IGN AU: Darksiders Review

Darksiders has been a long time coming, but the wait has been worth it – this is a great action RPG. Solid, ever-evolving combat meets solid, ever-evolving puzzles in some really evocative environments. There are a few clumsy or lacklustre moments – the flying sequence is dull, for instance, and this isn't in any way a revolutionary game, but it is good fun and it is well-designed. A bit more challenge – both in combat and in puzzles – would have been appreciated (action veterans may want to consider playing on 'Apocalyptic' over 'Normal' difficulty), but in all Darksiders is more than worth your time and money.

Presentation - 9.0
Graphics - 9.0
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 8.5
Lasting Appeal - 8.0
Overall -

[RememberThe357]

Cool, now all I have to do is go out and buy it.

[Digitaldude]

Sounds pretty good, better than I better also.
But seriously is it me or do reviewers not know what a 9/10 is. IGN alone has given many many 9/10 in the year. 9/10 means a fantastic game that comes along a few times a year. Obviously many good games are coming out but they nee to adjust their numbers.
Around 5 years ago there werent half as many 9/10 given out then there was in recent years

[HammockGames]

Great score. Looking forward to this one.

Let the tide of great games for 2010 start rolling in.

@1.1 - As long as they're deserving of the score I don't mind, but I hear what you're saying. I'll worry if My Little Pony Road Apple Wars gets 9's and 10's. But it sounds like Darksiders is legit (good news for us).

[Rampant]

I need this game. How could this have been off my radar for so long?

[Raf1k1]

This is great news for me as I've been looking forward to it for the past month after checking out some vids on gametrailers. I like the idea of a hack'n'slash with dungeons and upgradeable gear.

The look of the game also appeals to me. It may not be graphically amazing but the way it's done it great.

[hatchimatchi]

We're seeing lots of 9's lately because developing games on the ps3/360 is extremely expensive. Gone are the days of horrible cash in games flooding the market. A game that flops can single-handedly close a studio down these days. I.e. Factor 5 with Lair and Free Radical with Haze. Bad games still rear their ugly head from time to time (rogue warrior & vampire rain, lol) but not nearly as much this generation. Companies realize that they have to make quality, polished products if they want to succeed in the videogame market. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, (anything by activision & the yearly madden game) but those games are still polished and playable, it's just the same recycled stuff over and over.

[The Great Melon]

@MmaFanQc

Agreed, that is an injustice right there. Godhand was definitely fun and quirky even if it I didn't particularly like the clunky tank controls.

[N4g_null]

You guys should realy support these guys they some really creative guys working over there. It's really too bad gow is getting all the hype when I love the art and stlye of the game more yet it's too bad I won't be getting an hd system just to play this game. Now if it comes to pc then I'm all over it.

[kvg88]

It got docked points for lack of multiplayer? Seriously, since when has this been a requirement?! Isn't there such thing as single player only games anymore? lol while multiplayer can be fun, it shouldn't be necessity.

[mrmikew2018]

IGN is full idiots, they think every game should have a multi-player mode like Halo.

[BigPete7978]

It's the way things have become now. Everyone wants some form of multiplayer in some way. I completely am the opposite though. I will take an amazing single player with a story that draws me in over multiplayer any day of the week. I rarely play multiplayer as it is.

[Raf1k1]

Wait for their review of GoW3. They'll knock that for lack of muyltiplayer too.

[Ravage27]

that was really retarded of them

[bacon13]

Agreed. This type of game is a single player experience. A multi player mode would probably have felt half assed and unnecessary. IGN STFU.

[KillaManiac]

It makes no sense to give lower score for no multiplayer unless it was a game series that became popular with its multiplayer and the new game did not have it.

At the same time you can't hate on IGN completely (overall all reviews) they seem to be alot better than other sites now and days.

They didn't dock no multiplayer on Dragon's Age, Fallout, Oblivion, or Mass Effect type games...so not sure they do it to this game.

Also this is only IGN AUs review....we will see if the NA review is odd as this one was.

[hatchimatchi]

If a reviewer knocks points off because of a lack of multiplayer, they deserved to be punched repeatedly in the mouth.

Multiplayer should never be a requirement and it's obsolete in the long run. What do you think is gonna happen to all these games whose focus is online MP when they shut the servers down 2 generations from now, or earlier? A solid single player experience will always outshine any MP focused game based solely on the fact that 15 years from now when the MP isn't playable, the single player campaign will be there, completely playable.

[TenSteps]

it has caught my attention

[peeps]

sounds good. i'm still not sure what to get tho, this or Bayonette since they both come out on the same day. I'm sure a game like this would give me more playtime but in the coming months i wonder if thats the sorta game i need lol, maybe best saving this 1 till we have a games shortage in the summer perhaps...?

[OmegaSlayer]

I don't expect a stop during summer.
This year will most surely be a non-stop rain of good games.
And devs are studying the times of releases to not saturate the market, so Summer will be the next Holy Land.

Bayonetta is awesome, around 10-12 hours on the first walkthrough and has a ton of replayability, the games is well thought and never gets old since the bonus characters have a slighth different gameplay and there's a lot of stuff to unlock.

I dreaded the review for Darksiders, until now I had the fear that the devs could have f**ked up a game with an incredible potential.
Now I'm happy.
Even 2 Italian magazines (OPM and PSM) both rated the game 9/10, so it's quite a unanimus verdict.
Congrats to Madureira, Vigil Games and THQ.

[mesh1]

NOT BUYING THIS GAME bayonetta is the best hack and slash ever made to date .

[robotnik]

You are already dead.

[hatchimatchi]

Bayonetta is a great game but considering this game isn't hack n' slash, your post comes across as stupid and irrelevant.

Darksiders, if anything, is more similar to Zelda than it is to the hack n' slash genre. Which, in my opinion, is a great thing. I love a good open world adventure game, we don't see them all that much anymore in games.

[TheXgamerLive]

I don't thinks it's a zelda look a like so much as it's more of a Legend of Kain/Soul Reaver look and play a like. In fact, if you liked Soul Reaver then you should love this game.

I have Mass Effect 2 pre ordered for january but I'm going to add this to my january list as well.

lastly, the sony fanboys are getting out of control, lets please stop the crap, ok? Enjoy the damn games, that's all.

[mrmikew2018]

I wonder what happen to IGN? they use to be an well respected site, but ever since the Xbox 360 came out, they did 360 on their site. I don't trust any of their reviews anymore.

[rob6021]

I don't know anymore, but I believe it was Bungie/MS that introduced the 'Review Event/Vacation' that a lot of games are now doing these days.

[cyberwaffles]

geez, it loses points for not having multiplayer? you know, i loved the introduction to online gaming and i still do to what it offers today, but sometimes i feel like its drawing back on games. back in the day we focused more on great single player experiences and if we wanted multiplayer then we just found a game that had split screen. now its like a standard to have multiplayer or otherwise it's not a good title.

sometimes i hate how reviewers rate games on longevity and replay-ability.

[hatchimatchi]

+ bubbles.

I cannot be bothered with playing games online. I understand why people enjoy it, but I couldn't care less about it. I play games to get lost inside the world i'm playing in and to experience a great story. If I want to interact with people i'll go over to my friend's house or have my girlfriend over.

[Budg3tG4m3r]

I want

[unrealgamer58]

it's getting gameflyed for sure If i really love it, It joins the libary

[Vmura]

It seems I will be adding another game to my need to buy list

[blikz]

it suprise me..

[MK_Red]

Let the 2010 begin the horsemen of apocalypse. Great score.

[tripewire]

thank god. Ive been waiting for this and was kinda dreading the reviews. Week one buy for me (Im busy)

[robotnik]

Not bad, superior version on the PS3.

[Sanzee]

No wonder we always find you in the open zone. Alone. By yourself. You sad, sad fanboy.

[xino]

seriously 9/10 for this sh*!???

If anyone has been catching up with this news of this game since it was announced at E3.

You'd know that:
*Developers have already considered making a sequel after this even though it wasn't half way done at the time. Which means, they didn't have the technology, software, experience and staff to build a better looking game. So the next sequel will have the graphical quality of like Gears of War 2 (not really using Unreal Engine 3). And gameplay quality will be that of Uncharted 2.

*E3 demonstration, gameplay was too generic! Now look at the recent video for gameplay, it's a far better improvement. But still not amazing in a way!

*No unlockable contents, no Multiplayer, no online support, no demo, no DLC. And you are willingly to pay a full price for this game £40/$50!???

*Publisher are spending amount of money for the advertising on this game, so if this game sells well, they'll push Darksiders 2 to the limit and make it beyond awesome than Darksiders 1.

Eh, this game may be good but I don't think it deserves a 9/10, with no additional contents. I don't think so son.

Once again I've proven IGNorant is a failure site!

