Darksiders Genesis

Review

“The war for Eden has ended. The NEPHILIM, unnatural spawn of angel and demon, sought to claim the paradise for themselves, but were ultimately slaughtered by four of their own kind … The HORSEMEN. Chosen to stand against their brothers and sisters by THE COUNCIL, the Horsemen were granted great power to preserve THE BALANCE. Now, Eden is a tomb, and the fledgling humans have been relocated to begin a peaceful existence elsewhere”.

You play as Strife and War (if playing solo), two of the legendary Horsemen; you have returned to The Council after defeating the Nephilim at Eden. The Council explains that while what happened in Eden is tragic, it was necessary in keeping the Balance. With Death and Fury elsewhere, the Council requires Strife and War to seek out Samael, Lord of Blackstone Keep who conspires with Lucifer, Lord of all Hells. Lucifer wants bring humanity’s downfall, but the Council won’t allow this to happen as it will disturb the Balance. So, your mission is to Seek out Samael, unravel the plot and serve the Balance.

The game starts with War and Strife looking down upon Samael’s fortress which is currently under attack. Unsure of who is attacking Samael and how numerous the enemies are, you decide to not walk through the front door with a quick in and out visit. Here is where your adventure begins …

You’re on a ledge high above Samael’s fortress and must find a way inside. Riding your demon horse, you set off to find Samael before the army below get their grubby mitts on him first. As you make your way through each scenario, you’ll be able to switch between the characters, War and Strife, at any time. Doing this will allow you to use each of the character’s abilities for different scenarios. War likes to get up close and personal, to see the colour of his enemy's eyes as he slaps them silly with Chaoseater. Strife prefers to deal with his enemies at a distance and does this with his trusty pistols, Mercy & Redemption.

As you progress through each area, you’ll be confronted with many enemies. Defeating these enemies will release the Souls, which can be collected and used to purchase items and upgrades. You may also find some Creature Cores from fallen enemies. There are two types of Creature Cores: Minor and Major. Minor Cores are dropped from smaller enemies while Major Cores are dropped from elites and bosses. The cores fall into one of three categories: Attack, Wrath and Health. You can use the cores you collect to activate unique augmentations which will boost your stats and abilities.

You can also collect Wrath Souls from defeated enemies, and these will increase your Wrath Metre. Your Wrath Metre will allow Strife or War to use their own unique Wrath Abilities once your Wrath Metre is full. You will also find some new Ammo Types and Enhancements which can give you an upper hand in battle if you use the right enhancement. You can have multiple enhancements and you can select which ones you’d currently like to use depending on your situation. You’re able to equip two ammo types at once and they can be changed at any time by opening the Ammo Selector.

You can equip gear for both Strife and War to your Gear Radial Menu. Any gear you have for each character can be selected from here. Gear such as the Void Bomb can be used by Strife used at certain points called Void Portals. If you use the void bomb on two void portals, you’ll create a portal that you can move or throw items through. War has the Vorpal Blade which can be thrown at multiple targets such as enemies, torches wall switches etcetera. It can also transfer a flame from one torch to another target. Both characters have passive abilities.  They also have their own steed to travel around on and the Tempest Cloak, which will allow them to glide after a double jump; you’ll also be able to glide in an air current to move upwards.

As you progress through each area you will come across some puzzles which you’ll be required to complete so that you can move forward. Also, throughout each area you’ll have to confront elite and end level bosses. Scattered here and there are chests which can be opened, and you’ll gain some reward from them. Some are hidden, so keep your mince pies open.

Along with the main quest of finding Lucifer and uncovering his plot against mankind, there are other quests which you’ll be able to complete and gain more creature cores. You can check the list of quests and the rewards for completing them by selecting the menu screen. Here you’ll find Creature Cores, Collection, Journal, Quests and Area Map. Choosing Quests will open the list of quests and their rewards. Once you have completed a quest you will then have to collect your reward from the Quests menu.

Creature Cores is where you add any creature cores you have collected on your way through the game. The Journal is where you can find information on characters, the Council and other things throughout the game. Collection is where all your current abilities, currencies, ammo and enhancements, skins, gear and equipment etcetera are stored. You can also see your current Attack, Wrath and Health stats here.

There are three game saves where you can save your current games. The game can be played with a friend or another online player. However, if you wish to play the game solo then you can select to play a private game on your own. The game is also a Remote Play Together game so you can play co-op with a friend who doesn’t own the game.

In the options you’ll find settings for Game (Gameplay, Assist, User Interface – General/HUD), Graphics (Display and Quality), Audio (Sound and Cutscenes, Controls (Key Bindings), Language (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Korean, Chinese).

So far, I’ve enjoyed playing Darksiders Genesis; it runs well and looks good. Currently I’ve only played the game on my own in solo private game, as I prefer to play and learn a game before playing co-op, but I’ll certainly give it a bash at some point. I did get a little frustrated at times while trying to use the Vorpal Blade to light multiple torches which would then allow you to complete a puzzle. This could have just been me being useless and not doing something right but in the end, I did manage to get past where I had been stuck getting frustrated.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!