Following THQ's press conference, IGN was able to get a second, longer look at the newly-announced
Darksiders. Joe Madureira, the man behind Darksiders and a beloved comic-book artist, gave us the full tour. He brings a fan perspective to development and an artist's sensibilities to an apocalyptic story.
You play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Having just helped in bringing about the apocalypse, you've found yourself in the midst of a war between demons and angels. Following a betrayal, War is left stranded on a ruined earth without his powers. Your goal is to regain your powers, discover who betrayed you, and exact your revenge.
Despite the setup, Joe Mad insists the game is not story driven. This is a game about kicking a lot of ass and having cool weapons to fulfill that task. That's fine with us. Though we generally like some meaty story elements, Darksiders' slick style looks diverse enough to keep us interested without a lot of cutscenes.
In the short demo, we witnessed War play with a number of weapons. His primary method for dealing death was his mighty sword. At one point, following a prolonged battle with a large gargoyle-like demon with fire hands, we witness one of Darksiders' many cinematic finishes. War drove the sword through the demon's hand, pinning it to the ground. Then beat him to death. Sweet.
Other weapons included a throwing blade, a chain that could draw enemies near or toss them about, and a chain gun. That's right, you get to fool with mythical tools of destruction and modern-day weapons as well. This variety of hack-and-slash and shooter element gives Darksiders some promise. Yes, it does sound a lot like Devil May Cry, but Darksiders' modern weapons are more in line with Gears of War than DMC. It doesn't appear you will be switching between the two and juggling enemies constantly.
Throughout the adventure, you will fight both demons and angels on the path to discover what's become of the other Horsemen. The demons are clearly designs of Joe Mad, who is known for exaggerated proportions. Though the creatures were designed by a comic-book artist, the game itself doesn't have any sort of comic-book angle to it. There's no cel shading, no slick comic-book panel presentation. This is more of a traditional action game with grotesque creatures and some inventive weaponry. The angels, which were not shown, aren't going to be your typical supermodels with wings. Joe Mad described the angels as a "bad ass, warlike race."
At some point in his journey, War retrieves his steed. Unlike God of War, which had its winged horse only for traveling segments, Darksiders keeps the steed in play throughout. War's horse is basically another weapon, which can be called upon at any time and switched on and off as quickly as you would a sword or a gun.
All of these weapons, including the steed it seems, will be upgradeable. You can customize with a variety of modifiers. Your armor will change as you progress and by the end of Darksiders, War will be an almost unstoppable force of nature.
The first half of Darksiders has War searching through a ruined metropolis. Though the subway area we saw suggested the city might be based on New York, the unnamed city War fights his way through is considered to be Anywhere, USA. The second half of the game takes a much different turn as War journeys into the Abyss. The artwork on display for the Abyss was sort of a fantastical Hell, full of rich colors.
Darksiders won't be out for PS3 and 360 until 2008, but it's already looking like a solid offering. While it's hard not to compare it to DMC and GOW, Madureira likens the full experience to The Legend of Zelda... if Hyrule were destroyed in the Apocalypse, Link was given a chain gun, and grew some balls. Miyamoto, the gauntlet has been thrown.
Darksiders: Wrath of War
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Originally Posted by plakas
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