Darksiders

[DaytonaUSA]

I'll be buying this game this week. It looks fantastic. From what I've read it seems like everything I was hoping Zelda would eventually do but didn't. Plus, the art direction looks fantastic. I love Joe Mad's work, and this is definitely one of his larger projects.

 

I thought this comic was very funny btw. Anyone else planning on picking this up? Other games I need to buy are Heavy Rain and GT5 in the upcoming months.

 

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/1/8/

[Jess Ragan]

It's Darksiders. Big difference there.

[moycon]

It's Darksiders. Big difference there.

 

LOL There was a definite reason I passed over opening this thread sooner.

I'm not a HUGE fighting game fan at all.

 

Darksiders however, looks totally kick ass!! Let us know what you think Daytona.

This will be a title I will for sure get eventually.

[Gabriel]

Darksiders has hit my radar as something to check out when it gets cheap. The visuals kind of remind me of playing Rifts back in the 90s.

[DaytonaUSA]

It's Darksiders. Big difference there.

 

LOL There was a definite reason I passed over opening this thread sooner.

I'm not a HUGE fighting game fan at all.

 

Darksiders however, looks totally kick ass!! Let us know what you think Daytona.

This will be a title I will for sure get eventually.

 

 

Oh god, I'm showing my Saturn bias.. sorry about the name mixup guys . Yea, I'll probably do a review on it. I'm sure it'll be amazing from what I've seen. haha, man I can't believe I did that.

 

I can't even edit the thread anymore to save face...

[Jess Ragan]

That's where you come in, Albert!

[MagitekAngel]

Okay now, I came in here and thought we were going to talk about Darkstalkers

Maybe next time...

[Tempest]

I'd change the title but I think it's funny...

 

Tempest

[DaytonaUSA]

I'd change the title but I think it's funny...

 

Tempest

 

You're so cruel, Tempest

 

 

 

Just watch... I'll have the last laugh. They're announce a new Darkstalkers game and I won't look like such a bone head haha.

[MagitekAngel]

As far as I know, I don't think there's been a truly new Darkstalkers game since 1997. Ports, yes. Sequels, no.

[DaytonaUSA]

Ok guys.. I don't know why the title can't be changed, please pity me! lol

 

 

ANYwho, I purchased the game tonight, and wanted to give my opinion thus far.

 

I'm a couple hours into the game, maybe more. I've not gotten to my horse yet, which I can understand. The game has the typical "Metroid Prime" vibe, where you have everything at first, then you're stripped of it and you slowly regain it as you go on.

 

Graphics wise, the game is beautiful. I'm a huge fan of Joe Mad's work, and it's very obvious he designed everything in this game. Even the title screen uses his 2D illustrations to great effect. I was surprised with how well the characters looked up close. Many games, Mortal Kombat VS DC comes to mind, look great until you get close and it looks muddy. That or, the only "good" looking moments are in CGI vids that are well integrated with the game, but are obvious to catch. The only CGI moments I've seen are in the beginning of the game to illustrate what happened to the world. Otherwise all conversations are with the game's engine, which is very welcome.

 

Sound. This is one of the things that I really really like about the game so far. Everything from sound effects to voice work is simply amazing. The voice work reminds me of Batman and Heavenly Sword, if that gives you any indication of it's quality. The only thing that bothers me is that some of the main characters sound like they're from the same voice actor. In fact.. their voices are the freakin same, literally. So the guy who's in your arm to make sure you don't go amuck sounds like the main merchant demon who gives you advice. When they talk right before or after another, it's painfully obvious their voices are very similar and often makes you confused as to who is saying what. But still, the voices are STILL very good. .... Speaking of Batman, I swear the merchant/arm guardian is Mark Hamill. If not, the voice actor did a terrific job of replicating the Joker's personality and voice.

 

Controls. Besides needing to switch the Y axis to inverted for good camera control, it's spot on. It does what it should.

 

Gameplay. Ok, here's the only bit of the game that isn't perfect. I bought this game under the assumption it was like Zelda and God of War, but mainly Zelda. Now, it IS too premature to make a final judgement, but everything thus far in the game is soley a rip off of God of War. Seriously. Everything from the whole souls in the chests to give you power, to the way the red gas covers the doors while enemies spawn in the room until you defeat them all, to the fact it's basically a non stop brawler... it's all God of War. Again, this is not a bad thing, but I got this for the Zelda aspects and thus far, in that respect, I'm sorely disappointed.

