Darksiders II Review

The latest instalment in the Darksiders series is finally here! But its not War who you'll be smashing skulls with, this time Death takes the reins and with a huge world to explore, filled with what seems like an endless amount of tasks to complete, you’re in for one hell of a ride!

Story 
Darksiders 2’s narrative carries on from the end of the first game. One of the four horsemen, War is accused of bringing forth the apocalypse and in turn the extinction of the human race. At the start of Darksiders 2, War is imprisoned and it’s up to the most notorious of the four horsemen to prove his innocence. In order to free his brother, Death must bring humanity back from extinction, a simple enough task for or so you’d think. If you were thinking of completing Darksiders II quickly you’d best think again! With other characters such as the Crow father and the lord of the dead all with their own agendas and no interest in helping Death redeem his brother, you really aren't in for an easy ride.

Death looking badass... as usual.

Though the cast of Darksiders aren't all bad! Theres plenty of nice and helpful characters who respect Death as well! The game and story are extremely well paced and an abundance of side quests will ensure that you won’t run out of things to do for a long time either. Along your journey you’ll meet many different characters of many different races. Whether they are angels or makers or the dead themselves, they all know who you are and they all want your help. The characters are very unique and change with each world that you visit. For example the makers seem docile and friendly whereas the occupants of the kingdom of the dead take a harsher tone with the horseman.    

Gameplay 
In comparison to the first Darksiders, the game has taken more of an RPG approach and in this case it’s definitely for the best. The player is able to collect or buy new weapons and armour to customize Death how they see fit. A fresh addition to the well-known loot system that has been seen in many games is possessed weapons. These are weapons that allow you to upgrade them by sacrificing other loot. These come in the form of new scythes, huge hammers and a massive spear. They also take on the stats of the items that you sacrifice to them, meaning you can make those lightning imbued scythes you’ve been longing for.

With Death being a lot more agile than his brother War, the gameplay is a lot quicker and precise. Though this comes at a price, War had a lot strength behind that huge sword compared to his scythe wielding brother. Enemies are more varied and provide more of a challenge than in the first game. They also scale with your character to make sure that they always keep you on your toes, meaning you'll need to employ all of the horseman's techniques to triumph. Death's skills from the large skill tree are also very different to War's. Death's skill tree is split into Harbinger and Necromancer skills. Harbinger skills are more based around using the scythe and the rest of the horseman's arsenal, whereas Necromancer are more like passive skills that keep you safe during the battle. An example of a Necromancer skill is the "murder" skill. This summons a murder of Crows who attack enemies, later upgrades allow the crows to take health from your enemies and give it to the horseman instead. Extremely useful when fighting powerful foes.

A great cast of characters.

The game also features a lot of huge worlds to traverse. How would a horseman get across such large planes? On a horse of course! Horse gameplay is quite fun but is primarily for going from one location to another. Combat on horseback is often a tad useless against most enemies. It’s not uncommon to find yourself circling back and forth just to slash at an enemy a few times. In most instances you’ll find it a lot easier to just jump off your horse and smash enemies to pieces that way. Along with the large open world there are also many dungeons to explore throughout the different realms. Each dungeon has a similar look and feel about it and usually follows the same format. You advance through the dungeon using the game's platforming elements and then fight enemies in between. You'd think this would become repetitive but it really doesn't. Each area has new enemies to fight which keeps the action fresh. There are also dungeons which require abilities you collect later in the game, meaning you have to come back to collect those all important collectables.

Graphics 
The visuals in Darksiders 2 are an improvement on the first in the series. They have the same graphic style but this time it seems to have been further polished. Graphical problems occur much less than in the original Darksiders. Each world also has a unique style of its own. The kingdom of the dead follows a very dark and grey style whereas the kingdom of angels has a very bright, autumn-like pallet to accompany the grand structures; the angels have built for themselves. Whilst playing through the game I have only encountered a few graphical hitches, each time only small problems, such as textures loading a little too slow. But overall the game is pleasing to the eye and sticks to the style that Darksiders pulls off so well.

Awesome and large environments.

Darksiders 2 has a great soundtrack. The music can make even the smallest battle seem epic at times and the sound effects further enhance the experience. The sound of swinging scythes is especially satisfying as you decimate with Death’s most infamous weapon. Combat and Foley sounds are great and the music accompanying each of the different worlds fits perfectly. Darksiders voice acting is also spot on. The voices of the characters fit perfectly with their looks and personalities. The quick, dry wit vocals of Death also provide some laughs throughout the game.

Final Verdict 
Darksiders 2 is a solid new entry in the Darksiders series and will really set the bar for the games yet to come. With tight controls, awesome sound, great graphics and a well-paced story, Darksiders 2 will keep you entertained for months to come. I think it’s safe to say after playing this game, we’ll all have a new favourite horseman.

Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10

Final We Know Gamers Score: 9/10
Had a chance to play the game? Tell us what you thought in the comments section below!

Darksiders II Review
Reviewed by Citizen Cyanide
on Sept 26 2012

Rating: 9/10