The Charge:

The Horseman Cometh.

Opening Statement:
At the risk of sounding terribly cliché, I’ve been patiently awaiting Darksiders since it was announced to little fanfare and the earliest concept art found its way onto my internets.  That patience vanished into the ether once it was announced that major video game publisher THQ had picked up Darksiders, and pumped enough cash into wee little developer Vigil Games to allow them to expand beyond a four man operation into a full fledged development team.  Whenever the topic came op on Pixel Verdict asking us what new franchises or games am was I most looking forward to in 2010, my answer was always the same; Darksiders.  It’s been a long few years, and I’ve converted a small cadre of gamers along the way from indifferent onlookers, to genuine followers of its development.  Now finally, the wait is over, and Darksiders has ridden onto the battlefield.  Is this a well deserved victory for the dreamers at Vigil Games?  Or is this an apocalypse for gamers that has long been foretold?

Hey, Mark! You love Gwar! Why don't you join the band?

Facts of the Case:
The seals have been broken; the time has come for the end war between the three kingdoms of man, heaven and hell.  The armies of the light and the legions of the dark one have begun their assault.  But, something is wrong.  The time is not right.  Mankind has not evolved to the point of readiness yet.  The end of days has come too early.  Players step into the pimp armour of War, the first horseman of the apocalypse.  Charged with the extermination of life on earth and creating a schism in the balance of all things, War is stripped of his powers and sentenced to death.  He is sent on a suicide mission back to the kingdom of earth, now a ravaged and blasted wasteland to find those truly responsible for this irredeemable crime.  Looks like more than a few angels and demons bought themselves a one way ticket to the hurt locker.

Stop! Stop! He's already dead!!

The Evidence:
Originality is a rare commodity when it comes to video games.  And if you’ve approached Darksiders expecting something new and fresh, step away from this review and go back to downloading Popcap games on Xbox Live.  Instead, expect to play a title that is descendant of great games already come.  This is not at all a disavowal of how blisteringly awesome Darksiders is; rather a rallying cry.  In the words of our very own Steve T. Power (Great Canadian); fill a pint glass halfway to the top with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, then fill a shot glass three quarters to the top with God of War.  The remainder of the shot glass is to be filled with the pants soilingly amazing artwork of Joe Madureira; Vigil’s lead artist and coincidently a former comic book penciller with a run on Uncanny X-Men during the 90s that was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.  Set the shot glass afire and drop the blazing mixture into the pint glass.  Consume immediately.  BOOM!  There’s the flavour!  Darksiders is nothing gamers haven’t played before, but it’s certainly something we haven’t seen nearly enough of.  An adventure title with satisfying combat and creative visuals that stand tall above the sea of washed out browns and grays that plague the game industry like a rec room from the late 70s.

Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dreams.

For a game that takes place in a post apocalyptic tundra of bones and collapsed buildings, Darksiders has incredibly colourful presentation.  The characters all look like picture perfect 3D renders of what would occur if Pixar ever attempted a movie based on World of Warcraft.  The game’s visuals are uniquely bright, with the ruins of mankind including vibrant and colourful surroundings that still manage to not look like they’re trying to ape the gameboy’s colour palette (sorry Call of Duty fans).

Gameplay-wise, Darksiders is a refreshing breath of old-school air.  Linear treks through throngs of demon foes give way to expansive dungeons that pay such homage to the post N64 Zelda games that I’m sure Nintendo are drafting up a lawsuit as you read this article.  Dungeons feel like a massive puzzle, and each room that is solved provides a new piece, whether it is a map or a key that will lead further into its depths.  Fallen foes provide War a steady currency of souls to barter with the demon merchant Vulgrim for new weapons, stupefying combo attacks, and special items that serve a purpose for every situation Darksiders can throw at a gamer.  Every dungeon conceals a key item that will be used to solve puzzles, combat hostiles, and 100% of the time, overcome that dungeon’s megalithic end level boss.  It’s just as the comparisons have decreed, Zelda meets God of War, and all the better for it.  Though thankfully Vigil saw fit to put aside quicktime events in favour of one button fatalities on sufficiently weakened enemies, allowing us gamers to savour the brutal animations whenever War completely annihilates somebody.  And they are satisfying (War < Sub-Zero).

Mark, man, you play a mean guitar! It's really a shame that you must die!

Darksiders is the best comic book to come out of the mid 90s Image gold rush, only instead of a comic, we get it as a game filled with colourful characters, and a story of a journey across a decimated empire.  Yes it’s cheesy (for god’s sake the name of his sword is Chaoseater, and feeds on exactly that), and so is the voice acting by veterans like Mark Hamill, Liam O’Brian, and the deliciously menacing Vernon Wells (the only voice actor to have gone toe to toe with both Mel Gibson AND Arnold Schwarzenegger in big time action movies), buts it’s harmlessly trite.  Fans of stuff like Dungeons and Dragons or Krull will devour Darksiders, lick the plate and hungrily reheat the game for another playthrough.

The culmination of two hours of dungeoneering.

Rebuttal Witness:
I only have two complaints with Darksiders, and they’re such minor little gripes that it shouldn’t even affect its score.  No I’m not talking about the occasional screen tearing that larger review sits love to harp about (grow up you sissies).  The difficulty level is in flux.  The Easy and Normal modes are far too forgiving, letting gamers basically get through the game with their eyes closed and their hands held.  The aptly named Apocalyptic difficulty on the other hand is a soul crushing dive that nearly approaches the depths of fare like Ghost N’Goblins or Demon’s Souls.  If it featured a little more memorization, and less exculpating save points, Darksiders’ third difficulty level would be the stuff of legend.  The game’s own developers have asked gamers to play on this challenging mode to appreciate the nuances of the combat.  What they fail to mention is that on Apocalyptic, even the lowliest of foes can sap a good chunk of War’s life bar with a single hit.  It’s no real problem, and I relish playing on these difficulty settings anyway (stems from years of NES games), but some gamers may find the difficulty curve a little on the steep side.  As well, I’ve heard gamers put off by Darksiders’ lack of any multiplayer options.  To these gripes I pose a question.  Which would you prefer more?  A single player game that tacks on an underdeveloped, ill-advised multiplayer mode; or a fabulously developed single player game that needs no multiplayer?

Where Stridex fails, the Chaoseater shall not.

Closing Statement:
Darksiders is unadulterated radical.  It’s perfect for you…you should buy it.  Had it been released a couple of week’s earlier it would have made it onto my top five games of 2009; easily.  If this quality level becomes a regular occurrence for Vigil Games, the once tiny developer has a very bright future ahead of them.  Probably as bright as their debut title’s colour palette.

The Verdict:

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (PS3 version reviewed)
Developer: Vigil Games
Publisher: THQ
Release Date: January 5th, 2010
Rated: M (17+) for Mature.