Darksiders was an example of unusual game that brought nothing new to the gaming world, but nevertheless became widespread and extremely popular. It was a mixed bag of puzzles from The Legend of Zelda, gameplay from Prince of Persia and combat system from God of War. But all these ingredients were perfectly combined and flavored by the unique and exciting scenario. In Darksiders II the main traditions of the game were saved, but this time the adventure became bigger and more interesting.
The story in Darksiders II runs at the same time as the first part's one, but here we have another protagonist - Death. War - the Horsemen of Apocalypse and the main character from the first game - was charged for his crimes, but Death - his brother - is sure that War is innocent. To prove the brother's guiltlessness, Death will travel to Nether Realms - the place between Heaven and Hell where he will meet a lot of powerful creatures and monsters. You will need to play the role of Death, saving your brother and the whole mankind.
Who is our hero?
The story is almost the same, but in Darksiders II we will get a lot of new features and options. Death is much more agile and fast, and as he levels up, he learns new skills and upgrades his armor. Your primary weapon is Scythe, and there are several secondary weapons, useful for different combats. For example, during the game you will get powerful, but slow hammer and extremely destructive fire gauntlets. This arsenal will be very helpful, because you will meet a lot of dangerous enemies. Some of them will be 100 times bigger than your hero, and some can regenerate during the battle.
Another completely new feature is the loot system. Now you can pick up various goods of the fallen enemies and then exchange them for enhanced weapon and armor. To sell the loot, you need to go to the shop. It is interesting that you can travel to the shop like a flash, if you have already visited that location. That's why you don't need to carry all those goods as you can go to the shop anytime you want. In Darksiders II you will need a currency - gold, and you can get it not only by looting, but also passing different side missions.
There is a huge list of various side quests in the game, so from time to time even the main mission is lost against the quantity of additional missions. Sometimes you will need to solve puzzles, but most missions are fetch quests. In this type of quests you need to go to some place and to bring something important from there. Of course, during the mission you will meet a lot of monsters and demons, so you will have a chance to practice in fighting. You may find some quests boring, but all of them are promising the great reward. So don't be lazy, if you want to get extraordinary weapon and striking armor.
As your hero is a Horseman, the horse will accompany you the whole game. Also in Darksiders II you will get another one "pet" - raven. By the way, this bird can help you during the battle, because the crow flock can easily destroy several monsters. Don't forget about this feature when the combat is becoming hot.
And the last good news for the fans of Darksiders series - the game is four times increased! In Darksiders II you have much bigger map with totally redesigned locations. But the game is completely linear - there is no freedom of choices that is so popular in modern games.
But also we have one fly in the ointment - there are some bugs that can spoil the impression of the game. Sometimes the picture is freezing, and you need to reboot the system to continue, and occasionally your hero can get stuck in the environmental. The same problem is with the enemies - from time to time they disappear from the landscape and then appear again. Also it is better to have the console for the most full and convenient playing.
Darksiders II is a great sequel to the story about the Horsemen of Apocalypse, and this time the developers really succeed. Maybe this game hasn't brought something extraordinary to the gaming progress again, but it was upgraded significantly and deserves the highest marks.
The official trailer:
