Hack N Slash games are a great way to get out agression. Darksiders is like a session with Dr. Drew, on steroids.
The game's main character is War the first of the four horsemen. It's his job to incite the final battle between the three kingdoms when the time comes. Too bad he got started early. Stripped of his powers and branded a traitor the player has to traverse a horrific and well developed world and seek the answers as to who framed War.
Obviously a game like Darksiders is not the first of it's genre. However this is not a negative. Vigil did the right thing and observed the game mechanics of previous beat em ups. Thus giving you the brutal battle system the game has to offer. You can be cruel and crush an enemy's head with your bare-hands or sadistic and pulverize them with a twenty hit power combo. To top it off there are some pretty impressive finishing moves that, at first sight will leave you cringing. Of course there is insane amounts of blood you can squeeze, twist, and slice out of your victims.
The game's world is huge and and unique. No two areas are alike, making each new level an experience all it's own. The game has it's own style: not too dark, not too cartoony. Sometimes you will be left speechless at how well the developers destroyed the world. You'll be even more impressed by how well they integrated the environment into the gameplay. War will have to slide down wires, jump ledge to ledge, hang from broken rafters, and fall down giant craters just so the player can explore the world as much as possible. Also the environment is filled with mind boggling puzzle that will challenge the player on the intellectual level.
The game has a wide variety of characters. There is the Hero of few words War, the annoying comedian Watcher, the shady salesmen Vulgrim, and the rest of outrageous and cool enemies built into the game. As players progress they will face a new type of enemy in each level, and they will make it difficult for them. To handle the games tough foes war has a great arsenal of weapons, powers, and upgrades the player can purchase from Vulgrim at the cost of souls.
Overall this game is very fun and does have some replay value on the harder difficulty. The voice acting has quite the cast and the cut-scenes add much depth to the intriguing storyline. Many may call this a God of War knock off, however they are grossly mistaken. Darksiders is a game of it's own and should definitely be considered for Action/adventure fans, or those of Mark Hamil.