While struggling to find its own identity, ‘Darksiders’ presents a mash-up of other successful video game genres. It takes the puzzle-solving and battle systems from the ‘Legend of Zelda’ series, adds the gun aspect of ‘Portal’ and merges these elements with the brutality of the ‘God of War’ series.

The story of ‘Darksiders’ is about a character named War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Set on a quest, War searches for redemption as he travels through a post-apocalyptical world. During this quest, War is constantly battling demons and angels as he tries to clear his name from the blame laid on him by The Charred Council.

One of the bigger disappointments of the game is that the storyline is almost irrelevant until three quarters of the way through. The story could be attributed to Joe Madureira, who is the Vigil Games’ developer and creative director of ‘Darksiders.’ Madureira is a former comic book writer and artist, and his storytelling techniques are on display throughout the game.

The art of the game is also reflective of Madureira’s style. During his original tenure with comics, his characters often displayed disproportion throughout their bodies. This style is also demonstrated throughout the game, where almost all the characters have hands that can fist watermelons, bodies that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger jealous and heads the size of grapes.

The look of the characters may not appeal to everyone, but it is certainly original. While the mechanics of ‘Darksiders’ play rather well, almost every other facet of the game is taken from the highly successful game series ‘The Legend of Zelda.’

Vigil Games seemed to have used ‘Darksiders’ to pay tribute to the entire Zelda series. The weapons within could have very well been stolen right from Link’s hands. The hook shot, boomerang and cross-blade weapons all look like they were cloned from the Nintendo franchise.

Vigil Games seems to have also been greatly influenced from the ‘God of War’ series when it comes to combat. The control scheme of the ‘Darksiders’ is, again, almost a copy of the ‘God of War’ series, where the X or Square button is used for basic attacks and Y or Triangle is used for an alternative attack.

What makes ‘God of War’ and games like it great is the variety and rewarding feel of the combat. In games of that type there are hundreds of different combos, each one different than the last, that if used properly, make the game really fun.

Unfortunately, ‘Darksiders’ is unable to copy this exact feat. The combat ends up feeling very mashy and does not seem to reward the player when he or she attempts to learn new combos.

The problems with ‘Darksiders’ do not end there, as there are a few design issues with the game. The ‘Zelda’-esque puzzles within the dungeons are often nearly impossible the first few times the player attempts them, with most of them best solved by a basic trial-and-error process. The same process can be said for most boss battles.

There are also many technical issues with the game. It becomes choppy every time combat gets even somewhat intense, and there is a large amount of screen tearing, making the action very difficult to follow.

Even with the blatant imitation of other games and technical issues, ‘Darksiders’ still is somewhat rewarding and fun as a brand new IP, making this the perfect game for those tired of waiting for the next entry in the ‘Zelda’ series.

Published on January 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm