His Review with Ian

Introducing Death.

He’s seeking the redemption of his brother War who’s been accused of the minor misdemeanour of sparking off the apocalypse. Darksiders II does not act as a direct sequel to Darksiders; it operates in and around the same time period but inside of focussing on War (like Darksiders), it follows his dexterous sibling and fellow horseman, Death who’s trying to clean the name and prove the innocence of his kin. As an idea overarching a gaming franchise, I think it could pave the way for at least two more games starring the leading men of Pestilence and Famine - I’m already visualising the epic epidemics following a Pestilence execution move.

Darksiders II is my first introduction to the series and traversing the lands of live and dead, amassing loot, riding Despair (my trusty stead), following Dust (my guide bird) and accruing, through fair means and foul, many of the finest weapons that a pair of dead hands can wield was a gratifying experience. With a combat system composed of scythes, bladed gauntlets and the biggest super bladed axes you’ve ever seen combined with a couple of skill trees that can command a murder of crows to pick life from enemies whilst replenishing Death’s health or summon a whirlwind vortex that saps life from anyone who’s engulfed in it, ensured Death could deliver death in a highly personalised way depending on the nature of the enemies faced.

The landscapes and scenographic design of the major environments and levels were carefully crafted to emphasise the relationship of Death to the world around him. When the world is grand in scale, high palaces dwarfed him. As he traversed the lush icy blue mountain ranges colour palette, it emphasised his own personal blackness; the consideration of the visual worlds and how the characters look and inhabit them was pleasing. The celebrated Jesper Kyd is on soundtrack and score duty and he knows how cater a composition to achieve maximum immersion and impact for players. His fantastical melodies and delicate themes are at the height of their powers with the cues entitled The Makers Theme and Into Eternity.

My experience of reviewing this game was broken in two by our trip to Gamescom and I think this pause had a major impact in my final feelings on the game. For the first 12 hours of the game, there was a constant source of discovery, of differing quests, scales of enemies, freedom to explore and oodles of loot to amass and I began to think quite highly of Death. However, with some space and time for reflection, I embarked on part two and the second 12 hours of the game and the results were not as good. The linearity of the plot became irritating, the constant need to go and find “three of these” and bring them back to a character in order to progress was predictable, the ease in dismantling major bosses was saddening and the repetitive nature of the puzzle systems meant that my beacon of light began to fade for Darksiders II.

There were a few, consistent wobbly bits that happened throughout the game: the voice to mouth relationship and the synchronisation of some characters does not match even though it’s attempting too, the camera angle is profane inducing, especially when you’re backed into a corner and engaged in a bout of fine scythe to sword combat and my largest protest towards the amount of screen junk (numbers, blood, menus and options) that overload the screen - like a whole set of unnecessary road signs in a street – when I was occupied in battle showed a poor set of design choices.

There is no question about the quality of the game; the environmental and character design were consistently interesting in their visualisation and presented a truly otherworld experience - but what the characters did, how they spoke to me, the quests offered did not match the presentation. I felt the narrative arc begin to wane about 15 hours in and maybe if it had just been a little shorter, it could have sustained the momentum and good feeling that had accrued in the first half and I’d be writing home and telling them about how much this game has affected me. Instead I’m left to rue what might have been and wishing a good editor had been employed to remove unnecessary dead wood from the game for the overall greater good.

Her Review with Tracey

Like most people I know, I reckon I have a healthy attitude towards death. It’s inevitable, necessary even and will hopefully come peacefully when I’m a wrinkly old lady (though I’m hoping to have my body cryogenically frozen before then). Death is not something I dread but not something I look forward to either, which is similar to how I have ended up feeling about Darksiders II. Despite having plenty of positives (drawing influences from a whole range of huge titles like Zelda, Enslaved and God of War), after the extensive campaign was over, I felt underwhelmed.

Riding the glowing, spectral nag Destiny through a glacial mountain range as the game opens hints at what lies ahead; wild action combined with Hunchback of Notre Dame Parkour set against some stunning scenery. Bony bow legged enemies burst out, shattering their icy tombs before Death unleashes his fast scythes or slower hammer/axe weapons; whirling, sweeping, dodging, slamming and killing. Most baddies leave lovely loot behind be it gold, health or new items and a huge part of the game for me was constantly upgrading my kit, carefully levelling up – a big tick on both the action and the RPG features list.