[DARK WITNESS]

personally i think it's just one of those games you just have to try for yourself. but i can see it being getting good scores because it's fun. not every game needs to have uncharted 2 graphics to be a 9.

as for no multiplayer/ demo/ online dlc etc... well if anything, isn't that something that we gamers have repeatedly said has spoiled some games... we are always complaining about it.

again, not every game needs to have some online aspect to it. we know that 99% of the games with DLC are just ripping us off with content that should have been on the disc. 99 of games that have MP, have it as a last minute tacked on experience just to say they have done it. there are loads of games that have had demos and loads that have not... AC2 didn't and it turned out ok. everyone had good reason to not trust that game but AC2 turned out to be great.

give the game a chance, there are loads of games that get low scores for being crap... and because they are crap and got low scores we don't pay attention to them much, isn't that how it's meant to be.

from what I have seen of the videos of this game i am looking forward to it now. I hardly knew anything about it until about 2 weeks ago.

it sounds like it's taken the best bits of lots of different games and made something fun and different. what else does it really need ?

give it a chance, if you have not played it yet how do you know it does not deserve a 9. I mean it's all down to opinion anyway, what you think should get a 9 is not always what i think should be a 9 or the next gamer.

[hatchimatchi]

Yes, you're right. IGN is ignorant for reviewing a game that they played through....

I think it's dumb that they knocked off points for a lack of MP but still, they have PLAYED the game and saw fit to give it a 9/10.

You're over here whining and calling them ignorant but you HAVEN'T played the game.

You sound like a complete fool.

[xino]

just don't freaking complain when you don't get more out of your money from the game.

And please support the developer by buying the game at full price, hopefully, idiots like you who listens to what trash websites such as Gametrailers, IGN etc rate a game will learn not to follow IGN/Gamespot reviews.

and at DARK WITNESS
Yes it's all down to opinion, how I can give GTA 4 a 8/10 instead of IGN giving it a perfect score. Maybe you should stop reviewing journalist reviews who got paid to rate a game high score, then you'll find out just how much cool games you've missed out because these journalist gave the game a 7/10 or below.

[Majunior]

You have only proven yourself ignorant for rating a game without even playing it. I'd take IGN's reviews over yours anyday since they've played it. Also if you don't like how they rate games don't go there? I find most of their reviews acceptable.

[sajj316]

PLEASE .. PLEASE ... Good PS3 port!

[hatchimatchi]

Awesome, i haven't been following this game but after watching some videos and seeing all these great reviews (not to mention the comparisons to zelda) have made me want to buy this game. I'll be going out the day it's released to get it.

[jalen247]

Nice score. Can't wait to pick this one up. I knew it was going to be a great game.

[rob6021]

Truth is 9.0 from IGN is more like an 7.5-8.0 these days, which aint bad, it's just these guys seem to be slipping into operating as a business rather than an independent media organization. (by that I mean giving out inflated reviews to appease publishers for advertisements and/or early coverage) It seems you don't want to piss off big publishers in today's world.

9.0 just seems too apparent they were trying to please someone, i mean why not 9.1? or why not 8.9? because 9.0 enters preceptual AAA game. Publishers/devs would be really angry if it got a 8.9, and ask why it didn't get bumped to a 9.0.

[Majunior]

from ign uk did you even look into it?

[Digitaldude]

He was talking about the AU one.

[gameraxis]

when a game that looks like this gets a 9... how the hell can anyone think in this day in age of games, this can get a 9.. its not horrible, but come on... clunky blocky animations and graphics... somebody must have just been itching for an action adventure

[RadientFlux]

Awesome review and here I was fearing the worse, due to the game coming out in early January.

The last time I remember January being a good gaming month was back in 2005 when the first Mercenaries game was released. Now it seems January may be one of my favorite gaming months of the year, thanks to Darksiders, Divinity2 (loved the demo) and Mass Effect 2.

[Majunior]

I've been waiting for the reviews on this game for a while. Now that I know this game is good I'm def going to pick it up day one. Zelda/Castlevania/God of War type gameplay on 360? YES PLEASE!....Plus I have lots of wal-mart gift cards to get rid of from christmas. What better way to use them than on games?!

[Domer25]

wow, were starting off 2010 with a bang. Epic year for gamers.

[SDF Repellent]

I am getting this for my PS3 and Bayonetta for my X360.

Dark Void, Dante Inferno also look promising as well.

And GOW3 is a must have.

Also with the new Castlevania and Metal Gear Rising also on the horizon later this year..2010 seems like the year of the return of the Action Games.

Happy gaming

[DelbertGrady]

What is this!? Yet another great 3rd person action game? Crazy stuff!

[Aleusia]

This right here...this mother...

Edit: was going to attach a picture of the Death character..but it didn't work...crap