 

There has only been one "puzzle", if you even want to call it that, and was nothing God of War wouldn't have had in it's game. One main thing I love about the Zelda universe, is that it's easy to tell when you're safe and when you're under attack. You're very often safe, and feel safe to explore and take in the environment. That's all missing. In fact, you're always on your toes and much of the environment goes largely unnoticed since you're always in combat, with the camera zooming in and out of enemies, ect.

 

Now, I've seen reviews of the game, and I know the "Zelda" parts are coming. The horses, the temples, ect all should be in this game. However, for a game that is primarily considered a Zelda knock off by critics, It's certainly taking it's damn sweet time to show it's inspiration.

 

 

 

All in all, I'm having a lot of fun, and the art, sound, voices, and gameplay are strong. However, if you buy this, and hate God of War, don't expect to get to the Zelda parts too quickly. In fact, it better get here soon or else I might honestly start getting annoyed. God of War is all fun and all, but it's not my favorite franchise by far. This game could have a better mix of the Zelda parts and it's simply not taking anything from that game atm.

 

As a reference, I have defeated the 4-5 red chambers that test your skill, freed the second stone guy, and am slightly further than that up the road.

 

 

 

I'll update as I get further in the game. And again, please change the title of this thread. Thanks.

[DaytonaUSA]

Alright, we finally got to some Zelda style gameplay. The game is now a lot better. I don't know why they made the beginning so freakin focused on God of War gameplay, but now it's a lot more varied. I finally have my crossblade (boomerang) and it's making the game quite a bit more varied, which is very good. The puzzles are coming in full force now, and I actually got stumped on one (that was kinda obvious, but that's besides the point). No horse yet, but the "temples" are in full force and have a lot of varied enemies.

 

My suggestion is, if you're slightly annoyed with the game's gameplay direction for the first 2.5-3 hours, just make yourself go through it because better awaits.

[Tempest]

Changed the title. You guys are no fun...

 

Tempest

[Red 5]

It does get better as it goes on.

 

The first 2 hours is a buttong mashing crapfest though. It is definitely just a poor God of War clone.

 

Then it becomes a poor to fair Panzer Dragoon clone.

 

Only then does it become a fair to good Zelda clone.

 

I hear it also becomes a Portal clone later on.

 

I just finished the third dungeon and still don't have a horse, but it's not like I'm overly excited to get one. I guess because of the fact that it rips off such great games, and mixes them together fairly well it is enjoyable. As a GameFly game, it is a great time killer until Mass Effect 2 and Bioshock 2 come out at then end of the month, but if I dropped $60 on it, I would be much more critical I think.

 

(Other games it rips off slightly are Shadow of the Collossus and one of the creatures looks like the eyeball baddies from Eye of the Beholder.)

 

The funny part is that the ripoffs are not subtle at all. They are amazingly blatent. The fighting looks and acts (not as good control-wise though) just like God of War right down to the orbs. The only difference is that blue is money and green is health. Souls in treasure boxes too. They come flying right into you while you run just like God of War too. You even upgrade your weapons just about the same way.

 

Panzer Dragoon? Same exact control scheme. It might as well be a mission pulled directly from the game.

 

Zelda? Your first weapon? A boomerang. Seriously. When you get to an important treasure chest in a dungeon, it even plays a little jingle a la Zelda. Grapling hook? Check. Strong fists / gloves? Check. Added weapon from dungeon pivotal to beating the boss at the end? Check.

 

I don't know if it's a loving tribute to some of the best games of all time or a blatant ripoff but the game is just good enough to enjoy. I will definitely paly through to the end.

[DaytonaUSA]

Besides the first bit, I am honestly truly enjoying it. Even the beginning was beautifully presented in it's own right. Now that the gameplay is more varied, and the combat more sophisticated, I think it's the game I imagined it to be in my head.

 

The Panzer Dragoon bit, to be fair, was VERY different. You didn't have a separate aiming joystick as you did for the one you steered with in Panzer, like you do in Darksiders. I wish it did control more like Panzer honestly, because the two joystick thing was kinda confusing and disorienting. Also, the fact you can't look to your sides or behind you is a big difference as well.

