Darksiders
Preview
Play the God of War as he seeks vengeance
by Howie Howard
previewed on X360
Armageddon
Darksiders is the new action shooter for the PS3 and Xbox 360 game consoles.
It is set in a world where Armageddon did become a reality and humanity has been wiped from the face of the earth. However a twist has been thrown into the mix as it seems like the battle between Heaven and Hell was started prematurely.
The protagonist in this battle of the ages is the wrongly accused forth Horseman of the Apocalypse, called War. He has been accused by the mediators between Heaven and Hell – the Charred Council – as being the cause of the premature start. This false accusation has caused War to be banished for eternity to the barren plains of Earth as punishment for his misdeeds. Of course he needs to clear his name so he sets out on an epic quest to regain his lost superpowers and to set things right. Whether War can restore Humanity to its former glory or simply acquire revenge for the soiling of his name will be an exciting adventure.
War
This game might be seen as a classic slash and mash affair where the sole purpose is to mow down a long line of progressively stronger enemies and bosses. However this one is different as it has an actual plot and story line. The thing I like about this new entry into the shooter ranks is that it is not a scripted, linear story like others of its ilk. If you forget to accomplish a task or if you find that a certain game section is too hard you can go back and try to find the weapon or item that is needed to finish the level.
War as the main character in this game is a sight to behold. He looks like a hulking behemoth in his shiny blue armor with massive sword and other bristling weapons. War’s main weapon in the game is a sword called the Chaos Eater and it is massive. As War wields the Chaos Eater against his enemies it builds up power that is displayed in a meter on the screen. Once fully charged War transforms into a glowing, fire breathing demon that can unleash destruction like no other character in the game. He has other weapons at his disposal such as a boomerang named Crossblades and a four barreled hand gun – Mercy – that can dish out enormous amounts of punishment to enemies at long range. In addition to the weapons he has at his disposal at the start, War can salvage weapons and items from the corpuses of his fallen enemies.
Collectable goodies
As in similar games of this type, Darksiders is a romp where you need to collect things in order to be able to face the final boss. In fact there are so many different treasure chests, health orbs and other goodies that there isn’t enough space here to describe them all. As you make your way through this landscape that is littered with hideously deformed mutants you gain additional limited use magical powers by literally sucking the life juices from their dead carcasses. Weapons can be upgraded and as you progress, War’s powers can also be upgraded until he regains all of the powers that were unceremoniously taken from him when the game began.
