Edwin Starr (and later Bruce Springsteen) postulated that war was good for absolutely nothing. Dear reader, nothing could be further from the truth. Though it's certainly not what they had in mind when they belted out the seminal lyrics, Horseman of the Apocalypse, War, is perfectly suited for smashing up open-world environments and groups of shambling skeletons. We recently had a chance to pick up the sword, strap on the armour, and take him for a spin as we hacked and slashed our way through a work-in-progress build of upcoming third-person action title Darksiders on the Xbox 360.

Set in our universe a century or more after giant meteors begin to rain from the sky, wiping out humanity in one fell swoop, you play War, Horseman of the Apocalypse and scapegoat in an elaborate conspiracy. Slapped on the wrist by the apocalyptic counsel, you're sent back to the now crumbling earth with the goal of uncovering the truth behind the early start to the big show. You're bound to a spiritual parole officer who follows you around on a short leash, occasionally barking orders and keeping you on the right path. It felt a little out of place given War's role in the end of the world, but THQ is drawing direct lines between the game and the Zelda series, so think of him as a more irritable version of Navi.

Darksiders is the ultimate showdown between angels and demons. Things are about to get burny.

Normally War is a powerful character, but under the guise of punishment you're sent back in a weakened state, relying on your broadsword to get the brunt of the work done. Along the way you'll locate and power up your skills, gaining more than you can use at any given time and allowing you to pause the game and swap out the most appropriate skills (which are powered by War's rage) on the fly as the situation dictates. The bulk of the play is done with a series of button taps using a mixture of light and heavy attacks with the X and Y buttons. The A button allows you to jump (and later glide by holding after pressing), while B performs melee attacks and will grab onto enemies within reach. Special attacks are tied to face button presses while holding the left bumper brings up an on-screen radial menu where we saw spikes fire out of the earth, impaling nearby foes. If you're fond of the Devil May Cry and God of War games you'll feel at home very quickly, as the similarities with jumping puzzles, movable objects, wall hanging, and orb collection to power up will all seem nice and familiar.

Our playtime focused on two levels, the first was called Seraphim Hotel and was set early in the game as you land on earth. It essentially serves as a glorified tutorial level, but you'll quickly get to grips with the combat and environmental interaction like throwing tables and climbing up mossy walls. Like DMC and GoW, killing monsters and destroying environmental objects will unleash three types of coloured Souldust, Darksiders' game currency for skill upgrades, unlocking new areas, and replenishing your health. Once we'd waded through packs of the undead in an underground carpark we squared off with a new enemy type called the Doomfist Hulk. Introductions of new enemy types are presented in quite a cinematic way, zooming in and then returning to gameplay seamlessly. Holding the left trigger removes all HUD elements and drops the camera angle slightly, making it less isometric and bringing it tighter and lower to War's character model. By using this view it will allow you to deal more damage and help string together combos which in turn will unleash more orbs, rewarding you for your efforts. Defeating the Doomfist Hulk with a series of attacks and a final quicktime event we headed outside into the open-world of Darksiders. Outside showcased long draw distances, far off crumbling buildings, and burning rubble where a mighty city once stood.

It was here that we met Vulgrin the Soul Eater, a helpful ethereal chap who offered to sell us information for the princely sum of 400 Souldust. Killing a grunt enemy rewards only one or two dust, so we were concerned we'd need to grind endlessly to progress. Luckily, a little exploration revealed chests filled with dust. While scampering around looking for dust to feed our new friend we turned down a narrow alleyway and ran face-first into another Doomfist Hulk and his posse of undead. Defeating a new enemy type unlocks them and then adds them to the roster of killables you'll come across in your travels. With enough dust collected we headed back to the Soul Eater's glowing ground portal. He greeted us warmly and rewarded us with a magical horn, good for one use and used to wake a giant stone Gollum blocking our path to the next zone. The end of the level culminated in a showdown with the Phantom Guard, a hulking demon holding court in a giant blood and brimstone amphitheatre. Biblical figure Samuel shows up, and it's here we find out higher powers are at work, suggesting the battle is straight out of Revelations; an epic showdown between demons and angels.


Just because Vulgrin is helping you doesn't mean he's on your side.

The second zone we saw was Twilight Cathedral, an area we've covered in past previews of the game. A little further ahead in the story the core gameplay doesn't change up much, but new abilities including ranged attacks are added. There's plenty of backtracking, but locating a hidden power-up will help light the path you've already taken. We saw environmental puzzles tossed into the mix, like wall-climbing, pushing objects to access high platforms, and using bombs to explode tentacle plants were fairly obvious, so you shouldn't be wandering around in the dark looking for your next objective.

The game is already looking very polished, and Joe '"Mad" Madureira's artwork is clearly evident and gives the game a great look. Indoor areas have a gothic dungeon feel about them (with a dash of lava for kicks), while outdoor spaces are expansive and incredibly detailed. War's animations appeared fluid and natural, and while the build we saw only had a limited number of cinematic finisher moves, we've been assured there are plenty more on the way. We're eagerly awaiting our next chance to give the game a spin ahead of its Q4 2009 ship date on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Keep an eye out for updated coverage from this year's E3 show.