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[Darksiders] Thread II : the hideous offspring of every game you love.
Chance
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This is my Olde OP from the original thread. I'll spice it up and re-do it soon(ish).
Reviews. There were some early 9s and 10s that showed up in early December, but early reviews are often full of crap - so here's some that popped up the week prior to release.
9/10 - IGN Australia.
9/10 - IGN UK.
8.5/10 - Game Informer.
My fave so far is this review from AusGamer (9/10), which basically tells me everything I wanted to hear about the game.
If you don't trust those damned cynical professionals, and would prefer to hear the organized opinions of some fellow PAers, here's Professor Snugglesworth's review. And, why the hell not - here's mine.
Darksiders! What's the story? Who's the dev? Why should you care? I'm here to tell you, bucko.
The Developer
Vigil Games haven't made anything else, and Darksiders has been in development for years. In terms of pedigree, this game has nothing. Nothing, that is, unless you count comic book artist Joe Madureira. He formed Vigil Games with David Adams and some other talent from NCsoft.
Now, word is Joe "Mad" is a big deal in the world of comics - I can't vouch for that - but I can say that even with the traditional post-apocalyptic grey-and-brown world, I love this game's art style.
Screenshots! (Big, BIG screenshots.)
...y'know, these shots don't quite sell the game for me. Perhaps it's better I point you towards this trailer. This is the one that made me sit up and take notice.
The Story
The basic premise is, you play as War - one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first playable part of the game is you and your Mounted Apocalypse Posse ripping the Earth a new one to usher in the end of days, Book of Revelations-style.
What a twist! You were tricked into triggering the apocalypse early! Left in limbo for a hundred years, you are judged guilty by the overseers of the Balance - but you convince them to let you return to Earth to find the orchestrator of your betrayal.
Once you get back to the mortal plane, it's not all kittens and puppies. The world has been torn apart by a century of war between the angels and the demons - and they both want you dead. To make matters worse, your glove has been possessed by Mark Hamil.
This happy fellow is a malicious spirit that the overseers of the Balance stuck you with, to keep an eye on you while you're out of their presence. Described by the developers as an "evil Navi," The Watcher will point stuff out to you - but he's not necessarily there to help...
Why should you care?
I was once like you. When I first saw video of Darksiders, I was blown away that they were willing to show anything at all. A generic, chunky he-man slices up a generic-looking monster in a vast, empty waste that looked... well, you get the idea. It looked awful. But the more I see, the more I like it.
Combat
Once War whittles down his enemies, he can dispatch them with brutal finishers. So it's got a little God of War in there. I've also seen War blast an enemy into the air with his sword and keep him aloft with a hail of gunfire - so it's got a little Devil May Cry as well. If you're going to crib elements of combat, it doesn't hurt to start with the best.
Voice Talent
We all love Mark Hamil, but my personal favorite VO is Phil LaMarr. He's Hermes Conrad (and many others) on Futurama, he's Samurai Jack, he's Vamp in Metal Gear Solid, and he's Marvin - who gets his head blown off in the back seat - in Pulp Fiction. LaMarr plays Vulgrim - essentially, the demonic merchant War buys his gear from.
If you watched the video I liked above, you probably recognize War's voice from somewhere, but you can't pin it down. Well, that's Liam O'Brien , best known for his work in the English localizations of anime. He's quite a prolific talent. Anyway - all this stuff is nice, but here's the kicker. Here's the important bit:
It's like Zelda
The Watcher is an "evil Navi" and your horse is like "a bad-ass Epona." Seeing a trend here?
At media events, when discussing the game with devs, journalists are quick to compare it to combat-heavy games like God of War and Devil May Cry, but the developers shrug off these lables and straight-out say the game Darksiders is most like is Zelda.
You've got a giant open world. A lot of it, you can't access yet. You're not strong enough, or you don't have the right tool.
You find new powers and tools by entering dungeons. Each dungeon is unique, and each one houses a special artifact that - naturally - will be key to solving future puzzles and bringing down that dungeon's boss monster.
Once you leave the dungeon, you discover your new found power will grant you passage to previously inaccessible areas - and there, you will likely discover a new dungeon...
So that's it, that's my spiel. Dig on some trailers if you want more media, but it's this multi-part developer walkthrough that really sold me:
Part One.
Part Two.
Part Three.
DARKSIDERS 2 IS ON THE WAY
(see: 2012)
"Darksiders is The Legend of Zelda...
if Hyrule were destroyed in the Apocalypse,
Link was given a chain gun,
and grew some balls."
