Darksiders II

by Chris Davis
previewed on PC
No Mercy, Full Conviction
As the most feared of all the Horsemen, Death lives up to his immortal reputation as the bringer of the end. Though Darksiders II players can unlock a motley amount of weapons to eviscerate their foes with, the majority of players will find themselves using Death’s base weapons: twin scythes that can form one large, deadly scythe. The twin scythes are good for quick attacks and, when used in combination with various spells Feast of Crows (a spell that summons a flock of crows to peck at and disorient enemies) and side weapons like pistols, can be very effective for balancing out groups of attacking enemies. Death does not have the ability to block incoming attacks as Vigil has instead decided to include a dodge mechanic. Given some of the combat scenarios in the original Darksiders, this may be a very welcome substitution.
And while writing about weapons, we should also discuss Death’s Reaper form, comparable to War’s Chaos form. In Reaper form, the muscle-bound masked character changes in to the more traditional interpretation of Death: a wicked-cool hooded force of nature. In his Reaper form, Death delivers double damage on enemies for a limited amount of time. Unlike in the first game, where the Chaos form was something you saved up for particularly difficult encounters, players are encouraged to use the Reaper form in Darksiders II much more frequently. You will even see Death utilize his Reaper appearance in cut-scenes - something that didn’t happen in the previous game.
As far as the game’s story is concerned, Vigil is keeping their lips tight despite the game being pretty much content complete at this point. The game’s first demonstration to the press saw Death competing in an arena in order to be granted an audience with the Lord of Bones, the proverbial soul trafficker for the afterlife who possesses all of humanity’s souls. In this sequence, players had to collect three horns to summon the champion of the arena which took the form of a serpent-like bone creature with a skull and elongated spine that attacks the player from underground. Once it suffers a substantial amount of damage it transforms, summoning the bones of the arena’s previous challengers and creating a much larger, more hostile champion.
The only other substantial demonstration to the press happened most recently. Visually depicted for the public in the game’s latest trailer, Death chases down and engages a giant creature known as the Guardian, a monstrosity not unlike the first game’s Gates. The sequence evokes memories of Shadow of the Colossus and certain boss fights in God of War as the player must assault this monstrous rock-being. In the chase, players had to make precisely-timed jumps and dodges to get around the Guardian’s attacks in order to find a weak point on it. This fight both stands as testimony to the series’ ambitiously large conflicts as well as the scale of what’s at stake for Death and, consequently, War.
Definitely Fear the Reaper
Darksiders II is shaping up to be just as big and bad-ass as its predecessor was two years ago and has the potential to even blow that great game out of the water. We here at HookedGamers can’t wait to get our hands on the game. Keep an eye out for more coverage closer to the game’s release.