Darksiders II Review

Think of the coolest, most badass video game character you can.

Batman? Sam Fisher? Solid Snake?

They may be cool, but they're not the literal incarnation of Death.

That's right - in Darksiders II you play as Death, one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Armed with a scythe or two and some heavier weapons, Death aims to revive humanity.

Yeah, revive it.

Apparently Death's brother, War, has wiped out humanity. Death is having none of it, and instead tries to resurrect humanity to wipe out War's crime. Death ends up doing loads of errands for lots of shady sounding people to get to the Tree of Life.

Everything in the game has a name which could easily belong to a teenage metal band. The Tree of Life, the Well of Souls or the Ivory Citadel, for example. Even the characters have overly exaggerated names. The Bone King and the Crowfather both appear along your path. It's pretty irrelevant but it made me chuckle.

The important part is the gameplay. Anybody who has played a Zelda game will feel at home immediately. It's instantly familiar but never boring, which is obviously enjoyable. It's based on puzzle solving and combat, but rather than having a sword-wielding elf Darksiders II chooses the coolest goddamn protagonist ever, a scythe-wielding horseman.

The puzzles within the game are fun and rewarding. They're not hugely difficult and Portal 2 it ain't, but it requires a bit of clever thought and some time investment. Though I mentioned that it isn't Portal 2, there is a point where you obtain a skill which basically replicates a portal gun, but that's quite late on.

Combat wise, the game comes into it's own. Mixing spells with strikes is common ground for any RPG player, but what it lacks in innovation it makes up for in substance. Death feels like a true badass, ripping through smaller enemies with fast paced scythes and powerful hammers and swords. You collect weapons as you go along from chests and enemies (sound familiar?) which have different strengths and effects (Hmmm. Definitely seen this before.). There are an array of secondary weapons should you not want to mash people with your scythes. These range from slow-paced, powerful hammers to fast paced bucklers. Choosing this weapon depends on your style of fighting and your enemies.

There are an array of spells that you can unlock and improve as you level up. These are fairly useful against smaller enemies but against bigger enemies they are invaluable. The bosses you fight along the way often require different methods to kill, which is similar to a Zelda game (shock) and they're a challenge. Fun, but a challenge.

Darksiders II is an extremely fun game, even if it borrows a lot of it's ideas from elsewhere. It's dark and brooding but at it's heart it's essentially Zelda. Combat is slick and fun but it's nothing mindblowing.

I would recommend playing Darksiders II as it's very fun to play. It won't knock your socks off, it might not even surprise you, but it's still a terrifically well made game with some clever little quirks.

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