Throwback Thursday: Darksiders

Released just over seven years ago and the first game I picked up for the PS3, Darksiders remains one of the best hack and slash adventure RPG games I have ever played, probably right up there with Ocarina of Time. The dungeons were well laid out, combat was great, the graphics were excellent for the time and come on, you get to play as a horseman of the Apocalypse. How frickin cool is that?

Darksiders follows the story of War, one of the Four Horsemen. In this universe, the Horsemen are agents of an entity known as the Charred Council. The council maintains balance between the ever warring forces of Heaven and Hell. When mankind emerged, the council declared them a third kingdom and brokered a temporary truce between the demons and angels until the time when mankind was ready for the final battle, or Endwar. This would be triggered by the breaking of seven seals, whose destruction would also summon the four riders to battle.

The game begins with the arrival of the main character War on Earth, at the beginning of what he presumes to be the Endwar. Heaven and Hell are already laying waste to each other and the world as War carves his way through the field of battle. Upon meeting then leader of Heaven’s forces however, War learns that the seventh seal is still intact and the other Horsemen have not ridden. Since it is not the appointed time, War lacks most of his true powers and is defeated and summoned back to the Charred Council for judgement. The game then begins in earnest as War returns to Earth to uncover the reason for the war beginning early and clear his name.

Darksiders is an open world (ish) game that follows the more basic formula for an action RPG. Explore, kill enemies, enter and clear four main dungeons and one final one. While not the most difficult game I’ve ever played through the puzzles do require some thought and do prove a decent challenge.

War as a character is excellent, just a badass who backs down to nobody and gives less then zero fucks what his superiors, his annoying handler referred to as the Watcher, or literally anyone else thinks or says. The voice acting in this game is excellent, and all of the characters fit their roles perfectly.

Combat was a lot of fun in this game and you’ll go up against some crazy enemies. Giant demons, disgusting sand worms, demons, angles, spirits, etc. You pick up some very interesting weapons along the way as well, allowing you some measure of customization to War’s battle style. Along with War’s colossal blade Chaos Eater you get Death’s scythe, a pair of gauntlets and a handgun with an unlimited supply of ammo for covering ranged battle. You’ll also be able to utilize War’s mount Ruin, a giant flaming beast of a horse for mounted combat and, you know, getting places faster. But War’s coolest ability has to be his Chaos form, where he turns into the balrog from Lord of the Rings and will wreck just about anything that happens to be in front of him.

Definitely a game worth checking out. There’s also a sequel (which takes place at the same time) which received a lot of hype and lived up to maybe a third of it, but still isn’t what I’d call terrible. Give Darksiders a shot if you’re looking for a great action game. Reminiscing like this makes me want to replay it myself, if I wasn’t obsessed with Nier. See you all next week, and as always, happy gaming!