Let's Talk... Darksiders 2

The original Darksiders, although a great game, bordered the dangerous line between being a respectable homage to the Legend of Zelda series and just being a straight up knock-off. Vigil Games could have easily crossed that line with Darksiders 2, but with a solid formula already established and a potentially vast world to dig into, Vigil Games has kept much of the original game’s original concepts and expanded on them in a way that feels both smart and natural.

In Darksiders 2, you play as Death, one of the others horsemen of the apocalypse, as he attempts to get his mighty unpopular brother, War (the protagonist of the first game and another horseman of the apocalypse), out of a whole heap of trouble. Although knowledge of the events of the first game would make it a little easier to follow the story of this game, you wouldn't be at a major loss if you have no idea who the four horsemen are or who belongs to which faction etc. Also, instead of taking place on a ruined Earth like the first, the game is instead set in an entirely different world and is constantly switching between the land of the living and the land of the dead. The change of scenery adds some much needed variety to the environments and allows for some much more interesting and far more fantastical set pieces.  

Death looks and plays very different to his brother, War

Unlike the heavy and powerful War, Death is a significantly quicker and more agile character straight from the get-go with a trusty pair of dual-wielded scythes being the main tools of your arsenal. Of course, scythes aren’t the only weapons at your disposal. The game’s new and engaging loot system offers plenty of opportunity to frequently upgrade and replace your current equipment with armour and weapons. As with any loot-driven game, weapons are totally defined by their attack speed (there’s essentially one type for slow, medium and fast) and the various attributing stats they may wield (which include things like critical strike chance, life on hit, life on crit etc.). Naturally, the addition of loot makes Darksiders 2 as much an RPG as an action game.

The same can be said for the addition of the very standard quest system that allows you to track the main quest and side quests. The side quests are fairly standard for the most part and you’d do well to get through them all without getting bored of their repetitive fetch-y nature. These quests are usually simple tasks like searching a dungeon for a particular item, or killing X for Y, but some more interesting side content begins to open up later, such as the round-based survival arena that will offer you loot for an exit every five rounds. For some, changes like adding loot and quests, although pretty smart changes, may move the feel of the game too far away from what made the first Darksiders feel so different and it almost feels like Darksiders 2 has lost some of its identity by doing so.

The world is enormous compared to the first game, but it's easy to forget that with all the immediate fast travelling the game offers

 One of the core features of the original game that has not been canned, however, is the steady progression of Metroidvania-style items required for traversing the world and solving puzzles. The grappling hook and portal gun rip-off make a return in slightly different forms, as well as the ability to split yourself into two beings for the purpose of holding down pressure plates for opening doors and raising bridges etc. For the most part, these items open up some fun but rather rudimentary puzzles until you unlock the self-duplicating ability. The game builds some interesting and rather challenging puzzles out of this relatively simple mechanic in a pretty novel way. Also, later in the game the portal gun rip-off is upgraded to have reality-switching properties that make the last portion of the game rather tricky at times.

The combat isn’t exactly difficult but sure is satisfying when done right. The different weapon types and the variety of stats available from armour and weapons allow you to build your character in rather dynamic ways. For example, my preference was to equip the fastest weapon type, a pair of claws, and attempt to max out my critical strike chance and life on kill as much as possible, which paved the way for me to just tear through some areas. On top of the gear is a two-sided talent tree that basically has one side for ranged attacks and summoning minions, and the other for melee-focused obliteration.

Floating combat numbers aren't the only thing that make the game feel more like a standard RPG, but its a nice addition nonetheless

Overall, Darksiders 2 does a great job of expanding on the story and gameplay of its predecessor whilst still adding enough to keep it fresh and iterative enough. The change of protagonist and change of setting are both smart and natural changes that do the game a great service. However, although the addition of loot and a standard quest system are positive changes, they take away a significant part the series’ identity. Either way, with two solid games under their belt and still another two horsemen of the apocalypse to explore, Vigil Games have plenty of room for another sequel.