Review: Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition
The ghost of THQ is back. Everything you loved about Darksiders II has been remastered for the current generation of consoles. PC, PS4, Xbox One, and even Wii U players can now enjoy this remastered collection aptly named Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition.
Having played both the original version and this latest iteration of Darksiders II, I must admit that I greatly approve of this release. It looks great and plays smoother than before. In the original version, I kind of struggled with some of the controls and became frustrated a little quicker. This time I managed to progress further than the first go-around, and found the gameplay to be a bit easier.
30 Second Review
+ Excellent Spectacle Fighting
+ Plenty of Collectibles
+ Story Matters
– Rolling Ball Puzzles May Cause Annoyance
– Puzzles Halt Action
I Am Death
There are few games that allow a player to step into the role of Death and even fewer games that deal with the Apocalypse on a Christian scale. The Darksiders series was supposed to be a four game series–each dealing with one of the four horsemen. The original Darksiders story line dealt with War. Darksiders II deals with Death in his quest to save his brother War. It’s an interesting story that intertwines Christian topics and beliefs, but it deals with Christianity from a mythic perspective rather than a perspective of belief. It did not stop me from enjoying the story, but rather just put it into perspective that this was a game and nothing more.
The spectacle fighting in Darksiders II is some of the best that you’ll experience from any game. It’s smooth, fluid, visually satisfying, and it feels so good. The chain combos are best in class. From a fighting perspective I love this game, and the only thing I wish for is that the game would have had even more combat. A horde mode would have just been amazing and would have likely been my favorite game mode. Sadly though, the combat will come and go in short spurts, which doesn’t add anything but instead takes away from the game in some ways. The boss battles feel epic and are great!
If you love searching and hunting for every single collectible in any game, this is a collectible seeker’s dream. There are plenty of hidden locations to explore; rewards, items, and secrets really help to propel the enjoyment that can be found inside of Darksiders II. Will you be able to find and collect all of the Boatman Coins? Now if you’re not interested in collectibles, you can skip this part, but the secrets and hidden gems are part of what makes this game so great. You will want to track them down in order to get the full Darksiders experience.
Stop in the name of puzzles!
Darksiders II has intricate puzzles and brain teasers. Some of them are very clever, while at other times they are just tedious and simply annoying. There are times where I’m feeling, “RAWR! Combat!” Then suddenly my combat is jarringly halted by a puzzle. It’s like the game is preventing me from enjoying it too much. I have to take 5 to 20 mins in order to figure out this silly puzzle that revolves around a rolling ball just so I can get back into the action. I hate those parts. It’s rather confusing, because this is the first time I’ve ever felt that a puzzle aspect in a game takes away from the game rather than adds to it. It’s such a bizarre and complex feeling.
What are you waiting for?
If you’ve never experienced Darksiders II, then this is the time to do it. Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition is the version to own and the best version we are ever going to get.
If you played a previous version of Darksiders II, then you’ve experienced the game; the only question is, do you want to revisit the game? It also has all of the DLC that comes along with it, so if you only played the base game, you still have yet to have the full experience of Darksiders II, and I would highly recommend to everyone that you should play it at least once in your gaming lifetime.
