Darksiders 2 Review

• Developer: Vigil Games
• Publisher: THQ
• Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Microsoft windows
• Release Date: 14th August 2012

Plot

After learning that his brother War has been blamed for starting the apocalypse early, Death sets out to clear his name and possibly bring back mankind from extinction.

From East To West

As anybody who played the original Darksiders knows it was heavily influenced by Zelda, however, this time around Vigil Games have taken much more influence from western RPG’s. The biggest influence in my mind being Diablo as you’ll find it hard to miss all the loot littering the battlefield just waiting to be hoovered up and checked over to see if it improves on what you have. Main weapons, Secondary weapons, armour pieces and accessories can all be swapped and changed till you find a mix you like. Exp is now gained from combat and once you’ve levelled up you earn a skill point to be placed into 1 of 2 skill trees. One based round melee powers and one based around magic attacks. I personally stuck everything into magic and ended up being able to summon flaming zombie who helped to restore my MP and a flock of crows which helped to restore my HP with each……….peck.

It becomes pandemonium on the battlefield at times but the game handles it all well. Combat overall is much faster paced this time round with a very Bloodborne feel to it in the fact that blocking is pretty much omitted in favour of a quick dodge roll/side step. This in my case lead to hit and run style tactics. Summon my zombies and crows to deal initial damage and disperse any crowds and then jump in with a few quick fire combos. It all helps to keep combat fresh and engaging. Add in plenty of big boss fights and a wave based combat arena and you won’t want for action.

Presentation is also of a high standard, the graphical really helps Jo Mads comic book styling really stand out with characters who’d put Marcus and the Gears crew to shame in the thick tree trunk neck stakes. Death however is much leaner than his brother War, which means much faster movement and quicker, faster paced platforming sections. The voice work is of a good standard with the stand out being Michael Wincott as Death. Best known for playing Top Dollar in The Crow, here he portrays Death with just the right level of sarcasm, wit and seriousness the game needs. Not being afraid to poke a little fun at the fact he’s always asked to run favours for others. With a voice as gravelly as his, it’s a shame he doesn’t voice more titles.

So, how long will your brush with Death last? My playthrough (Inc the 3 added dlc campaigns), took approx 25 hours. I know I’d left a few ‘find X’ amount of Y quests incomplete mainly because they don’t really do it for me but I felt it was all good value for money and the game is cheap as chips nowadays too.

Overall a much more epic feeling adventure with fast exciting combat and plenty of side quests to keep you going.

9/10