risk with just using one button to do everything, but I can’t think of a time I had an issue with it, which makes me wonder how a game with a budget like Assassin’s Creed keeps having so many problems.
I’m always a sucker for games that implement RPG elements well. There is a decent levelling system here with a skill tree to allocate points to for your next devastating ability. The earning of experience is spread well, as you don’t level up too quickly, but it also allows you to develop Death’s abilities before they start to go stale. You’re also able to collect loot by defeating enemies, opening chests and purchasing from vendors. This loot will be new weapons, apparel and potions. You’ll need to consider the new items based on their different stats – do you go for one that is purely better attack, or one that has better critical chance? Again this isn’t a fully fledged RPG so the stats won’t be overwhelming or too deep, but it’s nice to see the choice there. And if you need a reminder that this is gaming in a more simple form, go break a few vases and collect some gold!
Now I’m not going to suggest that this will be worth playing through again if you’ve already played it a few years back, unless you’re looking to play through DLC that you didn’t before (which is actually likely to bring the game to around 30 hours of play) and with slightly prettier graphics. But if you’ve not ventured into Darksiders 2 before, it is definitely worth doing. You get a big open world, a long story, multiple side quests and most of all you get some old fashioned gaming fun. You can pick this up for around £20 now, and it’ll be even cheaper come Christmas. Yes it’s a bit old, but once you’ve grown tired of your Fallout’s, Battlefront’s, Halo’s and Tomb Raider’s and you’re looking for something to cure that gaming itch. You could do a lot worse than this.
**Thank you to XCN for the opportunity to review this game**