DARKSIDERS III
Fury’s Road
Oh, hello – it’s Fury, sister of War and Death. Talk about family tensions…
released OUT NOW! Reviewed on Playstation 4
Also on Xbox One, PC Publisher THQ Nordic
When you’re not being smacked in the face by a giant jester wielding a bathtub or stealth killing a tornado, Darksiders III falls back on the humdrum for its thrills. There’s nothing wrong with this threequel’s reliance on old-fashioned hacking and slashing, but the love is poured into its boss battles.
This trait of weird, grotesque and often epic creatures is one of the few remaining signs this is the cult series you may have come to adore. That and the way the game retains the series’ “kewl” ’90s comic styling – so many metal armoured shoulder thingies. Co-created by Uncanny X-Men’s Joe Madureira, the visual design remains even though the artist bailed when original developer THQ was wound up.
Streamlining the gameplay from the open world semi-RPG antics of Darksiders II, this entry puts you in control of Fury, with the latest of the Four Horsemen sent to Earth to hunt the Seven Deadly Sins. It’s a simpler set-up to the previous games, but one that grants Fury enough character development to question what she’s doing, for whom, and why.
This kill-quest takes place on one large, labyrinthine map, filled with secret paths and chambers to uncover. You’re encouraged to retread ground, which rewards you with Artefacts used to upgrade Fury’s weapons. Called Hollows, these whip variants deliver effective combo-kills against the creatures of Heaven and Hell. Each has a unique effect on Fury, too. She can walk on water, glide long distances, break through rocks… and using these you can access even more areas of the map. It’s a tried and tested formula, done here with enough map-making mastery to ensure you’ll want to explore every inch of this world.
Yet just as you’re embracing your inner rambler, and have accepted that, for some, the ’90s never ended, you get the nagging feeling that this is a back step for a series that’s always embraced transformation. It’s neither as disruptive as the first game, nor as ambitious as the second. Darksiders III is a solid if unoriginal hack ’n’ slash that sits comfortably within the genre without breaking any new ground. Ian Dean
Retains the series’ ’90s comic styling
New studio Gunfire Games was created by former members of Vigil Games, the original creators of Darksiders.