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[Darksiders] Thread II : the hideous offspring of every game you love.

ChanceChance Registered User regular
edited July 2011 in Games and Technology
This is my Olde OP from the original thread. I'll spice it up and re-do it soon(ish).


DARKSIDERS 2 IS ON THE WAY
(see: 2012)



759954321_E7mFJ-L.jpg

"Darksiders is The Legend of Zelda...

if Hyrule were destroyed in the Apocalypse,

Link was given a chain gun,

and grew some balls."




darksiders-logo.png
Release date : January 5th 2010
360 & PS3
DS-2.jpg


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.)
screen_03.jpg


screen_04.jpg


screen_05.jpg

...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.
the_watcher.jpg

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...
darksiderscomics.jpg

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, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
Chance on
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Posts

  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I just saw the bit about Darksiders 2 being confirmed. I only have one long thing to say:
    Heeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllss yeah!
    I have no idea how they managed to get such a good game out of such a mish-mash of gameplay concepts, mythology, and over-the-top character designs, but they'd better do it again.

    Hell, even the facial animations and voice acting were remarkably good.
    Will you fight all of Heaven and Hell alone?
    [grim badass]No. Not alone.[/grim badass]
    Worth playing the whole game just for that little bit.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • ChanceChance Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    An unusually excellent ending :^:

    Chance on
    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
  • EggPuppetEggPuppet Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    This was a really cool game as a rental, but I don't see buying it at full price. You can pretty well see what Darksiders has to show you in a rental period.

    EggPuppet on
  • MorvidusMorvidus Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    EggPuppet wrote: »
    This was a really cool game as a rental, but I don't see buying it at full price. You can pretty well see what Darksiders has to show you in a rental period.

    Agreed. I earned my 1000/1000 in just 4 days.

    Great 4 days though!

    Morvidus on
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    For my money, Darksiders remains the best new franchise of the year

    I am happy about news of a Darksiders 2

    UnbreakableVow on
  • HyperAquaBlastHyperAquaBlast Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I love this game. I love heaven vs hell with angels and demons stuff, love the artstyle, love which games they took ideas from, loved how they mixed all those ideas up for good, I love War and I love lamp!

    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.

    HyperAquaBlast on
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  • EggPuppetEggPuppet Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I love this game. I love heaven vs hell with angels and demons stuff, love the artstyle, love which games they took ideas from, loved how they mixed all those ideas up for good, I love War and I love lamp!

    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.

    EggPuppet on
  • DerrickDerrick Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I had fun with this game. It was kind of a Zelda-lite. It certainly could have used more just open exploration and battles, but overall pretty enjoyable.

    What I would really like (since I own the game) is a better New Game+ mode

    Derrick on
    Steam and CFN: Enexemander
  • HyperAquaBlastHyperAquaBlast Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Well I remember before it came out that when I was watching preview trailers that I kept forgetting the name. I got it confused with Darkstalkers, Dark Sector, Dark Void, The Darkness.

    HyperAquaBlast on
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  • RizziRizzi Sydney, Australia.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Posted this in the last thread, but since that thread is finished, I'll ask here. :P
    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 on
  • KitsunaKitsuna Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Darksiders is definitely one of the best games I've played this year. I can't wait for the sequel.

    @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.

    Kitsuna on
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  • RizziRizzi Sydney, Australia.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Thanks. :)

    Rizzi on
  • T4CTT4CT BAFTA-NOMINATED NAFTA-APPROVEDRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I am killing myself because I can't find this last lifestone shard and this last soldier artifact and I'm really dreading backtracking to every single place the IGN guide lists to figure out which one I missed

    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.

    T4CT on
  • adytumadytum The Inevitable Rise And FallRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I hope in the sequel they fix (or rethink) the weapons level grinding. That was just.. a poor design decision.

    adytum on
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    That was probably the most out-of-place thing in the game. It would've been one thing if the weapons leveled at a reasonable rate, but they leveled reeeally slowly compared to buying new abilities and. I don't think I maxed anything but Chaoseater and everything else was level 2, tops. Plus, there really wasn't much of an advantage to leveling up the weapons anyway.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    So how's the PC port? Isn't that out soon/already?

    cooljammer00 on
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    3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
    Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
  • SJSJ College. Forever.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    It's on steam. I haven't picked it up though, I've had to spend the money on other things unfortunately.

    SJ on
  • TraikanTraikan Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I highly recommend the PC port of Darksiders. No performance issues and zero control problems with mouse/keyboard.

    Plus, it's $40 and on Steam.

    Here's hoping the sequel gets a simultaneous PC/Console release...

    PFFFFFFFF hahahaha.

    I can dream, right?

    Traikan on
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    They might. I think the surprise success of Darksiders is what got it on PC in the first place.

    cooljammer00 on
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    3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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  • RizziRizzi Sydney, Australia.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    What's with the zombie in a top hat? He nearly kicked my ass.
    Is he important?

    Rizzi on
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    I need to get back into playing this game... My friend just told me that I get mah horse soon so there's that incentive. I love this game I just suffer from gaming ADD with a bunch of new ps3 games I inherited from a friend.

    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

    initiatefailure on
  • T4CTT4CT BAFTA-NOMINATED NAFTA-APPROVEDRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    So I just started playing Darksiders on my new flat-screen monitor on my 360

    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.

