Darksiders II The Deathinitive Edition Review | February 17, 2018
Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, Windows

Darksiders II is the second game in the series and it has a different gameplay style compared to Darksiders. The first game is more of a linear hack and slash while Darksiders II has more in common with games like Shadow of Mordor, Fable and Bayonetta. The change to an open world action RPG is a very welcome. The horsemen of Apocalypse, Death is on a quest to right wrongs that were forced on his brother War the first horsemen. War has been framed and is being punished for destroying the kingdom of man before the seals were broken. The key to not only War’s salvation but the rest of the horsemen lays in a conflict in the past with the Nephilim, a race that is equal part Angel and Demon.
Darksiders II introduces us to the second horseman of the apocalypse…Death. He only wants to find a way to save his brother War and is not concerned with the politics or who he has to go through to accomplish this single goal. Death in this game is much different character. He is not a quite angry killing machine. He is philosophical and even poetic in how he chooses his words. Our favorite personality trait he is a smartass. He likes to crack jokes at others expense regardless if they are threat to him or not. He is also very honorable to those who either earn his respect or are fighting the same battle in their own way. His allies are has just as impressive as his enemies. Very few games have this quality.
Darksiders II also is a brilliant continuation of the story. Death does not care about the consequences. He just sees a path and takes it. Death does not fight his battles in Heaven or Hell but in the lands between the three major realms (Earth being the third). The worlds explored are a mix of Norse Mythology, Greek Mythology and religious writings. Many versions of underworld creatures and underworld areas are well thought out and filled with open areas to explore both as part of the story and extra optional areas. Exploring is a joy; there are areas everywhere you just come across as you ride across the plains on your horse Despair for faster travel. Striking down foe after foe on horseback never gets old, we spent hours just riding around looking for things to do and unlocking secrets.
The combat is smooth with no issues. You are always surrounded and changing directions to attack. The controls make all of this movement effortless. It has a mix of God of War and the Batman Arkham series. Boss battles are fast moving where you are either up against a huge epic sized boss or a powerful enemy that requires you to move fast. Weapons, armor and items are upgradeable as well as your powers thanks to the RPG system. Combat is balanced out with puzzle challenges that we looked forward to. The further you move forward the better the puzzles get. Even early on the puzzles are great. There is only one real problem with Darksiders II and it’s the camera. Death moves fast during combat and platforming and often the camera cannot keep up with how fast he is moving. Death will jump, drop or run right off the screen. The game is forgiving with the camera issues during combat because you can lock on to a foe but when platforming or puzzle solving it a little hit or miss most of the game and we tried to make options adjustments but it did not help,
Darksiders II took us around the 20 hour mark to get through the game and the replay value is really high. There were several quests that we did not get through, most of them were item finding and mazes or battle arena so there is a lot more than 20 hours here. You could easily spend 50+ hours on this game. We could not put down the controller. This game would have gotten a perfect score if not for the camera. Darksider II is worth paying a new game price of $60 for.  Find it under $35 it is a MUST BUY PRICE!
 
9.5 out of 10
We Love This Game
Where Can We Get It

9.5 out of 10
We Love This Game


Rated
E for Everyone

Rated PEGI 16

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