Release date : January 5th 2010
360 & PS3
(see: 2012)
"Darksiders is The Legend of Zelda...
if Hyrule were destroyed in the Apocalypse,
Link was given a chain gun,
and grew some balls."
Release date : January 5th 2010
360 & PS3
Reviews. There were some early 9s and 10s that showed up in early December, but early reviews are often full of crap - so here's some that popped up the week prior to release.
9/10 - IGN Australia.
9/10 - IGN UK.
8.5/10 - Game Informer.
My fave so far is this review from AusGamer (9/10), which basically tells me everything I wanted to hear about the game.
If you don't trust those damned cynical professionals, and would prefer to hear the organized opinions of some fellow PAers, here's Professor Snugglesworth's review. And, why the hell not - here's mine.
Darksiders! What's the story? Who's the dev? Why should you care? I'm here to tell you, bucko.
The Developer
Vigil Games haven't made anything else, and Darksiders has been in development for years. In terms of pedigree, this game has nothing. Nothing, that is, unless you count comic book artist Joe Madureira. He formed Vigil Games with David Adams and some other talent from NCsoft.
Now, word is Joe "Mad" is a big deal in the world of comics - I can't vouch for that - but I can say that even with the traditional post-apocalyptic grey-and-brown world, I love this game's art style.
Screenshots! (Big, BIG screenshots.)
Spoiler:
...y'know, these shots don't quite sell the game for me. Perhaps it's better I point you towards this trailer. This is the one that made me sit up and take notice.
The Story
The basic premise is, you play as War - one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first playable part of the game is you and your Mounted Apocalypse Posse ripping the Earth a new one to usher in the end of days, Book of Revelations-style.
What a twist! You were tricked into triggering the apocalypse early! Left in limbo for a hundred years, you are judged guilty by the overseers of the Balance - but you convince them to let you return to Earth to find the orchestrator of your betrayal.
Once you get back to the mortal plane, it's not all kittens and puppies. The world has been torn apart by a century of war between the angels and the demons - and they both want you dead. To make matters worse, your glove has been possessed by Mark Hamil.
This happy fellow is a malicious spirit that the overseers of the Balance stuck you with, to keep an eye on you while you're out of their presence. Described by the developers as an "evil Navi," The Watcher will point stuff out to you - but he's not necessarily there to help...
Why should you care?
I was once like you. When I first saw video of Darksiders, I was blown away that they were willing to show anything at all. A generic, chunky he-man slices up a generic-looking monster in a vast, empty waste that looked... well, you get the idea. It looked awful. But the more I see, the more I like it.
Combat
Once War whittles down his enemies, he can dispatch them with brutal finishers. So it's got a little God of War in there. I've also seen War blast an enemy into the air with his sword and keep him aloft with a hail of gunfire - so it's got a little Devil May Cry as well. If you're going to crib elements of combat, it doesn't hurt to start with the best.
Voice Talent
We all love Mark Hamil, but my personal favorite VO is Phil LaMarr. He's Hermes Conrad (and many others) on Futurama, he's Samurai Jack, he's Vamp in Metal Gear Solid, and he's Marvin - who gets his head blown off in the back seat - in Pulp Fiction. LaMarr plays Vulgrim - essentially, the demonic merchant War buys his gear from.
If you watched the video I liked above, you probably recognize War's voice from somewhere, but you can't pin it down. Well, that's Liam O'Brien , best known for his work in the English localizations of anime. He's quite a prolific talent. Anyway - all this stuff is nice, but here's the kicker. Here's the important bit:
It's like Zelda
The Watcher is an "evil Navi" and your horse is like "a bad-ass Epona." Seeing a trend here?
At media events, when discussing the game with devs, journalists are quick to compare it to combat-heavy games like God of War and Devil May Cry, but the developers shrug off these lables and straight-out say the game Darksiders is most like is Zelda.
You've got a giant open world. A lot of it, you can't access yet. You're not strong enough, or you don't have the right tool.
You find new powers and tools by entering dungeons. Each dungeon is unique, and each one houses a special artifact that - naturally - will be key to solving future puzzles and bringing down that dungeon's boss monster.
Once you leave the dungeon, you discover your new found power will grant you passage to previously inaccessible areas - and there, you will likely discover a new dungeon...
So that's it, that's my spiel. Dig on some trailers if you want more media, but it's this multi-part developer walkthrough that really sold me:
Part One.
Part Two.
Part Three.
