Darksiders drops you right in the shoes of War, one of the Four Horseman of the apocalypse. The story begins as the armies of Heaven and Hell descend on Earth to wage their final battle. War, as one of the horseman, is sent to Earth to bring order and put a stop to it. Upon his arrival, he learns that the other horseman have not arrived and the Seventh Seal has not been broken. It's here where the game starts properly, and you are tasked to find out who brought about the apocalypse before it's due time. The first level is a tutorial of sorts, getting you used to War's combat moves and abilities. As you move through the city, the battle between Heaven and Hell rages all around you. I've played through some pretty big set-piece levels like this in other games, God of War being the most notable, but Darksiders has to be one of the best I've seen. Angels and demons of all kinds are fighting all around, and it really made me feel like I was in the middle of something bigger.
This game has often been compared to Zelda, mainly because it has the same sense of exploration and character upgrades. As you progress through the story, War gains new weapons and abilities. Each is important, as a new weapon might be the only way to defeat the next boss or those angelic wings the only way of jumping across the huge chasm. This is where the similarity to Zelda comes into play, as it pretty much does the same type of things. You're somewhat limited by the power of your character, but the more you play the more options open up. While some people may find this annoying, I like the idea of starting out as nothing and building up your power as the game progresses. It gives me a sense of accomplishment, as that new crossblade offers yet another method of doling out punishment.
I haven't played very far, maybe a few hours before Dead Rising 2 got a hold of me. So far the game has been really good, changing up it's pace here and there to keep things interesting. One level has you stealing a ride from one of Heaven's gryphons, flying through caverns and around obstacles as you take down various enemies. Another is an arena fight, where you have a set amount of time to take down a certain number of enemies. Then of course you've got you're larger than life boss battles, against foes that literally dwarf you in size. I haven't seen anything yet on the order of God of War or Lord of Shadows, where the boss is so huge that you literally have to climb up it just to get in a swing. I'm not sure why I like those type of fights, maybe it's just the grand scale of it all. Given the size of the first boss on the tutorial level, I'd say there's got to be at least one screen-filling fight before the credits roll.
It seems like most games these days have some sort of upgrade system that lets you cash in on your destructive abilities. Darksiders uses souls of the damned, collected from battle and rewards. You can use them to upgrade War's weapons so they do more damage, purchase new abilities, or in one case a different weapon entirely. Obviously I haven't seen much as I'm still at the beginning, but already there are lots of choices and it will be interesting to see how things develop as the game progresses. I don't have enough souls to buy everything I want, so choices are already a factor. Do I buy the scythe, which may be slower than War's sword but is much better when attacking multiple enemies. Or do I upgrade the sword so it does more damage or new combat moves? Decisions, decisions, decisions...
So now that Dead Rising 2 is out of the way, I'll definitely be heading back to this one soon. I've also started playing Castlevania : Lords of Shadow on PS3, so I'll probably be bouncing back and forth between the two.
