Death Is Eternal...

Posted 3 months ago By kingquagmire - David Collins

Death. The Pale Rider. The Reaper of Souls. Arguably the most famous, and most omnipotent, of the Four Horseman. No matter what belief system you look at, Death is always present. He is the end. The final destination. Everything that lives must eventually die, and the one who dons Death’s mask will be there waiting to reap the soul of the recently deceased. And after seeing Vigil Games’ interpertation of the mythical figure at a recent Darksiders II press event in San Francisco, this is one guy you don’t want to meet in a dark alley...

Things begin with a trailer, introducing us to the main protagionist in Darksiders II (which you can see here). Then, after a small history lesson on the dark spirit from Dane Munro - a ‘Death’ expert brought in to bring us press folk up to speed (yeah, imgine what HIS business cards look like) - the gameplay demo began. First, a little stage setting. Those that played the first game will remember that the apocalypse began by a false calling, summoning War (of the Four Horseman) with the breaking of the seventh sign, something that didn’t actually happen. After the intro level, 100 years passed by, and War returned to Earth to unravel the mystery, clear his name, and exact his revenge in a desolate landscape, now devoid of life. The sequel actually takes place during that 100 year apocalypse, which ultimately destroyed mankind, and eschews the earthly realm in lieu of an adventure that takes place in the Four Horseman’s home turf. Death learns of his brother’s imprisionment by the Charred Councel, and sets out on his own to vindicate him.

Darksiders II is, to borrow the phrase, an evelutionary step for the franchise. If you thought the first game was big, you haven’t seen nothing yet. Stretching out to a targeted 20+ hours, the journey will now feature full-sized side quests in addition to the main storyline, something new to the franchise. We aren’t just talking length here either, as in Darksiders II, size DOES matter. To put things into perspective, in terms of landscape, the entire original Darksiders can fit into a single side quest dungeon. And worry not Darksiders fans, the brain-teasing puzzles return in full force, with each heavily laden with new ways to tickle your cranial meat. To say Vigil’s ambitions for Darksiders II are big would be a serious understatement as even the bosses have embiggened, with the mini-bosses (yes, DSII has mini-bosses) falling in at roughly the size of the bosses from the first game, an the true bosses in DSII now much (read: MUCH) bigger. However, this did lead to one concern. Personally, I found the first game to be a bit TOO long, as it seemed like the rewards didn’t justify the hoops we had to keep jumping through. It was never a simple matter of venturing from point A to point B to kill Bad Guy X. There was always a ton of other ducks to line up BEFORE we could take out said baddie, and typically what we received in return just made it seem more of a hassle than anything else. Quickly my fears were put to rest, not only vocally by the team on hand, but by some of the other changes made for this outing...

Changes such as the pleathora of customizability Darksiders II will bring with it. First up is multiple armor sets, with varying abilities that will compliment different playstyles. Are you more of a spell caster? There’s a set for that. Wait, what? Spell casting? Yes, Darksiders II has spell casting, such as summoning zombies or a swarm of bats. Or maybe you are more of a melee kind of person, dishing out swift justice with your gigantic hammer o’ doom. There’s a set that will boost your melee as well. Which ever way you play, there’s something that will give you some added benefit. Additionally, there’s loot drops now, so players will get instant rewards for their hard fought battles. This, on top of the returning, but much more robust, skill tree, brings the game more in-line with the Action RPG genre.

Speaking of combat, this is where the most noticable change comes in to play. If War was the tank, the lumbering behemoth that squared off with his foes mano-a-mano in barroom brawl style combat, then Death is the viscious Cirque Du Soliel performer. There’s certainly a big Prince of Persia influence going on here, as Death is exquisitly graceful as he administers his final judgement. From swift attacts with his dual-wielded scyths or Freddy Kreuger-esq claws to the way he nimbly leaps out of range as his demonic enemies attempt to knock his block off, you would swear he is part feline. The PoP overtones aren’t limited to just combat either, as he will wall-walk his way through vast caverns and make much larger leaps than his brother ever could. Vigil has taken full advantage of this new-found freedom, making his acrobatics play just as heavy a roll in the puzzle solving as utilizing his various toys.

My anticipation level for Darksiders II was already at an all-time high as we entered 2012. But after seeing the game in action, that desire intensified even more. What was shown to us still held the core spirit of what made the first Darksiders so enjoyable, yet expanded and improved, setting it on a track to superceed its predecessor in every way. From the combat to the characters to the puzzle design to just the sheer volume, Darksiders II looks to be everything one would want from a proper sequel. Summer 2012? Yeah, it can’t get here quick enough!

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