 

Anywho, it's now getting good in this first temple. I'll update my opinions the futher I go into it, but for now, I'm glad I purchased it.

 

 

PS: Does anyone know if that is Mark Hamill doing the voice acting for the arm demon and merchant characters?

[Red 5]

PS: Does anyone know if that is Mark Hamill doing the voice acting for the arm demon and merchant characters?

 

It is him, which is funny really because he is just doing his Joker voice from Batman. Throw that on the pile too!

 

It is a good game, just not great. It's nice to see a game from a new company and for a first effort, it's impressive. I look forward to seeing them do other things.

 

And you are right, the game is great eye candy.

[moycon]

And you are right, the game is great eye candy.

 

One thing that I read from a reviewer, and that he felt took away from the game (and after watching a brief video I agreed) was the lack of soul to the levels which were otherwise simply gorgeous. Except for hoards of enemies, the levels were all but vacant. Is everyone supposed to be dead? Did they not leave corpses? I saw a helicopter fly overhead in a ruined city, but no people covering up or running in fear. No dogs barking. Not even a cockroach scurrying by. I don't think that is a deal breaker by any means. I still want to get this game for certain. Sometimes little things you might not even usually consider, separate great games from AWESOME games. Was just curious what you guys thought about this?

[DaytonaUSA]

And you are right, the game is great eye candy.

 

One thing that I read from a reviewer, and that he felt took away from the game (and after watching a brief video I agreed) was the lack of soul to the levels which were otherwise simply gorgeous. Except for hoards of enemies, the levels were all but vacant. Is everyone supposed to be dead? Did they not leave corpses? I saw a helicopter fly overhead in a ruined city, but no people covering up or running in fear. No dogs barking. Not even a cockroach scurrying by. I don't think that is a deal breaker by any means. I still want to get this game for certain. Sometimes little things you might not even usually consider, separate great games from AWESOME games. Was just curious what you guys thought about this?

 

 

Play the game .

 

The people are all dead... about 100 years after the apocalypse. The only "humans" are like zombies, but the rest have naturally rotted, obviously.

 

In the beginning of the game, there are people screaming, crying, (many sound effects that were very well voice acted) ect and many people running around all over the place. There's paper and trash on the ground after the humans have been extinct for a century, cars (that actually are very detailed in their destruction with melted/flat tires, rust, ect) and building structures. Heck, I even came across some crows and birds, which seem to be also kinda evil looking, though I don't know if they are demonic or simply survived the onslaught.

 

So yea, there's plenty of life when there should be, and subtle life when there should be . It does feel like you're a bit alone sometimes.. but if you had all of New York city to walk around in after everyone died 100 years ago, you'd feel alone too! haha.

[moycon]

The people are all dead... about 100 years after the apocalypse.

 

Ah cool. That makes sense. Thanks!

Sucks for us though, I don't wanna be dead.

[DaytonaUSA]

The people are all dead... about 100 years after the apocalypse.

 

Ah cool. That makes sense. Thanks!

Sucks for us though, I don't wanna be dead.

 

The cool thing is that it's not like, "It's 100 years since the apocalypse", and then that's the last you hear about the humans. They've done a good job of referring to them throughout the game to make sure people still feel connected to the first large event in the game.

 

For instance, Mark Hamill in arm ghost form (lol) refers to the humans partway though the game saying "for such weak creatures they made some amazing hidden passageways. I bet there's all SORTS of hidden treasure in here". Another nice touch is simply the fact that War seems to sympathize with the "3rd kingdom" (human world). Partway through the game he asks Mark Hamill in arm ghost form how long he's been out. Mark Hamill responds with "for 100 years... plenty long enough for all the humans to die off", in which War sadly responds with "so...the third kingdom is lost?" with a long awkward pause afterwords.

 

They really did think a lot of this through. Like reviewers say, it has a lot of polish. Did they rip off a lot of other games? Yea, they did. However, they cared for this project like a baby, and you can see that in the details of the story and complexity of the characters. This is not your typical, shallow God of War/Gears of War "Me is man, grunt" type of game, even if it looks like it from the surface at some points.

Edited January 14, 2010 by DaytonaUSA