Darksiders II Review
Game Emblems
The Good
Darksiders II merges action, exploration, and loot-driven progression into an excellent and sizable adventure.
Where the original Darksiders' puzzles could drag, Darksiders II's are more expertly crafted, each one a little more difficult than the last--but never too difficult as to be frustrating. The learning curve is silky smooth, and once you reach the final dungeons, there are some outstanding moments when puzzling out a solution makes you feel remarkably smart. It's a tough tightrope for a developer to balance: making environmental puzzles feel challenging without becoming a roadblock to progression. Darksiders II's dungeons get it just right, giving you enough hints through camera angles and other subtle cues, and then trusting you to work out the solution. The only cue you can't rely on too heavily is your crow, Dust, who is supposed to point out your final destination should you get stuck, but might lead you astray, or flutter high above you and then teleport back.
Fortunately, you won't often need Dust's services, given each dungeon's natural progression. Nor will you need to worry about using a spinning blade to play connect-the-bombs, which was part of Darksiders' less appealing puzzles. You also needn't constantly fiddle with menus to switch between items and abilities, which is just as well, considering the sluggish menu performance. Given the sheer breadth of abilities, you still do a bit of controller micromanagement; you might need to switch between an ability and your revolver often in a particular level, for instance, though the related ability wheel is easily accessed with the D-pad. Nevertheless, managing your abilities and equipment is smoother than it was in the original.
Combat skills are divided into two trees and allow for powerful offensive moves (a vicious spin attack, for instance) or for summoning creatures to assist in battle (a murder of crows, perhaps). The action is largely satisfying: it's smooth and responsive under the fingers and is colorful and bloody onscreen. Death's primary scythes make for fluid combat, while his secondary weapon provides rhythmic diversity. That weapon might be a huge axe that sets wraiths on fire, or superfast gauntlets with an electric charge. Your grapple and your gun can also be valuable assets when certain foes join the fray, and battles are at their best when you confront multiple creatures with diverse attack patterns.
That isn't to say that Darksiders II's combat is all that challenging on normal difficulty, though it is more energetic than in the original. No longer can you whittle down a demon's health and perform a single-button finishing move almost every time. You can still perform such finishers, but they are far less common, though some equipment can raise your chances. Provided you have enough health potions (and there's no reason you shouldn't, given your easy wealth), you won't often feel in danger. Even certain bosses can be conquered in a single go, in contrast with Darksiders' more challenging endeavors. That's a particularly disappointing development when you reach the final monstrosity and realize it's an anticlimactic pushover.
The challenge is hit-and-miss, but the thrills are unmistakable. Easy as many are, the bosses are often enormous in scale, and some require the use of your special abilities--your grapple, for instance--to succeed. With only a couple of exceptions, Darksiders II doesn't use quick-time events to elicit excitement: the torrents of blood that spew across the screen are the direct result of your combos and volcanic fury. The biggest battles are pure power fantasy, reinforced by Death's ever-more-threatening armor and ever-more-potent weapons. Even the way Death opens doors and chests is part of this power trip, with the horseman summoning ghostly arms to perform such lowly labors.
If you want to further beat your chest and bellow, you can do so in the crucible, where you earn new equipment--or sacrifice it for the possibility of better loot--by taking on progressively stronger waves of baddies. Alas, you won't feel so powerful when coming head-to-head with Darksiders II's uncommon (but pace-breaking) execution foibles. Sluggish menus and occasional loading hitches aren't major issues, but annoying ones. Ditto for some invisible walls and unhelpful camera angles during platforming sequences. More important are the system crashes possible--though not inevitable--while playing the Xbox 360 version.
Don't let the scattered execution snafus be of great concern: Darksiders II is remarkably well put together, particularly in light of its impressive scope. Bigger doesn't mean better, of course, but this isn't a "more of the same, just bigger" kind of sequel. The game uses its expansive geography to cultivate a poetic tempo in which your intellectual triumphs are rewarded with the immediate pleasures of fleet-footed platforming and demonic brutality. In Darksiders II, Death is not an end, but rather, a portal to a memorable saga of snarling brutes and stolen souls.
By
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor
Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.
156 comments
The bosses in the first dark siders were incredibly easy aswell once you figured out how to beat them.
1 Like Kevin hit this review spot on (unlike IGN's review). Great minds think alike. Yes I realize I'm late to the game in posting :)
This game is amazing got it for free. Points2shop is amazing the reason why being cause it ships fast and well really amazing. I just bought cod black ops 2 hardened edition for free with my points . And it normally cost about 90 dollars great deal huh? Thee best if y'all don't believe check my referral link and join. Check my stats.
