PC & console game reviews
A FUN BUT SAMEY HACK-AND-SLASH ROMP. darksiders.com | US$29.99 | PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC
DARKSIDERS IS DOWNSIZING a bit in 2019, but the series hasn’t lost a step. Darksiders has shed its open-world action roots in favor of a fast-paced isometric 3D action-platformer in the style of games like Diablo and Torchlight. As with past installments, Darksiders Genesis is easily compared to other action games, but it does just enough to set itself apart. From this new perspective, the puzzle-solving and platforming the series is known for feels fresh and familiar. Above all, though, it is a hack-and-slasher, with legions of enemies to dismantle and crush alone or with a co-op partner. And though it can’t help but get a bit repetitive as the adventure wears on, Darksiders Genesis feels right at home in its new point of view.
In case the name didn’t give it away,
Darksiders Genesis is a prequel. Darksiders’ original hero, War, and the previously unplayable fourth horseman, Strife, team up for a quest to maintain the balance for the charred council that, over time, reveals itself to be very relevant to apocalyptic events of the other games. In true prequel fashion, it’s a heavy lore hit for fans of the first three games, bringing characters back in younger forms and in different contexts. Despite this, there isn’t all that much story here. The missions feel like excuses to send War and Strife out into different locations, with only a few snippets of dialogue, and the occasional semi-animated comic cutscene, there to help keep the plot moving forward. For anyone who isn’t already inundated by Darksiders mythos, this will not be a thrilling tale.
If you play Darksiders Genesis alone, you can switch between the two characters on the fly. In combat, that lets you swap between War’s melee-first combat, which features strong and weak melee attacks and feels similar to his combat from previous Darksiders games, and Strife, whose two types of guns, which you fire with the right bumper and trigger, turns the game into a twin-stick shooter. Though there is a core stick-and-move strategy that applies to both characters, they feel very different and allow you to approach combat scenarios in different ways. Playing solo, I found myself switching characters often, both as a way of gaining an advantage in combat and simply for fun. The game is never so easy that you won’t consider your tactics, but rarely hard enough that you need to approach a fight perfectly.
On the whole, Darksiders Genesis is a fun, but samey hack-and-slash romp. I’ve always admired the Darksiders franchise for jumping to different styles of play from game to game: Darksiders Genesis is its biggest jump yet, and one of its most successful. Though it feels understated, thanks to a pulled-out camera and a less flashy approach than the original three, it’s a well-designed gauntlet of quick, mashy fights and light brain teasers. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but it’s all good fun.