DARKSIDERS II (X360)
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Publisher: THQ.
Developer: Vigil Games. Released: August 2012. Genre: Hack 'n' Slash; Adventure. Other versions: PS3; PC: WIIU. Posted 6th November 2012. By Shane Battams © 2012 |
The original Darksiders was a fun, explosive take on the apocalypse. Starring War, one of the four horsemen, the game used a lot of mechanics from games such as Zelda, God of War and even Portal to meld an experience which, while derivative, was a fun experience. A couple of years on, and we get Darksiders II. As players step into the boots of Death, there’s certainly more meat on the bones this time around, but the sluggish pacing, disappointingly sterile story and other flaws drag the experience down.
Darksiders II takes place parallel to events of the original game. As War is imprisoned by the Charred Council for alleged crimes, Death goes against orders given to him and decides to try and free his brother. After a confrontation with a supposed Keeper of Secrets, the Keeper’s soul amulet imbeds itself into Death and he is dragged into a portal. This takes him to the Forge Lands, and here he must find a Tree of Life which can restore humanity and clear his brother of the charges against him. You’d think a plot whereby Death saves his brother from imprisonment would have a sense of urgency, but D2’s story rarely feels this way. Plodding would be the nicest way of describing it, with too many characters diverting you from the main crisis at hand, asking for favours in exchange for helping you towards the overall goal.
Plodding would also accurately describe D2’s pacing: much of the game feels slow and uninteresting. There’s certainly plenty to do – the main quest will take you a good 14 hours or so, the side missions could bump that up to around 20 and a New Game+ also adds to the replay value, but the game can become a chore pretty quickly. A lot of the objectives contribute to this, as a three-of-everything model is applied to most missions, such as three different ghouls to bring back to a king in three different dungeons. These quests feel menial, almost as if Death becomes an errand boy. To get something in D2, you have to work for it, and it feels like a grind. Side missions feel the same with most being fetch quests aside from a couple of dungeon-focused missions and boss-hunting objectives.
Death chooses the strangest drinking partners
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When it comes to serial-killing, apparently it pays to be organised
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And it’s a shame too, because D2 has solid, if unremarkable, mechanics. There’s certainly plenty
of space to roam around in, with four huge realms to explore for side quests
and collectibles such as special stones which increase health among other stats.
Each level contains Zelda-style
dungeons as well as larger expanses around these sub-levels. Some are required
for missions, while other dungeons can be explored at your leisure. And
travelling isn’t too taxing, despite the lack of a sprint feature, thanks to
the ability to fast-travel between key areas and ride on horseback in the
larger planes of the game. It can be fun to just take a wander around each area
and search out for hidden goodies, which sadly is usually more enjoyable than
the main quest.
Most of the puzzle and combat mechanics of the previous game return here. Fighting reprises the original’s lock-on system, where the screen reduces to a letterbox format. The system mostly works, though tight corners can cause proverbial headaches with the camera. Death comes equipped with a scythe, a secondary weapon and armour for all body parts. These are ranked using a colour system, a la Borderlands. You can also find Possessed equipment, whereby you essentially feed it unwanted equipment to level the item up and gain new benefits such as improved health, defence and critical damage. You can chain combos using both weapons, and there are also guns, whether it’s the permanently-acquired Redemption pistol or a couple of weapons you can use on a specific level later in the game.
Puzzles and platforming make up the rest of the experience. The mental challenges D2 throws at you aren’t overly original, but they can be clever nonetheless. These usually revolve around specific abilities Death gains. These include Soul Splitter, where Death splits into two souls and these can be used simultaneously to, for example, push two switches. The Voidwalker also returns, essentially ripping off Portal by letting you create pathways between specific rings and later, for one specific level, letting you jump back into the past. The platforming, on the other hand, is a bit clumsy. The better moments are when you use the Deathgrip, for example, to grapple over lava or climb up a taller structure, but the platforming can be unresponsive. You’ll either find yourself dying because the jump doesn’t work, or falling because Death doesn’t grip onto the nearby object. It also feels dated that Death can only grab certain ledges which are highlighted.
Most of the puzzle and combat mechanics of the previous game return here. Fighting reprises the original’s lock-on system, where the screen reduces to a letterbox format. The system mostly works, though tight corners can cause proverbial headaches with the camera. Death comes equipped with a scythe, a secondary weapon and armour for all body parts. These are ranked using a colour system, a la Borderlands. You can also find Possessed equipment, whereby you essentially feed it unwanted equipment to level the item up and gain new benefits such as improved health, defence and critical damage. You can chain combos using both weapons, and there are also guns, whether it’s the permanently-acquired Redemption pistol or a couple of weapons you can use on a specific level later in the game.
Puzzles and platforming make up the rest of the experience. The mental challenges D2 throws at you aren’t overly original, but they can be clever nonetheless. These usually revolve around specific abilities Death gains. These include Soul Splitter, where Death splits into two souls and these can be used simultaneously to, for example, push two switches. The Voidwalker also returns, essentially ripping off Portal by letting you create pathways between specific rings and later, for one specific level, letting you jump back into the past. The platforming, on the other hand, is a bit clumsy. The better moments are when you use the Deathgrip, for example, to grapple over lava or climb up a taller structure, but the platforming can be unresponsive. You’ll either find yourself dying because the jump doesn’t work, or falling because Death doesn’t grip onto the nearby object. It also feels dated that Death can only grab certain ledges which are highlighted.
Death's chances of winning Strictly fall when he sees his new dance partner
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"Call me Prince of Persia one more time, and I swear..."
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The audiovisual presentation in D2 is solid if flawed. Once again the cut-scenes stand out, with
great choreography in the action-heavy scenes, even if those are a rarity in
this sequel. The visuals are at least artistically pleasant, with well-realised
character designs and environments, but everything feels a touch dated.
Textures look rough up close, especially during cut-scenes, lip-synching can be
off when talking to NPCs outside of cinematic cutscenes and the frame rate can
take some nasty nosedives during intense encounters. There’s good voicework for
most characters bar Death himself, who sounds wooden more often than not. The music
is fitting, but can become repetitive when you come unstuck during puzzles, and
the sound effects are unspectacular.
So while Darksiders II may have some bang for your buck in terms of content, it is questionable whether you’ll actually enjoy slogging through it. It’s a shame too, because there’s some tight mechanics underneath layers of monotony and boredom, but it’s too derivative to make the experience wholly recommendable. Maybe if the pacing had been tighter, the story more interesting and the shoddy platforming ironed out, Darksiders II could have been a prominent contender. As it stands, it’s only recommendable to those who are content with a time-sink.
So while Darksiders II may have some bang for your buck in terms of content, it is questionable whether you’ll actually enjoy slogging through it. It’s a shame too, because there’s some tight mechanics underneath layers of monotony and boredom, but it’s too derivative to make the experience wholly recommendable. Maybe if the pacing had been tighter, the story more interesting and the shoddy platforming ironed out, Darksiders II could have been a prominent contender. As it stands, it’s only recommendable to those who are content with a time-sink.
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VERDICT
Visual: 7/10
Audio: 7/10 Gameplay: 6/10 Longevity: 8/10 OVERALL: 6/10 |