3 Like As TomJimJack says this is a very pale shadow of Prince of Persia that didn't have so many points of this one.
There are impossible bosses ( for me, and of course most people ). I fight against the Phareesian and I only see whites zeros without doing any harm to the boss. I can't pass from here! I advise all the people " don't buy this game because you only will profit half of the game".
2 Like @Jomapil Odd. I fought this boss with no issues (Apocalyptic mode). I think at that point you should contact their customer service and ask for a little bit of guidance...no games are perfect! Even Diablo had an enemy that you couldn't kill once lol (poor example..that game was riddled with issues LOL). Probably an issue that can be fixed...but you can't condemn a game developers put a lot of time and love into because one of a zillion possible issues (in any game) pops up! I truly believe many people will love this game and comments like this will deter that experience! I hope this helps. :)
2 Like The review is fair. Given how the enemies have different attacks and get right in your face in apocalyptic mode...the bosses kind of just fit a very solidified, and structured way of attacking you...doesn't take advantage of the fact that death is extremely agile. But the game as a whole is great!
What would be a great game became a frustration! There are enemies in exaggeration. Some of the bosses are impossible to beat even with codes. It could be an honorable follow-up of Prince of Persia but the makers of the game failed.
I hope that if there is a continuation they must be reasonable and well-balanced. It only remains to run the trainer and cry the money I spent with it.
@Jomapil I agree! This is not Darksiders but only a shadow remaining from Prince of Persia.
The names of the two other riders are adaptados.Recuerden this title draws on the Book of Revelation, the book is not si.El game seems best left to the epic title Darksiders fecha.El first was very good, but the second installment is far greater than anterior.Ami humble opinion along behind Gears of War are the best titulos.Juego the Xbox version 360.El character of Death is Magnifico.Y remember, all without exception some day we will all see their face
1 Like @ardientemetal Chido your review, but creo que alot of gueyes are not going to entender what you escribiste. I had fun thou:)
Ja ja ja!! I write in Spanish .excuse me for my English.I hope this is understood.The names of the other two riders were adapted to make them more enjoyable.Darksiders 1 and 2 are based on the book of Revelation the Holy Bible, not the book itself. Darksiders 2 is the best epic title of the year 2012.The first was very good, but Darksiders 2 is much better. Together with Gears of War are the best titles for Xbox 360.Death is the great character ,And remember, everyone, without exception, one day we will see your face@trrrrrrrr
All I want to know before I spend anymore time at all with this game...The pistol you get , it says its from his brother "strife"....ok , do the correct this anytime later with a proper name for the other 2 horsemen? I hope that is just one of his names or something...because if they can't get the names right for Famine and Pestilence , I really have no interest at all in spending any more time with the game...The 4 horsemen are War , Famine , Pestilence and Death...
2 Like Darksiders 1 is way better,the whole new rpg element ruined this game anyone who likes darksiders 2 better than the first one is a big fan rpgs
@a_eazaz i agree, darksiders 1 was an hack n slash fun with lil rpg elements to spare..Darsiders 2 felt like skyrim in 3 person view period with a darker character that actually have fighting motion elements.....Point is Darksiders 2 is an rpg game....not an Action rpg game
4 Like @justin4444 Saying that the final boss is disappointing is not a spoiler for any reasonable person.
About 14 hours of gameplay so far, gotta admit I'm enjoying it! But of course nothing is perfect, I think those "puzzles" were more than challenging, more like a nuisance as most of them so far don't actually resort to logic, but to imagine how the dev wanted it to be solved, plus the level design don't have a flow, sometimes you have to stop and look all over the place to find that ledge that has the same color of the scenario to go up/down, and I don't mean it should be easier, but for an action/adventure game to have (untill now) 14 hours of game and only about 2 of combat is kinda frustrating. As I'm on the PC version I also noticed the lack of options to customize the graphics, the game is perfectly fluid and the graphics are beautiful, but I have no idea if that's it's capabilities or because my monitor is smaller the specs are locked. I think so far I would give the game an 8.0
1 Like THQ forgot to send their check I see...I know Kevin severely underrates and overrates some games, but he's just being abusive now. I liked the way he described games in his reviews at first, but it's clear that's this guy isn't even a gamer, or at least he wasn't before it became a thing he could get a job to do. I'd bet he's a journalism major who stopped playing games in junior high.
