Darksiders 2

Running a bit late on this review and I apologize, but there is a reason for this. Darksiders 2 is a BIG game. Most sources say its about 20 hours, but it's not quite that long. Factor in personal commitments (you know, work and stuff), and that leaves me with less time than I'd like to get into a game of this size. BUT, all that said, I have completed it, and I can safely say I'm ready for this review.

STORY
If you played the first Darksiders, you should be ready to pick up and play Darksiders 2. If not, here's what you need to know. As the forces of heaven and hell collide on earth, War (the horseman of the apocalypse), rides in to fulfil his responsibilities. However, the last of the Apocalyptic Seals was not broken, and the Horseman's interference is blamed for causing the end war too soon. The events of Darksiders take place roughly 100 years after the accidental apocalypse, after War has been held captive by the Charred Council (keepers of order in the universe).

Now, while this has been happening, what of the other 3 horsemen? As War strove to prove his innocence, his brother, Death, went about clearing War's name another way.
To exonerate his fellow horseman, Death seeks a way to restore humanity to the balance, thus reversing one of the most noticeable effects of the End War (humanity's extinction).

As epic as the story sounds, it seems to take a while to gain traction. While Death's goal remains the same over the duration, it barely get's mentioned after the first few conversations. Despite all his efforts aiding in his search for a way to restore humanity, Death seems to get sidetracked with other peoples problems, which is standard fare for video games, but those stories tend to take centre stage.
In particular, Death's main goal is overshadowed by the ever present Corruption, which hinders the Journey at every turn.

In all, while the game does flesh out the world a bit better, the main story is unfocused, as what would appear to be a minor plot point seems to take up most of (if not all) the story, while the overarching goal really only comes to the forefront around halfway through the quest.

PRESENTATION
The overall feel of Darksiders 2 seems to be, let's make it bigger and better. While Darksiders felt suitably epic at the time, Darksiders 2 blows it's predecessor out of the water. The environments are huge; instead of the Hub world that connected all of Darksiders' levels, Darksiders 2 is made up of 4 or so huge, open world maps. These act as the Hub world between dungeons, but it's so huge that it all feels like one big organic world. Sometimes, however, it feels a little too big. It's not as densely populated as it should be, giving the game a rather empty feel at points.

The game is accompanied by a suitably epic orchestral score, and the slashing and smashing sound effects of combat all add to the visceral feel that is essential to a game like this. And whenever you aren't killing something, you'll be treated to some suitably larger than life voice acting as Death deals with beings older than time itself. Death in particular is more likeable than War, if only for his highly sarcastic, narcissistic tone of voice and way of interacting with others.

GAMEPLAY
If you were of the impression that Darksiders ripped too much off from games like God of War, Zelda and Portal... Well, I have some bad news. Darksiders 2 is all that, and more. It's combat is highly reminiscent of God of War, it's just as fast paced and visceral as the game it's paying homage to. Where it falls short in this aspect is the depth of the combat. D2 does have some timing based combos, where shorter or longer pauses can affect how the combo plays out, but there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of variety.
Luckily, D2 also borrows from games like Diablo and Borderlands, giving players access to copious amounts of loot with which to customize their Death. Being able to choose different weapon combos does provide a certain amount of variety that it would be sorely lacking otherwise.

The Zelda style exploration and back tracking returns, forcing players to utilize many skills and gadgets along their journey. The grappling hook style Deathgrip and Portal-gun-esque PhaseWalker are similar to features in the previous game, but new toys such as the Soul Splitter make some of the puzzle work quite interesting and refreshing, especially when certain gadgets are combined.

As I said before, the over world can feel somewhat underpopulated, and because it's so big, traversal can get annoying. On foot, it would take forever to get from point A to point B, but with Despair (Deaths Horse), things speed up a little. In the Dungeons, where Despair is unavailable, it's a different story. Death moves so slowly while walking, and there's no sprint button. I found myself dodge rolling forward to go a little faster!

With that in mind, Death isn't always slow. Unlike War, platform traversal with Death is swift and fun. Wall running, climbing, swinging and jumping all feel natural after a little moment of adjustment, but I still feel like something as simple as a double jump would have made the game flow a little smoother (if only in the beginning stages).

So with some features from God of War, Portal, Zelda, Diablo and Prince of Persia, there were alot of possible outcomes. Instead of being a schizophrenic mess, or shameless rip-off, Darksiders 2 becomes it's own game that utilizes it's gameplay elements well together. It may not be as good as the some of it's parts, but it is it's own unique game because of them.

REPLAYABILITY
As I said at the top of this review, Darksiders 2 is a long game (at least by today's standards). I completed the main questline in somewhere between 13 and 17 hours, but there are quite a few side quests to complete as well. In fact, four of the best boss fights in the game belong to one such questline.
On top of that, there's collectible book of the dead pages, as well as special artefacts and stones of power.

OVERVIEW
While many could say that Darksiders 2 is highly derivative of alot of other games, I'm of the camp that says, yes, it features mechanics prevalent in other games, but Darksiders 2 brings them together in such a way that it feels like it can stand on it's own two feet. Puzzle solving and platforming are played out quite well with the use of various gadgets, and the combat is fast and visceral and fun.

Problems like and empty overworld, controls that take some getting used to, a truly painful run speed and an unfocused story do take away from the experience, it's true. But after spending such a long time on this game (comparatively speaking) I can honestly say that I don't feel like I've wasted time here.

As always, thanks for reading to those who are, and next week it's either New Super Mario Bros. 2 or Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. See you next time!