Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition Review

Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition Game Details:

Being one of the four horseman of the Apocalypse, you’d think you’d have things all your own way, especially if you were “Death”. However Deaths brother ” War ” has been condemned to a life in chains, and the only way to prove his innocence and release him, is by bringing back mankind from extinction. So Death starts off on his merry way, with a hop and a skip and with joy in his heart… oh wait. This is death. It’s more of a hack and a slash a billion litres of blood to spill, and then he goes on his quest to free his brother. But, is there something more at play, or is Death himself being played?

“The actual fighting mechanics and hack and slash

elements when you do battle enemies, flailing your

scythes with reckless abandon, is bloody good fun.”

I am faced with another HD remake of what can only be considered a fairly decent last generation game. My initial reaction was disappointment that the first Darksiders game, is not included in this package. What you do get here with this version of the second game in the series is.

The original Darksiders II game at native 1080p with particular attention being made to the lighting and shadows.

All 13 pieces of DLC included which all told with the game accounts for around 30 hours of gameplay.

Tuned and reworked loot drops and balancing.

Improved environment and character modelling.

We can argue all we want if putting all this together and slapping a £24 price tag on an old game is value for money, but as a fan of the hack and slash genre, something next gen is sorely lacking still, this game is a welcome addition.

It’s also difficult to pin this game down to one genre though, as it is half heartedly an RPG with hack and slash elements. The actual fighting mechanics and hack and slash elements when you do battle enemies, flailing your scythes with reckless abandon, is bloody good fun.

Animations of these battles, especially with the sharper visuals, that make the combatants really pop with clarity, are smooth and very responsive. It’s also wonderful to have a simple LT to lock onto targets and release when done.

Weapons, with their easy to use combos that actually encourage NON button mashing, are rewarding and tight to play with. Combos have a judicious use of “pausing” between button presses to step away from just mashing the buttons in attack.

“the mix of great hack and slash action, with

plodding story and dragging RPG elements,  ruined

the pacing of the game completely.”

Later in the game you acquire ranged weapons too, for an all round excellent and tight melee, hack and slash experience i thoroughly enjoyed ripping people to bits with.

There is also some 3rd person platforming, to ledges, poles, and walls to run up, which sometimes takes you to areas where there are loot chests. This aspect actually was surprisingly well implemented and fun to play too.

What i really didn’t enjoy was the pretty pointless and time consuming getting from A to B and the so called RPG elements. You do have fast travel points to cut this down somewhat, but there is far more walking around than anything else.

Correct me if i’m wrong, but most RPG games, like Skyrim, The Witcher and Dragon Age, have wonderful worlds you wish to explore and put as many hours just checking things out in the exploration of, as you do with the story missions. I.e. you want to have a ROLE within the world.

Here with Darksiders II though, despite the upgraded visuals and nice artwork, you have such a bland and utterly boring world i frankly just wanted to whizz past it all and get on with the missions, as there is pretty much nothing of interest to see apart from some nice stonework, or the occasional loot chest.

Also with RPG games, there is a fine line of how to best upgrade your character to the play style you want. Here, Death, simply just had upgrades, that didn’t seem to matter. There are upgrades to his armour, move set, weapons, and abilities, but nothing that really changed his “character”.

The game eventually opens up into a sandbox style area, that you can pick and choose which missions to go on next. Unfortunately though, with the mix of great hack and slash action, with plodding story and dragging RPG elements, ruined the pacing of the game completely. You just felt like you were forever being slowed down and stopped from doing what was genuinely fun ( the combat ) as you simply wanted to “get on with it “. The story line didn’t help either. The game soon turns into a series of “fetch” quests which was HUGELY disappointing for a vibrant set of characters you meet as you play.

The Scottish are out in force again! ( where does it say that dwarf like characters need scottish voices? Lord of the Rings, Darksiders ). During your quests, err i mean fetch and pull a lever or pick something up missions, you come across an eclectic mix of characters, all voiced acted extremely well. From the hub world you are befriended by the “Makers” who are massive Dwarf’s with Scottish voices. Other characters you meet convey a great sense of foreboding and menace too.

The sound track and in game effects are also excellent, however i continually had issues with the dubbing of voices at incorrect times to the actions of their faces on screen.