| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | 8.80 |
| Overall | 8.80 |
|
Darksiders 2 is the sequel to one of the biggest surprise hits of this gen. A gem of a game that dared to take on the Zelda formula and it succeeded. I had high expectations for the sequel and it lived up to some yet failed in others delivering a game I can't say is better than the original. That said it is still a bold, giant action adventure game with many great ideas. The most noticeable difference from the first game to the second is the structure of the game. The original followed a Zelda like structure with almost GoW like scripted action segments in between the dungeons. The sequel begins with a large open area where Death can explore at will. The land is filled with dungeons, most of which are required parts the story others totally optional. There are also quests given by some NPCs requiring Death to find X amount of whatever throughout the game world. I loved simply looking through each nook and cranny, hoping to find one more item, piece of loot, or even a new dungeon. The large open maps are mostly empty and serve as gateways to the many dungeons. What shocked me the most about this game is that it is almost all dungeons, all the scripted moments from the first game are removed letting the player simply go at his own pace. This can be good for some, it can get a bit tiring for others. If you don't care for labyrinthine Zelda like dungeons there is practically nothing for you in this game. It is literally dungeon after dungeon after dungeon. That sounds like gaming heaven to me except for the fact that the dungeons are not all equal. Some are short, simple, with no dungeon item or even a boss fight. Other are major dungeons which have a new item used to solve many puzzles and battle the dungeon boss. Without the breaks in between the dungeons, all of them start to blur together even though they do an excellent job of not repeating ideas or puzzles. This falls into a pacing issue, it is ok to have big scripted moments as long as the exploration remains. Thankfully the exploration for most of the game is fantastic, there is nothing better than discovering a full optional dungeon that has many high level enemies. Death moves around these dungeons just like a certain prince from Persia. It's extremely blatant, this game has PoP platforming but without any of the complex platforming segments. Most of the time you are running along walls and jumping to and from grapple points without any true hazards in your path. It all feels great to control but more could have been done to make the platforming a part of challenge rather than simply a way to get around. Combat in Darksiders 2 received a total overhaul becoming much quicker and now dependent on loot. Darksiders 2 is part loot game with most treasure chests and enemies dropping all sorts of weapons and armor. These items level up with your character so as you get stronger the loot you find gets stronger. Better loot has stat buffs built in like increase in defense or strength. Weapons come in two flavors, your scythes and a secondary weapon which can be a quick glove like weapon or a giant hammer. Combos flow between using the two weapons, its simple combos never reaching the complexity of a DMC but matching GoW. The fast paced combat is reinforced by having no block, you may only dodge. Death has all sorts of magical abilities which you may choose to use and level up by distributing skill points. The combat system is extremely flexible allowing the player to switch out from a more melee based style to an area attack magic based one by simply rearranging your skill points. I enjoyed playing as both; the combat is one of this games biggest strengths but it has one fatal flaw, the loot system. Here you have this great loot system where it is a huge thrill to get a super powered weapon which will allow you to battle that high leveled optional boss. This works well up until the point where the loot begins to almost break the game. You will begin to find weapons that absorb health on each hit turning you into a self regenerating monster. Certain combinations of magic and the right stat buffs make you almost unstoppable not based on your mastery of the combat system but simply because of what you have found. You may say just don't use the over powered weapons. Yeah you can do that but then you have to deal with another major issue of the combat system, the camera. In battles with large crowds the camera simply cannot handle keeping everyone in view. You will get blindsided or worse, accidentally dodge INTO attacks when you wanted to get away from them. This creates wild difficulty swings where you can be cruising along defeating enemies without much of a fuss and all of a sudden hit a brick wall cause of a certain large mix of enemies. When battling one large enemy the combat is always manageable and working as intended, this includes most all boss battles, which are very good by the way. When battling a crowd, prepare to throw that controller. Another controller throwing ensuing aspect of Darksiders 2 are the constant freezes and glitches. I have never had a game freeze on me this much outside of a Bethesda game. I have had sound magically vanish. I have had climbable walls glitch. I have seen a level simply not load leaving a cyber world of nothingness. It never ruined my game, I could always progress after a reset but it was damn annoying. Despite all these issues I could not help but love this game, it puts so many action adventure games to shame in terms of level design. Coming off of a game like Skyrim where "dungeons" are simple linear paths with puzzles made for three year olds, this game was a huge contrast giving me what I crave out of my games, that perfect balance of action and puzzles. Some of the late game items you get are phenomenal like the return of the portal gun. I wanted way more time with them cause the puzzles started to hit another level of complexity. Sadly the last "half" of this game is very linear with almost no optional dungeons and little to explore. You can see the point where the devs said "lets wrap this game up!", the contrast from the first two worlds to the last two is huge. What results is that the very best items you get are used in only the last three dungeons or so, not the 10 previous ones that littered the first two worlds. At least those dungeons are great, so damn great, Zelda great honestly. There is a two hour segment in this game where it becomes a linear pseudo third person shooter. This is by far the worst part of the game, hell it doesn't even feel like the same game. When I say I want some scripted moments to break up the dungeon crawling I mean good scripted moments, not this crap. Its only two hours in an over 30 hour game, not the end of the world but an area you will remember just cause of how it stands out as a black stain in an otherwise great game. Graphically Darksiders 2 continues with the comic book like style brought by that artist dude. It looks great especially since this game is far more vibrant with colors like green and blue, not the browns and grays of the original. The music deserves mention as it fits the theme perfectly. You hear a bit of Dark Knight and Legacy of Kain in there, it fits and it is memorable. The story in Darksiders 2 is far more laid back than the original. Almost all conversations serve only to push you to your next task, "find three of this". The original has a far more involving story, those looking to see improvement in that aspect should lower all expectations. There is some nice bonus content after you finish the game including new game + and the crucible, a 100 level enemy gauntlet. The combat truly shines in the crucible as not even your crazy powered loot will be enough to get by. Expect to put in over 40 hours into this game which is way longer than most any action adventure games. Darksiders 2 felt like a game with a lot of buts. I love the new combat system BUT the camera messes it up. The loot system is extremely well done BUT it can totally upset the difficulty balance. I love all the dungeon crawling BUT it needed something more to break it up. I love the large open worlds you get to explore BUT they are lacking in content. There are many issues with this game BUT despite all that I loved the grand majority of my time with the game. |
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Posted by Dvader Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:06:08
Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:28:21
Great review Vader spot on. I'm loving the game BUT it has some sour moments. I'm about 1/2 through. I love graphics and looting, not fond of the back tracking. Still some of the most fun I have had in a while. Its very good game, not sure I would label it a classic but close. Perfect score by you.
Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:18:14
I've actually postponed playing the game until after they've released the patches, so I'll be able to agree or disagree with you in a few weeks time!
Sat, 01 Sep 2012 00:51:25
It is Buggy but not unplayable, I really am enjoying it and I'm glad I bought which I don't say often. I love the art style.
Sat, 01 Sep 2012 03:00:35
Trust me, I've played it a bit and even though I encountered a few bugs here and there, I still enjoyed it very much. The patch has already been submitted to both Microsoft and Sony so it's not like I'll be putting it on indefinite hold; I can wait a week or two to have a more stable experience. I have quite a bit of other things to play in the meantime anyway!
Sat, 01 Sep 2012 05:53:26
Butt fuck.
Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:49:41
Why, Yes! Thanks!
Sun, 02 Sep 2012 11:53:09
Think I will skip this.
Fri, 07 Sep 2012 22:04:42
An 8.8 eh. Hmm, are you still bitter about Twilight Princess? 
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