Darksiders is Vigil Games first video game developed for this gens consoles, THQ acquired the studio back in 2006 which is co-owned by comic book artist Joe Madureira. When you play Darksiders it’s difficult to establish exactly what you’re playing, is it God of War, Zelda, Devil May Cry or Dark Sector. Darksiders is definitely influenced by these video games and unquestionably playing it close with plagiarism.

It’s not to say that Vigil Games have done anything wrong, for example look at the FPS market its crowded with shooters virtually the same. Everyone copies ideas from somewhere; if this wasn’t the case then the whole FPS market would be suing one another.

Despite being a compilation of games from many genres, Vigil Games have pulled off a pretty decent hack n slash game. The story might not be so inquisitive or compelling and the awkward but unresponsive controls can be frustrating at times.

Players fill the boots of War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse who raised the alarm of Armageddon on false pretences and is now responsible for breaking out an all out war between heaven and hell.

As punishment War is stripped of his most valuable powers. After learning that he’s been set up, under the attentive eye of the watcher you’re sent back to earth by the charred council, to clear your name for prematurely triggering Armageddon or die trying.

The weapons at your disposal are all cool and resourceful for chaining multiple weapon combos, with specific ones being followed up by upgrades. You can even use the environment as your weapon, with most of the objects in War’s surroundings being interactive.

Even though there are upgrades you can never help but feel that the combat is a bit sluggish and repetitive. On the other hand it all comes down to personal preference; whether you’re a buttons masher or a combo slaying executioner.

No matter where you go in Darksiders Apocalyptic world you can’t help but meet a familiar face with the same execution animation. Variety is something of a misfit when it comes to enemies, changing the colour of the enemy’s textures is a poor excuse for variety of enemies Vigil Games.

Majority of the puzzles in the game involve you solving them with an unlockable item i.e. boomerang blade. It’s not too long before you feel the sense of deja vu though but none the less there a pleasure to solve.

Seeing as Vigil Games have retrieved gameplay mechanics from the vault of our favourite games, you would think Darksiders is a phenomenon of a game. Well truth be told it’s great but not without it’s flaws.

It was great when the gameplay mechanics implemented in the game were fresh, but to see them recycled makes playing Darksiders a task rather than an enjoyable experience. With the exception of originality you are rewarded with a lengthy campaign, explored in Joe Madureira distinctive large world. 

7/10