Joe Madureira says Vigil Games was contemplating Darksiders III four-player co-op and considering Xbox One and PlayStation 4 tech.
The creative director of Darksiders and Darksiders II has spoken about now-defunct developer Vigil Games' vision for Darksiders III.
In an interview with IGN, Vigil Games co-founder and comic artist Joe Madureira said that the studio planned to create a four-player co-op adventure, allowing the entire quartet of Darksiders' Horsemen to be playable. "It's possible we could have pulled it off," he said, adding that he "would have liked to introduce Fury and Strife. I know many fans feel robbed that they never got to play the last two Horsemen."
Madureira also spoke of how the series would have progressed past 2012's Darksiders II. "Story-wise, we tossed around the idea of the Horsemen attacking hell to challenge Lucifer," he said, "and then taking the battle to the Charred Council to regain their freedom. Epic stuff."
"There was also an idea to do a crazy Western-type story, where the Horsemen are mortals after the rebirth of mankind, sort of an alternate future," added Madureira.
"Neither idea got very far," he admitted.
Madureira added that the extra processing power of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 would have benefited the vision of four-player co-op in the series. "The biggest limiter for us was always scope, time, and money," said Madureira.
"I do think that it would be very difficult [on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3] to have four players running around simultaneously and maintain the level of graphic quality we achieved. So [Darksiders III], had we introduced co-op, would have benefited from the power of the next generation of consoles."
GameSpot awarded Darksiders II an 8.5 in its review, saying the game "merges action, exploration, and loot-driven progression into an excellent and sizable adventure."
Nordic Games purchased the Darksiders IP in April, along with the rights to multiple other ex-THQ titles, including Red Faction and MX vs. ATV, for $4.9 million. No buyer was found for Vigil Games during THQ's dissolution.
Martin Gaston has absolutely never at all had the song from Beauty and the Beast sung to him at any point during his life, ever.
@Al_Capwn Probably yes, Nordic forums has a forum where you can tell them what you would like to have in DS3. Now they have said the series is not dead, but not when to expect it. If you drop millions on a IP, and confirm there will be another game, yeah probably sometime in the next couple years we will.
Darksiders franchise was amazing, still upset that vigil is gone :( such an immersive game.
1 Like "The biggest limiter for us was always scope, time, and money," said Madureira. AKA, the biggest limiter was always EVERYTHING.
1 Like A sequel where you get to play multiple horsemen in the single player campaign would have been better than co-op.
1 Like that would have been a bad idea for a 3rd . the next game should have feature either strife or fury. i would have like to play as strife and see how his combat would have been and see how the character moved n acted. then in a 4th play as fury. that why the games of 1 n 2 were good we played as diff horsemen n saw the difference in their combat and personality so changing that in the 3rd is robbing us of how strife n fury by not letting us play as them separately and on their own. letting us get use to their combat as well. wait till the 5th game at least then maybe put in the 4 player co-op
I would've loved to see that game... I'm a lil sad Platinum Games didn't end up with the property.
1 Like C'mon guys a four player Darksiders game would have been epic if it was pulled of well. Perhaps a Borderlands for Hack/Slash. I mean, Darksiders 2 already introduced Borderland-ish loot system. This is why Joe Mad emphasized next-gen hardware. Maybe the next gen hardware could pull of 4 player games that don't look like B movies. That would be truly next -Gen.
2 Like A four-player co-op version of Darksiders would have been terrible imho. Just stop and think about it for a while. Everything that made Darksiders what it is would have been compromised just to accommodate multi-player features. Not a very smart idea.....
@kishona The combat would still be fun, they could still do the big bosses, the story could still tie in, and if you mean the puzzles... Portal 2 has shown us co-op puzzle games can be a great thing.
Then again, they could just do co-op arenas, or a seperate campaign where you can use your leveled up character in a co-op setting. I think the idea has great potential... Companies need to take more risks.
I would love to see a four player co-op campaign if it's well put together. In fact I would love to see the return of four player local co-op, multiplayer is great but some of my best memories are huddled around a TV with my mates playing Goldeneye.
THANK GOD we wont see a 4 player co-op hack and slash game whats next Darksiders 3 the puzzle adventure ?
1 Like @handsome2222tx aunreal, what's that? I know what Unreal Engine is but not aunreal
11 Like I LOVE this series and would LOVE to see it continue!! I'm not sure about the whole co-op thing they were talking about though! It doesn't sound interesting to me and I think it would have been a distraction. These aren't "party" games! I just want an INCREDIBLE single player game I can sit and enjoy!
5 Like @Bluemeanie77 I would like it if it was optional and if the co-op was also local co-op.... miss local co-op so much..
1 Like If we do see another I hope it goes back to what made the first one stand out. The second took the train to Blandville, first stop Diablotown.
3 Like I really do hope we can see the series continue. While Darksiders was solid, Darksiders II was a really enjoyable game.
