Darksiders 2 Xbox 360 Review

**Teajunkie** · 14th August 2012

Let's start by addressing the big logical problem. Action RPG Darksiders II lets you play Death himself. The bad man with the big scythe, the Reaper of Souls, the Horseman of the Apocalypse. Not only do you ride a pale horse, you summon it by pressing RB and LB. Amazing. Except not, because this is a video game, and on his quest you'll watch Death get knocked about by beetles, slip uselessly into innumerable pits, and begin every single conversation with an NPC by asking them who they are. Shouldn't he know who they are already? If this guy showed up to claim your soul, you'd probably put up the same mumbled resistance you'd show a mugger.

Even his quest is kind of sweet, which is a word we never thought we'd use when describing anything to do with Death - he's just trying to help his brother. Admittedly his brother is War, who's currently standing trial for erasing humanity during the first Darksiders, but it's important to not get caught up in the details. The point is that Death has to restore life to all humanity, an interplanar journey that sees him hopping between madder and madder realms, harassing custodians from the Tree of Life to the Realm of the Dead.

That said, you'll be spending most of your time stalking Darksiders II's generous expanse of dungeons. As in the first Darksiders, these have a distinctly thoughtful pace, with every chamber as likely to contain a puzzle as a fight or Prince of Persia-style movement challenge. Death is much sprightlier than 2010's War, and whipping him along walls, down chains or up posts is quietly satisfying, even if it doesn't come close to the (figurative) heights or breathlessness of Prince of Persia.

No, Darksiders II is much more at home nudging Death into fights, where the sheer range of powers available to you makes up for it not being the most polished hack 'n' slash game on the Xbox 360. Between dodging, countering, scything, teleporting, summoning ghouls, coughing up ravens, assuming your true "Reaper" form or delving into your toybox of equipment, Death revels in, er, death.

There's the slight irk of even the smallest enemies unblinkingly absorbing blow after blow that can make combat a bit exhausting, but unpleasantly durable dragonflies aside, it's consistently satisfying to weave through a crowd of enemies, scything and rolling all the way.

Scythe & Death

Where the combat hits speedbumps with teeth-rattling force is when it collides with the game's RPG side. Not content with combining platforming, brawling and puzzling, Darksiders II also tries its hand at being an open-world RPG, complete with quests, loot, a skill tree, doubling back to old areas and levelling up. Death doesn't just have a scythe. New, frequently irrelevant scythes, boots and jackets slip disgustingly from the guts of almost anything you kill. Even nicking a monster causes a number to float out of it, explaining exactly how much damage you did in the JRPG style.

Much like everything else in Darksiders II, and inappropriately for a game about Death, who specialises in death and dealing death, these RPG elements are entirely pleasant. Completing a quest, edging up the skill tree, and upgrading to Flaming Ghouls is quite nice. Pawing through your loot and admiring Death in a new cape with a dashing new warhammer is also nice. It's especially nice when you're having trouble with a fight, pause the game to dress up in an entirely new outfit, and proceed to shred a whole crowd of golems like so much lettuce.

And, like everything else in Darksiders II, this RPG side is prone to the occasional frustration. When we refer to the combat hitting speedbumps, that'd be where Death ends up in some corner of the game's sprawling world where he's severely under-levelled or geared for the fight, a realisation you'll only ever arrive at via a Game Over screen. Sometimes, this is funny. In one memorable dungeon, we fought to the very bottom of a crypt to the frozen king inside, only for him to smash us into a sneeze of bone dust in one hit. Other times, it's irritating. Ending up at one of the main story's boss fights at a low level with no potions is something you begin fearing.

To draw from the game's own gothic imagery, the whole of Darksiders II is a bit like a frozen lake. Perfectly pleasant when you're sliding around it at top speed, but you're never without the threat of it breaking. That might mean an aggravating fight, a boring trip through the game's bizarrely clunky menus, or one of the puzzles which stops you dead in your tracks because of imperfect signposting.

It's one thing to expect Death to roll large magical balls into sockets or horse around with levers (which seems a bit beneath a Horseman of the Apocalypse to be honest, but okay). It's another thing entirely to watch him circle a room like a fly in a bottle for ten long minutes because the two of you missed some bit of wood that he can climb up.

Good video game puzzles show you all the moving parts, then challenge you to put them together. In Darksiders II, it's all too common that arriving at the solution only takes a heartbeat, and if it takes longer, it's because you haven't swivelled the camera up to reveal one of the three (eventually four, then five) types of scenery which Death is able to scamper up with inhuman grace.

Great beyond

Persevere through all of this, however, and you'll find the game making up in generosity for what it lacks in polish. Darksiders II is huge. By the second realm we did a double-take at our quest log when we saw it was a Skyrim-length shopping list. The main quest itself is reasonably sized, but then there are any number of crypts and caves to get lost in, artefacts to recover, secret bosses to bludgeon or macguffins to collect. The touch of Metroidvania design from the first game has been expanded slightly, with all sorts of hooks or esoteric stained glass windows teasing you, offering to catapult you to new ledges if you just knew how to interact with them.

It's all quietly entertaining, like driving an average car down a slight incline. For every few moments of pad-chewing frustration at an unclear puzzle or tricky fight (or, in the case of one ham-toucher of a boss, both at once), you'll be rewarded with a bit where the developer actually uses this maximalist, comic book-like universe. Conversations where Death comes across as an interesting character. Views of stadium-sized mythological creatures. Dungeons where Death doesn't get stumped by a sodding lift, and you slip through the entire thing like a greased nightmare to reap the boss's soul.

Because there is talent here. There's wonderful art direction, fun combat, a great range of quests and some cute cutscenes. But it's the video game equivalent of a variety show. In offering everything, Darksiders II never once achieves greatness. Which is a shame, because if there is a Darksiders III at some point in the future the odds are it's going to be even broader.

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