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Darksiders 2 360 Review

30/09/2011 Thinking Dressup Gamer Review
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Darksiders 2 360

Darksiders 2

Format:
360

Genre:
Adventuring

Further reading:
Legend of Zelda

Buy/Support:
Support Jon, click to buy via us...


Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Story Gamer (360)
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Darksiders 2 360 will build on an enjoyable first game while deepening the experience and appeal to those that love the dress-up of role playing games.

The original Darksiders borrowed from many well-loved games but the art-style and clever layering of gameplay mechanics made it fresh. For the sequel Vigil are hoping to continue adding to the formula of puzzle solving, exploration and combat to deliver another compelling tale in the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse saga.

Darksiders 2 switches from a tale of War to one of Death, literally, as the last game's main character is supplanted by a new potentially cooler protagonist (ed: it's not every day you get to dressup as Death). This substantial change of lead leaves the art style much as the first game though and continues a story that's ridiculously overblown and told with total conviction.

From my recent hands-off session, everything I loved about the first game is present in the sequel, but excitingly for me, this time around the action adventure formula is supplemented with role play elements. These include levelling, side quests and the mechanic that costs me the most time -- loot. Items such as armour will be salvageable from corpses and then wearable enhancing your outfit and your abilities.

A beautiful game that at times resembled a graphic novel come to life.

When I stepped into the shoes of War last time the first hours of play were filled with a comforting feeling of a well put together action combat game. However, what began as a God of War clone transformed into more of a Legend of Zelda like experience with the staples from that series complementing a beautiful game that at times resembled a graphic novel come to life.

The star of Darksiders was often the incredible art design with Jo Madureira's vibrant and chunky drawings giving the whole game life.

Despite Vigil's investment in character art, gravitas of the dialogue and striking environments to explore, Darksiders was not a game I played because I was living and breathing my character. Instead, I was driven by the mechanics that were invented by Zelda and Metroid: collecting a new tool and accessing hitherto unreachable areas. Coupling this mechanic with treasure collection promises to make this an even more addictive experience.

The demo I was shown, rather than delivering on that tantalising feature list, instead focused on combat -- and lots of it. Death is a more agile combatant and in tune with this he dodges rather than blocks. In reality this gives combat potentially more fluidity with Death able to move about the arena and outplay opponents in a way not previously possible.

A beautiful game that at times resembled a graphic novel come to life.

At this point a lot is being promised and more will hopefully be revealed in the coming months as we lead up to its 2012 release. Already though I am really rather excited about a better looking smoother controlling game full of great new outfits.

Written by Jon Seddon

You can support Jon by buying Darksiders 2



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Jon Seddon writes the Dressup Gamer column.

"Dress-up is the door to a world of make believe and theatre. I review games that let me escape my world and take on a myriad of roles. I love games that emphasise my character and the choices I can make - whether I am merely outfitting them for the fight or choosing which of my crew to save."


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