In the epic struggle of good versus evil in Darksiders youre caught in the middle. It seems like a fairly simple and already-done storyline until you find out the protagonist is War; as in the Horseman. The game opens as earth becomes a battlefield for the final confrontation of Heaven and Hell. War falls to earth to maintain the balance for the Charred Council, but finds that the seventh seal had not been broken. After being mysteriously weakened during a battle with a massive demon, War is killed and brought before his masters, where he is charged with beginning the end of the world. He strikes a deal to bring the real instigator to justice or die (again) trying. And that is just the introduction.

The story is definitely the highlight of Darksiders. As War, the player spends that game investigating the cause of his summons in a quest of vengeance. At first, it seems pretty straightforward and the Destroyer is responsible. However, as the game progresses the story starts to twist and turn, and every time War may have it figured out it turns again. If the ending had ended two minutes earlier than it did, it would have left a feeling of satisfaction, closure and accomplishment. However, it instead ends it on a note of thrill and anticipation when **SPOILER ALERT** War is asked if he would fight against everyone alone. He responds that he would not be alone as three streaks of color fall through the sky. **END SPOILER** Unlike some other games, Darksiders is able to set up a sequel without leaving the player unfulfilled from the game he just finished.

At its core, Darksiders is a scaled back hack-n-slash with puzzle solving and collection. These are the three major aspects of the game. When the game begins War has been stripped of his powers, so the player collects power-ups, weapons and combos throughout the game until the Horseman is returned to his former glory.

Combat is a fairly simple affair. You begin the game with only War’s sword as a primary weapon. The combos are nothing more than pressing X different numbers of times in a row, holding X down or doing either of these while jumping. Once you obtain the Scythe and Tremor Gauntlet secondary weapons you can add them into the mix, which use Y instead of X. A number of ranged items can be used in combat as well. Here’s a tip: use dash (RB) a lot; it helps. The biggest plus to Darksiders’s combat is the camera. Whether you are locked on or not the camera does an excellent job of staying in the best position (stationary not locked on and behind War while locked on) for the combat. About the only time the camera gets obstructed occurs when a finishing move (pressing B when an enemy is low on health) is performed near a wall and normally has a sweeping camera. Once a finishing move finishes, the view snaps back to a proper position.

In addition to regular sword-swinging combat, there are two other notable ways of killing things. First is the Chaos Form. As damage is dealt to enemies, a red meter fills next to the health bar. Once it is full the player can press LB+RT to transform War into a hulking demon for a short time. While in this form War deals significantly more damage and takes no discernable damage. This makes some of the larger enemies and sub-bosses much easier to deal with, especially if one finds oneself low on health and without an item to replenish it. The second special combat is on horseback. Obviously War has a horse, being one of the Four Horsemen and all. This, however, is probably the most underutilized aspects of the game. While War can deal extra damage with his sword while mounted, there are really only 3 spots in the game that requires the horse and one area that is made easier to traverse. Other than that it becomes very easy to forget that the horse is even available for use. Even though it makes combat quicker and easier, most of the time it is more fun to fight everyone on foot. In a game that does almost everything right the ball was definitely dropped in this regard.

The second major element of the game is puzzle-solving. To progress through the game, the player must solve mostly platform puzzles to move from area to are and room to room. In a game with combat as a focal point Vigil does an excellent job of keeping puzzle from bogging the player down. In no instance is it a question of what to do, but rather how to do it. It is always readily apparent of what needs to be done to get from point A to point B and is only a matter of figuring out what order to move things and use various items.

Collection is the final piece of gameplay. There are a number of things to collect during the game: weapon and health upgrades, artifacts for currency, and chests. Most items are easy to collect since they are either right in front of or easily reached by the player. More importantly, collecting prevents backtracking from being a dull chore. There are 11 major areas in the game and many more connecting tunnels to traverse. When new items are gained, new parts of these areas can be accessed and new stuff can be collected. True, the game has a fast travel system, but backtracking also allows the player to level up his weapons. The collectables are just one more incentive to do so.

Technically the Darksiders is fairly smooth. The menus are uncluttered and easy navigate. Players can quickly remap hotkeys and equip different power-ups to the weapons. Also, the maps are clear and easy to read once the multi-level overlays are understood (which takes one, maybe two viewings). The controls have a few issues. The simple combo system often works against itself. When many moves use the same buttons with slight variation it can lead to many curses about the character not doing or doing things the player told him to do or not do. The hotkeys are smooth for the most part. The secondary weapons use the d-pad. This is a very common trait, so most gamers will have no problem. The items and powers use RB plus A, B, X and Y. This can cause problems in the middle of combat, because the player loses both half his movement and the ability to attack for the short time it takes to activate a power or item. In some of the more crowded fights, that can mean the difference between taking a lot of damage or finishing combat unscathed. And while the LB+RT combination for activating the Chaos Form is uncomfortable, it does not have that problem because the player immediately starts to decimate the enemies.

When it comes to graphics Darksiders definitely has its own style. You may not be able to tell from the screenshots but once you see this game in motion it is quite spectacular. Draw distances are long, enemy design is fantastic and shows off the amazing style of Joe Madureira. Also, this is one game that is not afraid to use color. Each area uses color to add style and a sense of each area being unique. It never gets old to look at. Also, the boss's should get special mention. Not only are they gigantic in scope but they are mostly a blast to fight. Each requires a bit of "Zleda" esque tactics where each boss fight has a specific "twist" to it and that is how you succeed. Overall the game will not blow you away with photo-realism because that simply isn't what it is trying to do. it has its own unique style and it looks fantastic, bottom line.

VALUE:

For the money, Darksiders gives you a fairly lengthy campaign clocking in at between 10-20 hours depending on how much time you spend leveling up your weapons, exploring the game world, etc. It is also a great game to go through a second time on a harder difficulty since throughout Darksiders you will be trying to find rare pieces of a certain armor set. When you restart the game you can play with these very nice armor pieces which definitely adds some replay value here. Overall a great buy even at full price.

SUMMARY: In conclusion, it is easy to compare Darksiders to God of War, Zelda or even Portal and say it stole from those games, but it just utilizes feature that these and other successful games have had for years. Just because it came later does not mean Darksiders should be lessened in any way.

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