We’re not quite sure what sort of ‘polish’ went into the so-called delays of Darksiders II but either way the game is fun and exciting to play. Here’s the skinny – Darksiders II is heavy on climbing and parkour with some action and fighting dropped in from time to time wrapped around puzzle solving.
Death as a protagonist is witty, sly and agile – made us forget all about whoever was in the first game. The combat is STRONG – a good crossover between Kratos in God of War and Dante from the Devil May Cry series. Like most good games there’s plenty of upgrades and tweaking of your weapons and armor to make the experience rewarding.
Horseback riding is exceptionally fun and ‘air juggling’ baddies while riding can have its own rewards. The story and NPC characters have great voice acting and design – a well crafted game overall.
Unfortunately Darksiders II does have its fair share of baggage. Something very frustrating was getting into the inventory – especially the map. Game designers – let’s start with the basics – a hot key for the map and an inventory system that is clear as day to navigate. Another big challenge was mastering the ‘auto camera’ – you’ll fall off many cliffs while trying. When stationary you can freely move the camera but it has a mind of its own when Death is in motion.
A couple other things we would have liked to have seen more polished – a color scheme and little dots on the map showing you where the bad guys are. The world of Darksiders II lacks a vibrate color palette especially in the interiors and not being able to tell where bad guys are takes away much in the way of combat strategy.
Overall a fun ride – especially during the ‘summer drought’ – worth checking out, indeed. Darksiders II is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. Gameplay provided by Robert Welkner on the Xbox 360.