Chance on
Posts
Hell, even the facial animations and voice acting were remarkably good.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
Agreed. I earned my 1000/1000 in just 4 days.
Great 4 days though!
The Raid
I am happy about news of a Darksiders 2
Xbox: UnbreakableVows | PSN/Wii U: UnbreakableVow | 3DS: 1521-3241-9354
What I do hate is the name Darksiders. Its a horrible horrible name for a new game franchise such as this. They couldn't use the subtitle they came up with probably cause of God of War. I was playing through the game again recently and I am really trying to par attention to see if they even use the word Darksiders anywhere with importance.
I think the generic-ness of the title probably turned a lot of people away from it. At least it's not, say, Divine Divinity.
What I would really like (since I own the game) is a better New Game+ mode
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
Been playing this lately, after picking up another copy on the cheap, and I was wondering if it's possible to miss a treasure chest and then never be able to reach it again? There's a chest in the first dungeon that I can't figure out how to get back to.
@Rizzi - You can get back to it, if not now then later on once you've picked up more gear. If memory serves me correctly, I believe that there's only one chest in the entire game that you can miss permanently. The rest can be gotten right up until you face off against the final boss.
that is the only thing preventing me from doing the final battle of this game
but it is probably one of the best games i've played this year and four player co-op makes me mad excited.
I pronounce it bee-log. Most recent entry: VIDEO GAMES: GUNPOINT, OR A SCIENTIFIC STUDY ON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GLASS MEETS TROUSERS.
Plus, it's $40 and on Steam.
Here's hoping the sequel gets a simultaneous PC/Console release...
PFFFFFFFF hahahaha.
I can dream, right?
I pronounce it bee-log. Most recent entry: VIDEO GAMES: GUNPOINT, OR A SCIENTIFIC STUDY ON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GLASS MEETS TROUSERS.
Is he important?
I'm glad people are talking about it again though. I missed out on the initial hype and talk about it since I didn't own this gen console at the time
Behance Portfolio I Amazonian I PSN- Subtle_Ties | 3DS: 3840-5210-2008 (Subtle)
a giant bar on the rightmost side of the screen is bright fucking blue
like giant, block, square-pixel'd, royal blue.
I have no explanation for this, doesn't happen on my TV at all. anyone experienced this problem? Nothing like this is happening with my other games either. just this game, on this monitor.
Not really, he's just a cool little Easterish Egg they threw in. You'll generally find him towards the end game, on the path to chests that can't be picked up the first time around (the one place I specifically recall is in the area you fight through with Ulthane - there's a chest you need the hookshot to reach, and he'll show up on the platform across from it). He'll show up multiple times.
And he will kick your ass. You have two options: try to actually fight him (and lose, most of the time - his defense is rock-solid, he's super-fast and he does massive damage), or just use your chaos form and cheese it.
Either way, all you get from him is some orbs, and the joy of fighting a well-mannered zombie in a top hat.
And really, that's a reward unto itself.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
I had this problem with Oblivion. I had to refer to it as "that sequel to Morrowind"
yeah, that was really tedious. Especially because, if I recall correctly, you got some socketable items that made them level up "faster" (still really slowly), so you were presented with the undesirable trade-off of either under-leveling your weapon, and getting to use the "fun" socketables, or constantly working towards the goal of being fully leveled, and never getting to actually play around with the other modifiers until near the end of the game.
VGA adaptor? I had the same problem on my tv. Try changing resolutions. No fix as far as I know
Have HDMI connection now so can't remember all the details
That's pretty dumb and disheartening though. I had the intention of doing all the achievements, but if I have to change resolutions just to backtrack and find that last soldier artifact and last lifestone shard that I apparently missed, I guess I'm just gonna do the endgame and be done.
WHAT
After that ending, you're not continuing the story?!
Darksiders 1-4
Then Darksiders 5 continues the story
Xbox: UnbreakableVows | PSN/Wii U: UnbreakableVow | 3DS: 1521-3241-9354
But they'd definitely better continue the story at some point, even if we have to wait a while to get there. Darksiders built things up in a pretty neat direction and I want to see some resolution there.
Or so we think. He has been lied to the entire time, why wouldn't they lie about the other horsemen?
Shit be canon, dog.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
Castle crashers, with all four horsemen of the apocalypse? That would be the best beat-em-up ever.
Yes, forget the interesting post-apocalyptic world they designed for War to run around in, let's not go there and see what it did to other parts of the world. Let's go back in time to the apocalypse itself and do something much less interesting.