This comment has been deleted
@Gelugon_baat I forgot to mention intent. I usually say this, but in case you missed it, I look for honest in reviews so I can base what they say about the game against what I know of games, perhaps the developers (or parties involved) and make an educated purchase. Some games are cheap enough to experiment, but other game reviews should be so honest because others may base their review on what you say about the game, which although modified by opinion IS A RECOMMENDATION TO PURCHASE OR NOT TO PURCHASE. Game reviews are not just plain opinion, I repeat they are recommendations for a purchase. That's why game scores matter to publishers. That's how they are used and that's what they stand for.
If I was to go on Kevin's reviews, I'd look for it he genuinely likes the game. If he does he will review it accurately. If it's not genuine, but he can't review it poorly it's overrated. If he doesn't like it, but it's actually good, and he is allowed to, he'll underrate it. He may also underrate games he actually hasn't given a chance he wouldn't like it if fully indulged in.
@Gelugon_baat ""Truth" is not "truth" if there is no empiric evidence. Opinions are not yardsticks for truth. "
Wrong. When speaking of things like opinion, truth in opinion doesn't require empirical evidence, just personal authenticity, which obviously can't be verified. That's why it's so important to not get caught in lies for these people.
I'm glad there are more sources of information, but one source that is verifiably honest is good enough. After all, EGM and Gamepro didn't just have one reviewer. They had several just like the sites of today, but it WAS enough. You could pretty much know what you're getting, except to the occasional hidden gem I mentioned that gets looked over or not reviewed. Of course I had my favorite reviewers because those were the guys you could trust to point out a good game, never had I purchased a bad game thinking it would be good back then if it was reviewed. EVER. If it was E.G.M gold or platinum, it WAS good. That meant four reviewers agreed. Sometimes we would get angry a really good game didn't get gold or platinum, but that could be because one reviewer didn't like it at all while the other 3 did. No matter, you just sided with the reviewers you could trust with like tastes. Like I said, good games could be overlooked, maybe even because so many other good games were out, but never would you be mislead like so many current game reviews that make it difficult to find what opinions are true and false.
And whatever you're talking about game reviews not influencing purchases is just silly. What you mean is it doesn't have the final say or it isn't the ONLY effect. Huge corporations like CBS wouldn't bother if it didn't bring in huge money from publishers who KNOW it has an effect.
@Gelugon_baat We just had to know what was good because we only got maybe a rental a week and 2-3 game purchases a year. We were screwed if it was just going to sit on the shelf. For a while, there wasn't any method of getting rid of games except if we found someone who wanted to trade.
@Gelugon_baat If you're so okay with them being authentic and you're absolutely sure they're not corrupt, good for you. I'll continue to speculate and conjecture wherever I detect dishonesty. Honesty of course it in the matter of truth, so no, it's not subjective. Where you get confused is where I say I demand honesty in opinion. If I call a girl ugly when I in fact think she is gorgeous, that of course is a lie, but she wouldn't know it. I'm telling her what I want her to hear or the nearby audience to think I think. That's where I'd start the chain. If honesty doesn't matter to her or the people who heard the "opinion" no further evidence would be sought.
I'm guessing you're on some existentialist flavor, where you think EVERYTHING is subjective. Kid, these guys are working. This is a job. What they do are recommendations to purchase or not to purchase. If you don't have the facts AND the honest opinion of the judges, we might as well go back to the days prior to Nintendo Power and before Gamepro and EGM and just buy any crappy game that had good box art and decent screenshots.
You know what people used to do when they got bad games before selling to pawn shops was widespread? They would trade to friends. Then when Blockbuster and the supermarkets started to rent games, people would swap the stickers on the bad games they had with the good games they rented. Alot of the time they wouldn't even be found out. Blockbuster was always good about that though, but Phar-mor was basically a crap shoot when we went to go rent games. Now Gamestop shelves are littered with copies of games with inaccurate reviews that cause an excessive amount of purchases.
Believe it or not, EGM and Gamepro saved people ALOT of money and wasted time. Of course we also started to realize the 6.0-7.0 range games weren't always terrible and often worth rentals or on Toys-R-Us price reductions and much later used, just not worth full sticker price.
@Gelugon_baat I think your mistake is thinking I demand anything of them except them be themselves. You can't force somebody to be "consistent." Meaning that don't have to like all Final Fantasy games or RPGs just because they like another. Dishonesty usually results in irrationality. Such as liking Borderlands, but not liking Rage or Bulletstorm (unless it's explained that a boring game with co-op is better than superior games that lack co-op).
