holoz0r's A-Z of Steam: Darksiders

Well hello there, PC Steam games library. You're awfully large. Using "How Long to Beat Steam", including the time I've already spent playing games, my Steam Library backlog is around 13.5 years as of February 2020. That is if I play games for 6 hours a week. I'm a 32-year-old man, and don't expect that I won't be able to stop myself from adding additional games to this backlog.

So, here's the kick with this series of posts. Can I complete a blog post about my opinion of every game in my Steam Library before my life expires or the Steem blockchain collapses and all is lost forever?

We're here to find out about this demented task.

Today, we're looking at a little game called Darksiders

In Darksiders you become War. Not war, the collective term for a whole bunch of people fighting under the guise that their coloured piece of fabric is superior to the other guy's person of fabric - but War, the Horseman of the Apocalypse. It is a third person action game, with hack and slash, and some RPG elements along the way.

The story is as expected to be by the protagonist you control... biblical. There's Heaven, Hell, demons, and a modern-day Earth in which destruction has reigned for years.

The gameplay of Darksiders feels generic. It reminds me of the magic of Devil May Cry in a way, but it tends to lack the flourish and finesse that came later in the genre from titles like Bayonetta.

Thanks to the art direction not striving for the uncanny valley, Darksiders has aged quite well, especially owing to the fact that the PC version in my collection got a "free" remaster by way of the "Warmastered" edition, which is fancy talk for "yo, buy our game again" (if you owned it before) - while this isn't so much an issue for PC gamers (As they generally get an upgraded version at no cost) - console gamers without implicit backwards compatibility built into their systems are often squeezed for money, in particular if they've moved on and up to a new platform, selling, or passing down their existing equipment.

In essence, it’s a competent game, unlike other stuff I've spoken about in my A-Z of Steam journey because it runs, looks decent, and has a tangible storyline. What it doesn't bring is a level of immersion and engagement. Try as it might, Darksiders failed to hold my attention, and failed to compel me to continue playing without the entire transaction of my time in exchange for moving pixels and a storyline to be sated.

As a result, it sits unfinished, with a certain lack of care on my part as to what happens to War beyond the opening hours of his romp around a conflict savaged Earth were the battle of good versus evil, heaven and hell has spilled to the streets of contemporary cities.
The third person action it presents this setting to feels like it limits the scope of an epic, world changing event.

I much prefer the fictional world of Diablo 3 to set this tone, as the sense of scale (of the forces of evil) are so much more impactful. This is a technological limitation of the engine of Darksiders, but I am not particularly interested in seeing if this changed in later instalments of the series.

I probably would not recommend this title if you’re looking for something to pass the time and want to be engaged in a tale that keeps you captivated. As a mindless action game, there’s better stuff out there. At best, it is competent. At worst, it’s a waste of your money.