    T4CT on
  • ChanceChance Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Rizzi wrote: »
    What's with the zombie in a top hat? He nearly kicked my ass.
    Is he important?

    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 on
    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
  • RizziRizzi Sydney, Australia.Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Fair enough. I just didn't want to miss out on any secret items or anything for not doing it right. :P

    Rizzi on
  • KitsunaKitsuna Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    About the only thing the Top-Hat Zombie is vulnerable to - aside from the overwhelming power of the Chaos Form - are counter-attacks. If you're good at those then he'll give up the ghost fairly quickly.

    Kitsuna on
    MGRSig2.jpg
  • EggPuppetEggPuppet Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Well I remember before it came out that when I was watching preview trailers that I kept forgetting the name. I got it confused with Darkstalkers, Dark Sector, Dark Void, The Darkness.

    I had this problem with Oblivion. I had to refer to it as "that sequel to Morrowind"
    adytum wrote: »
    I hope in the sequel they fix (or rethink) the weapons level grinding. That was just.. a poor design decision.

    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.

    EggPuppet on
  • hyperpowerhyperpower Registered User regular
    edited October 2010
    T4CT wrote: »
    So I just started playing Darksiders on my new flat-screen monitor on my 360

    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.

    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

    hyperpower on
  • T4CTT4CT BAFTA-NOMINATED NAFTA-APPROVEDRegistered User regular
    edited October 2010
    Yeah it's VGA adaptor. Hmmm...I'll try changing resolutions for when I play Darksiders

    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.

    T4CT on
  • SyphonBlueSyphonBlue The studying beaver That beaver sure loves studying!Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    During his keynote speech at the IGDA Leadership Forum, THQ wunderkind Danny Bilson revealed some info on Darksiders 2, the sequel to Joe Mad's inspired take on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Instead of taking up the mantle of War again, the sequel will offer a new playable character -- one of the other three horsemen of the apocalypse, perhaps?

    "When we do the Darksiders sequel, it'll be a different character and take place simultaneously to the other story," Bilson said. "There's only one apocalypse -- I couldn't very well have four different apocalypses, one for each rider. It has some new mechanics and some very robust features that differentiate it a lot and grow it from the first game because you have to build on the first one, you can't repeat it. I think that's very important in franchise-building."

    It tied into the rest of the keynote, which revolved around Bilson and THQ's take on sequels and how to approach them when trying to create franchises. Look for our full write-up of Bilson's candid keynote speech soon.

    WHAT

    After that ending, you're not continuing the story?!

    SyphonBlue on
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    PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    Actually, I like that idea

    Darksiders 1-4

    Then Darksiders 5 continues the story

    UnbreakableVow on
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I really enjoyed the hell out of this for a week or two, then I got to the final area and I sort of...forgot about it. I really need to pick it back up. It wasn't the best game I ever played, but it was damn fun for what it was.

    GnomeTank on
    Sagroth wrote: »
    Oh c'mon FyreWulff, no one's gonna pay to visit Uranus.
    Steam: Brainling, XBL / PSN: GnomeTank, NintendoID: Brainling, FF14: Zillius Rosh SFV: Brainling
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    That's a really cool idea!

    urahonky on
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    I would totally be down for a game for each Horseman with a final game (or even two) continuing or ending the story. Something like fighting the Devil himself at the gates of Hell is something I could stand a decent buildup for.

    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.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • SyphonBlueSyphonBlue The studying beaver That beaver sure loves studying!Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    It can't be the other Horsemen, since they were still sleeping during the events of the game.

    SyphonBlue on
    LxX6eco.jpg
    PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    SyphonBlue wrote: »
    It can't be the other Horsemen, since they were still sleeping during the events of the game.

    Or so we think. He has been lied to the entire time, why wouldn't they lie about the other horsemen?

    urahonky on
  • amnesiasoftamnesiasoft Thick Creamy Furry Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    urahonky wrote: »
    SyphonBlue wrote: »
    It can't be the other Horsemen, since they were still sleeping during the events of the game.

    Or so we think. He has been lied to the entire time, why wouldn't they lie about the other horsemen?
    Because they were pretty clearly called forth at the end of the game?

    amnesiasoft on
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  • T4CTT4CT BAFTA-NOMINATED NAFTA-APPROVEDRegistered User regular
    edited November 2010
    This better not interfere with my four player co-op.

    T4CT on
  • ChanceChance Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    urahonky wrote: »
    SyphonBlue wrote: »
    It can't be the other Horsemen, since they were still sleeping during the events of the game.

    Or so we think. He has been lied to the entire time, why wouldn't they lie about the other horsemen?
    Because they were pretty clearly called forth at the end of the game?

    Shit be canon, dog.

    Chance on
    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
  • zerg rushzerg rush Registered User regular
    edited November 2010
    T4CT wrote: »
    This better not interfere with my four player co-op.

    Castle crashers, with all four horsemen of the apocalypse? That would be the best beat-em-up ever.

    zerg rush on
  • Orochi_RockmanOrochi_Rockman __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2010
    Wow, the sequel is just going to let that ending from the first game just hang there. What a nice way to say "fuck you" to all the people that bought their game and made it a surprise hit for them.

    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.

    Orochi_Rockman on
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