| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.10 |
| Overall | 9.10 |
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If you pay attention to posts I make about how to improve a game, or to talk about your perfect game you will undoubtedly see me say something like "make it more like Zelda". When I think about how to make a game like God of War better my first thought is to make it more like Zelda. No one attempts Zelda like games, I don't know if its too difficult or there is no market for them, I am starved for more games like them. That is why each Zelda game is such a huge event, I wait years for a game like it. Well some random dev I never heard of decided to make a GoW game mixed with Zelda, yes! But many times random devs fail at such a big undertaking like this but Vigil games did the absolute best they could and made one of my favorite action games of the generation. Darksiders is an action/adventure that has plenty of combat but its always mixed with exploration and puzzle solving. When its in action mode its an average action game. You don't have the large move lists you do in the best action games. Your character War does get three different melee weapons but outside puzzle uses, they don't really play a role in strategic combat. The enemy AI isn't terrible, they provide a decent challenge and there are many different types of enemies to battle. The best fights are the ones where using an item is part of the strategy to taking enemies down, like Zelda. Enemies take too much damage to defeat, it leads to the punching bag effect. A game like DMC can pull that off cause there is a complex scoring system to go with the action, this game has nothing like that so fights are too long and repetitive at times. The action is average, it is way ahead of Zelda but nowhere in the same category of a GoW. The meat of Darksiders are the dungeons and overworld. The overworld feels more like a linear experience. You always have one path to go and these paths are usually filled with scripted battles and cool moments. The areas are bigger than the usual linear action game so it allows basic exploration. Items will be out of reach until you find that new item later in the game giving the player some reason to return to old areas. Don't expect a Zelda like world though, there are no towns, no mini games to play, no real NPCs to talk to. The overworld is more action game but it this feeling of unpredictability that so many action games lack. For instance in one area you hop on a flying beast and all of a sudden its a shooter. Later in the game you acquire your horse in a huge desert area which is unlike any other area of the game. There is loads of variety in the areas you visit and what you do in them. As any Zelda fan knows the best part of any Zelda game (except Majora's Mask which is the awesome exception)are the dungeons. Darksiders is no different, the game is at its absolute best when you are exploring the dungeons. Vigil games decided to stick closely to the Zelda dungeon formula and it pays off. I have never played a 3D game that has dungeons this good that isn't a Zelda game. There is one dungeon in particular that is so good, it would rank as one of the better dungeons of any Zelda game. Each dungeon has a new item which is used to solve the dungeons puzzles and of course fight the boss. At first you find a Darksider's equivalent to all classic Zelda items but the final item is basically the gun from Portal which is one of the best items ever (Zelda take note). The puzzles are great, which surprised me cause that is the area where so many games attempting Zelda fail at. The God of War DNA still flows through the game during dungeons so you get interesting scripted moments like a boss crashing through a wall unexpectedly or epic combat moments in between puzzles. The balance between puzzle and combat seemed off though, combat takes too long at times and can get repetitive. There were times where I got upset that I reached another combat room when I much rather have a puzzle. The final dungeon, as fantastic as it is, got repetitive toward the end. I wish they would have cut out the final section, it was unnecessary. I felt bad for Vigil Games during my playthrough cause I can see that they wanted to make such an epic game but had a poor budget. The game is not a looker, character models look like high end Xbox models. There is fantastic art design, some areas are beautiful from an artistic perspective which is why I felt so bad, this game would rival the God of War's if it had the same budget. The story is decent for an action game. Again the cool art design leads to some interesting characters and a world you want to learn more about. Having Mark Hamill in the cast always helps, all voice actors do a commendable job. The story is a tad heavy for its own good, way too many attempted twists at the end bog it down but it ends on a great note. The music is fine but not memorable. For an action game it has an excellent game length, it will take 15-20 hours to finish and longer to find all items. It does not have that replay value that the best action games do, once you beat it you basically saw everything you need to see. Darksiders is such a pleasant surprise and shows me that talented developers can make high quality games even if they don't have the resources of the bigger devs. Yes Darksiders is a game that is Frankenstein like, it has pieces of many games but no game has ever attempted this kind of mix of gameplay elements. It is one of the best "Zelda clones" ever made and it did scratch that itch I get to play a game like this. Zelda fans play it, non Zelda fans try it anyway you maybe surprised. |
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Posted by Dvader Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:16:45
Recently Spotted:
travo (6s)
I wanted to play this game to see if my problem with Zelda was the type of game or Nintendo's Zelda pastiche.
This game proved it's the type of game that is the problem with me.
But I did not play it long enough to do it justice, just as I have not played any Zelda (other than the first DS one) long enough to make a fair judgment.
From the little I did play of Darksiders I was impressed with every other aspect of it.
My only problem now is, I'm like a child in this game, wandering around. I'm 10 hours in and loving it. Then I open a FAQ to see where I'm at in the game and I'm like on level 8 of something like 47 levels!
Thing is I know I'm not popular in my view, but I really don't like Zelda much, have not finished one of them, I just lose interest. This though I plowed through it with reckless abandon. I thought was 9 or 9.5.I don't see the comparison with Zelda maybe it's just me.