As a leading character, this physical manifestation of Death has a stereotypical pale skeletal, scythe wielding, ragged black winged aesthetic accompanied with a Pierce Brosnan-esque accent that is gravelly and Shakespearian yet lacking in either menace or charm. In traditional fiction, he isn’t the cause of death, more of an escort (that has often been tricked or bribed successfully by the likes of Bill and Ted, Rincewind or Gramps and Pud in the fabulous 1939 film On Borrowed Time) so I wondered if Death himself could be tricked by other characters or even die? Would having a leading videogame character that can’t die dramatically change the dynamics of any combat? Turns out this Death doesn’t die as such but rather passes out, and thankfully, following a slip off a wall into a pit of bloody spikes, respawning is pretty quick. Some of the bigger boss challenges are satisfying and frustrating in equal measure as many last for ages, requiring timed blows in repetitive, patterned sequences; great for testing personalised fighting technique and a player’s tenacity though sadly, often lacking in difficulty or so damn hard that it takes an age to advance. During battles, the quick respawn doesn’t count as Death is dumped before the cut scene and has to start over from the very beginning every time *groan*. Ian’s observation about ‘screen junk’ is particularly true during some of the bigger battles when all attention to detail is squandered. As blades leave hot coloured trails behind them, Death blurs into his opponents who always seem partially obscured by crazy camera angles or on screen displays. Smaller attacking opponents with heavy black character outlines are spewed out and smudged together from all angles, resulting in a melting of white pecs, linear bones, glowing eyes, scatty hair, glinting blades, pecking crows, zombie wraiths, broken paving slabs, floating red damage numbers, spectral life bars, twisting green wisps of health potions and erupting loot – it’s messy! Elsewhere, the animation is beautiful and it’s worth taking up some of the many side-quests. The characters of the Forge lands with their oversized hands and braided beards are particularly striking whilst the environments move from lush green open fields to colour drained rocky passages and dank dungeons.

Death sets out to negotiate War’s freedom by rescuing all humanity, yet he has no idea how and his motivations are woolly. War is his blud and the apocalyptical horsegang should look out for each other regardless of their destructive and racial reputations – I can’t remember if War is even found to be guilty or not whilst Death’s final scenes are a bit bland and unclear. It’s certainly not the same family chaos Death in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series endures but I found it hard to invest in this Death’s rhyme or reason. In order to clear War’s name, Death must complete several, repetitive tasks that over time become predictable and dull. Set by corrupted overlords that demand Death go fetch keys, scale walls, roll around balls, summon other people etc., Death might as well be polishing their silver or assisting them with a shopping list with each task little more than a series of laboriously weak plot mechanisms. Each time a new idea is introduced like splitting Death’s soul in two in order to portal through mazes of locked corridors or having the new ability to hookshot across previously unexplorable caverns, the joy dissipates quickly and the mundane routine returns. My favourite parts were always when Death could control stone golems, riding atop lashing out rock solid fists on weak enemies – very cool, great fun but sadly short lived experiences. It consistently felt like there were some really great ideas here that just didn’t progress, develop or challenge me enough during the game to hold my interest which is a real shame.

Jesper Kyd’s evocative, cinematic score however is a masterful treat for the ears, shows real skill and is one of his best works to date. Emphatic long strings sweep over journeys as Destiny’s hooves match driving beats. A harp and dual pianos flow up and down musical scales during the water temple level whilst the fire temple has a steamy rhythm blazing through. The melodies as Death slickly glides across walls or scampers up beams never feels overpowering or monotonous but wondrous and perfectly balanced with impressive sound effects. This is definitely a game to experience through headphones.

It’s not that I have a unhealthy opinion about games that heavily borrow ideas from classic titles but here, once you look beyond the influences, there is very little else to celebrate. Similar to Ian, I really enjoyed the first half of the game full of temples, boss fights and hidden areas to explore and plunder. Even with the introduction of new tools, by the second half, the pace slowed, the surprises were far and few between, and the ending was unsatisfying. It’s hard to define exactly what the unique selling point of Darksiders II is. Potentially, it has the makings of a great game but ultimately lacks the wow factor. For me I was glad to see the end and prefer my games to be a bit livelier.

Darksiders II is outu now for Xbox360, Playstation 3 and PC.