2 Like I enjoyed the first two games, I certainly don't want co-op if a third game ever did get made.
1 Like Lets be real here. It's a good thing that Darksiders went to a new company. Darksiders II was sh*t compared to the original. It was obvious they were going the wrong direction so its better they just sold it.
6 Like @_Perfectionist Are you for real? Both of them were great. The first one was the brute strength and strong spirit of War. The second one is the versatility and speed of Death, in a seemingly hopeless campaign to avenge his brother. They went incredibly well together. I actually prefer the second one. I was really looking forward to knowing how they would incorporate the story of the two other horsemen. It's a shame they didn't get enough sales. As much as I love PC gaming, they shouldn't have released it on PC. That's what killed the franchise.
1 Like @Keaze_ @_Perfectionist You know, I stopped playing Darksiders 2 after a while, I haven't finished still. I finished the original twice, while both games seemed very generic to me, I loved the art style and characters presented in each one. I didn't like Death as a character, his face, something didn't quite work for me there and I can't put my finger on it. Still Based on some comments here I am going to try and go back and finish the second. I just wish their "open-world" was a bit more filled and interesting, though the looting was awesome. I just hope I could end the game with a full plate type thing. I see them as Knights, which is a problem, they are actually riders which gives them more design choices and freedom, I can see I am a little unfair to the game based on my obsession for all things full plate (the mask item made a whole lot of difference in the original for me - go figure). Thanks for the posts guys.
1 Like I could see 2 more sequels folloeing the hotsemen, but a co op button mashing wannabe rpg doesn't sound good. Darksiders is just mediocre anyways. Amular was a better game.
@da_chub Ahem, "Amalur". I don't know, I mean I certainly enjoyed Amalur more than I did DS2, I spent more time with it. But those tree people really annoyed me, summer-court guys. What an odd choice to start the game, it is by far the more original race in the game, but the good guys are soooo boring the way they have to re-live important moments of their history on a never ending loop, but I admit the philosophy behind it is interesting. Combat was great on both games, but I felt DS2 to be a little more challenging there.
Too many people are reading as if this is an upcoming game. Darksiders is dead for the time being. There is no new game being made.
Damn I'm bummed. I would have loved to play as 2 of the horsemen of the Apocalypse and 2 other guys I've never heard of before. Fury and Strife? WTF??
@Dirk_McHardpeck Their names/titles can be found on the internet for a while now. Their is a poster-like picture of the four horse-men (made by the original team as they pitched the project I believe), one of them is a girl and I believe her color was green, I can't remember which was her name (Fury or Strife, I will guess she was Fury). I know the last one, the other guy was pretty bad-ass.
Co-op's so overrated. I don't think it would've worked anyway. They'd have to have seriously neutered their powers. Four Horsemen in the same fight? They're the Horsemen of the Apocalypse! Surely four in the same place would be like setting off four atomic bombs at the same location.
Personally I'd feel robbed that I wouldn't get to play as Famine and Conquest. Fury and Strike? How Hollywood.
The 'western' rebirth sounds pretty cool though. Must. Play. Undead. Nightmare.
2 Like It should have been 4 games, one for each Horseman and then a fifth game with 4 player co-op. This way we get all 4 Horseman in a singular story and we can get a feel for how they play.
1 Like Well, I know I am not going to play any games that Nordic Games pushes out with the DS label on it. Any publisher/developer who purchases rights to a franchise -always- places their "vision" of what the franchise should have been all along and it ends up as crap.
1 Like I'm not too enthusiastic about it being co-op...I would prefer single player like it was until now.
@Grenadeh @Cryptic_Shadow ah indeed. i must have read it too fast. I totally missed that. cheers man.
New report says production on long-in-development shooter shifted to Arkane Austin with new release window of late 2016.
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
[UPDATE] Source says team of 100 developers working on upcoming MMO reduced by 70; game now expected in 2016 at the earliest; Blizzard confirms "large design and technology changes." Full Story
Developers from Gearbox, Epic Games, and Blizzard challenge assertion that games cause violence; "It's like finding your dad's Playboys under the bed and blaming Playboy." Full Story
Source says Microsoft currently testing Siri-like feature for next-gen platform and mode that allows friends to take over gameplay. Full Story
Mediajuice Studios' documentary on games gets $60,000 in funding in under two weeks; stretch goals revealed. Full Story
CEO Yves Guillemot says new console cycle will be watershed moment for the industry; next-gen console installed base could double previous generation. Full Story
Sony CEO asserts the PlayStation 4 as primarily a gaming console, but adds that more non-game functionality will be revealed in time. Full Story
CEO Strauss Zelnick says "I'd like to do zombies in everything." Full Story
DICE teases 'surprises' for E3
Battlefield developer says in addition to Battlefield 4, studio has a "couple of surprises" to show next week in Los Angeles.
