Darksiders III vision shared by series' former creative director

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.