Darksiders turns 14 today, which is too bad! I remember being 13 years old and being knocked around while playing games at a friend’s house, before live services, Deliveroo and self-assessment tax returns ruined my life. Sitting here now, I’m craving a big portion of whatever Vigil Games is cooking.
It’s appropriate to call Darksiders AA, especially now that the budget has ballooned to ridiculous (and probably unsustainable) levels. The game is published by THQ, a company known for its shotgun approach to churning out a slew of weird and wacky games. But even as games get bigger and better-looking, Darksiders still retains some of its timeless charm in my opinion.
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Sitting down and taking a hard look at Darksiders, you have to separate nostalgia from its enduring quality. Like Metallica or Avenged Sevenfold, it does have an advantage that I don’t really like right now. War is on a horse, wielding his greatsword, and to 13-year-old Connor, the art on the box isn’t as cool as it once was. But the art style is still terrible. Even today, if you put heavy religious imagery in a modern setting, I’m fine with that. This is a real weakness.
Much of the appeal of the world and character designs comes from the game’s creative director, Joe Madureira. It was obviously a team effort. There are all kinds of great people here – like art director Han Randhawa, lead environment artist John N. Pearl, and others who make Darksiders an interesting universe. There are touches of seventh-generation Brown Dull Syndrome, like so many games from that era, but interestingly, elements from Heaven and Hell – those rich crimsons and shiny gold accents – are present throughout it all.
I remember loving the enemy designs at the time – and there are still some absolute winners out there. Huge monsters that you need to fight against yourself, interesting clashes between swords and shields, with a very modern background. This will ultimately be a real strength of the Darksiders series as a whole, but as an opener, Darksiders 1 does a really good job of distinguishing itself from bland depictions of biblical apocalypse.
The gameplay itself is repetitive – which is probably the game’s biggest flaw. However, if you prefer the feel of a bulky character rather than an agile character, the combat will hold up just fine. Darksiders 2 tries to take a faster approach, while the original insists on making War a heavy-duty guy, destroying whatever he swings by. I do think time will only hurt the game in this regard. On-Demand Podcasts – We didn’t have podcasts at that time. I also have an iPod Nano and a CD collection.
Darksiders is now firmly in the back seat, having shifted its lifecycle from Zelda-style action game to top-down hack-and-slash game. For my money, it’s probably dead – but it’s running great. Even so, this is still a proper and solid action drama for those of us in the mood. Give it a try. Give the entire range a try! Look at the beginning and end of the series to see how trends across console generations and gamer tastes influenced the overall design.
Because these days, the chance of a brand new cheap IP being thrown out there and gaining enough viewers to warrant a run like this is rare. Hi-Fi Rush may continue to develop in the future, but maybe it’s just a one-off! who knows? Darksiders is a magnificent monument to its era, and while it’s a little rusty around the edges, it’s well worth a look.