Regardless of what you think of human nature, we are fairly predictable and consistent. Only when new things arise that we don't have opinions formed for yet, do you tend to see wild mixed reactions. Bulletstorm for instance is one of the funniest games ever made, but yet because it's a shooter and under the Epic Games label, it was labeled as a stupid immature dudebro game by some, while others praised it's originality and humor. That's completely understandable.
The things I disagree with, like I said, you obviously don't care about.
@Gelugon_baat @Kryptonbornson Some Editors don't play the games all the way through..too many games...too much time...but it seems that in some reviews...they barely play the game...and don't mention alot of features in the game...like..id play a game..sometimes be curious what Editors say..and I'd feel like.."did they even play the game that long" hmmm
@Gelugon_baat And I'm not partial towards EGM or Gamepro now either. I just used to be, like 20 years ago.
@Gelugon_baat Of course it's nostalgia for the days when I could trust a purchase recommendation. No one who's ever read a movie review or game review thinks it's just an opinion. They just want an honest opinion, even if they disagree. I often agreed with Siskel and Ebert for instance, but when they disagreed, guess who I would believe? Whichever one was CONSISTENT with liking that type of movie if I liked that kind of movie. They were so consistent that you could tell you would like a movie that one of them didn't like. This whole corruption thing throws a monkey wrench in all that.
@Gelugon_baat There weren't so many games back then, but we knew the reviewers actually played them.
@Gelugon_baat You can only review something in retrospect if you've actually played it. Humans learn AND form opinions in retrospect. I don't know if you were around in the old days of the EGM and Gamepro reviews, but we always knew the reviews were honest. It was Gamepro I could first remember using their Pictograph scale to punish games they thought sucked or were missing features. I don't have an old issue of Gamepro handy, but I used to keep boxes of them. More than I had comics. They aren't disimilar to how IGN will punish games by saying the replay value and graphics aren't that good when they are. EGM had a long reputation of integrity, even attempting to push companies like EA to make Madden better, not yearly roster upgrades. Not just rolling over for money.
@Gelugon_baat I don't think you disagree with me anyway. Just look at the amount of people that agree or disagree 6 months after launch. It doesn't matter what I or you think, the people determine what is good. I may not get Borderlands or any MMO, but people play them for a reason. Just like I got hooked on Facebook games for a time that other gamers hate. I understand why someone could like something I think is boring. I've played Borderlands with people who obviously looked like they were having fun. I'd point those same people to L4D and various other post-apocalyptic games, but to each their own. Everything has a hook. Once the hype dies down however, you'll start to see more honesty resurface. Although some people still like Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, and Hunger Games, you'll see a HUGE portion or reader reviews and comments from people starting to admit in their opinion it sucks, whereas at launch varied opinions are scarce.
You're attempting to say I only want reviews to agree with me, which for the last time I'm saying is inaccurate. If you can't tell honesty and sincerity in opinion that's a problem that's not mine. You don't care anyway.
@Gelugon_baat No, I'm looking for if they are honest. I can tell the difference between if it's the same thing that was given a different impression and if it was a manufactured response. I'm looking for sincerity. If I can tell they are sincere, I don't mind if I disagree. I only speak out on the clearly sham reviews. I Am Alive, slight plug, I liked slightly better than the review, but I don't think the review is dishonest. I wouldn't have knocked them if they trashed it for all the wrong reasons. A review like IGN gave it is clearly a lie. Problem with that kind of thing is that the lie/opinion influences others.
@Kryptonbornson 8.5(great) score and lot of good stuff is abusive? What the hell? I found the review to be pretty good, I just can't think why you think he's being abusive
@Steba93 Look at this compared to other overrated and underratred games. For instance, look at Kevin's review for the Sims 3. That's one of the usual ones I fall back too.
@nikos35gr Ya its about 25 if you just run through it but 50 if you do all the side quests and stuff.
Just wondering if the Spectrum 48k version will have improved graphics? really hope so!
3 Like I'm glad to hear this game turned out so well, even though I probably won't end up playing it. And by the way, Kevin, your writing is also very fluid and evocative. One of the better reads among review writers on the site.
@franzito If you've not picked yourself up a copy yet then go for it. I played the first through to begin with then grabbed my version of DS2, so far I'm loving it, although I will say it's quite different from the first. Personally I like the RPG element, I know some are put off by it but it makes a nice change for the series and the fact that this title is a great deal longer feels like getting rewards in spades! Here's hoping that we get another 2 games in the series that continue to improve with such leaps! Awesome!!
Conversation powered by Livefyre
Darksiders II Navigation
