Game review 04 December 2019, 17:00

author: Patrick Manelski

Darksiders Genesis Review – Looks like Diablo, but This Still is Darksiders

Is there any point in releasing a spin-off prequel after three parts of the series – and switching to isometric perspective? Surprisingly – yes. Genesis is so good, in fact, that I wish it was the first game of this franchise.

The review is based on the PC version.

Darksiders is a series that gives me warm feelings. However, the third part was, in my opinion, underwhelming in many aspects, and I had mixed feelings about coming back to the Fury. When I learned the new game will allow us to control Strife, the last Horseman, I was really thrilled. Then, they presented this whole Darksiders Genesis, which at first glance looked like some kind of budget variation on Diablo. But eventually, I was reminded of the old truth: do not judge a book by its cover. As it turns out, the new spin-off of the series is 100% Darksiders, only isometric!

War and Strife’s dance with demons

Darksiders Genesis is a prequel for the entire series. The story takes place before the events known from Darksiders and the finale of this game is a prelude to the original. So if you're only interested in the story, it's just one thing that makes Darksiders Genesis worth it. Just keep in mind that the plot is rather simple, so do not expect crazy turns of events – only an excuse to mutilate demons.

One can even say that the Riders are incredibly naive, their decisions seem meaningless, and the last scene may seem unfinished. It's like another act is missing. However, this is totally not the case, because after the end of Darksiders Genesis, you should jump right into the first Darksiders, for this spin-off lays the foundation to all subsequent events in a perfect way.

The last Horseman and his pals

Throughout the sixteen chapters, we will accompany Strife and War in their pursuit of the mission ordered by the Council – see for yourself which demon they have to chase. Along the way, we'll meet some old friends, a lot of new characters, and will either grow to love or hate the last Rider. Strife is rather specific – a cynical, self-confident jester who sometimes throws in some boorish one-liners.

Hats off to the devs, who decided to also give us another protagonist – without War, Strife would be a real nuisance. Accompanied by War, however, his malice gains a certain charm, contrasting with War's stern, military disposition. The dialogues between them are rather typical, but they have a few pretty amusing moments. A big advantage is the fact that story does actually exist in Darksiders Genesis – they often comment the events, and there's plenty of animated, cartoonish interludes.

The later are actually really good. Beautifully drawn, they perfectly convey the atmosphere and work better than regular cut-scenes on game engine. Also noteworthy is the full dubbing, which I definitely liked. The actors who voiced enmity and war were able to convey the spirit of these characters. I was only twisting the nose of the main antagonist (although using the child's voice was a jackpot), who sounded like he was reading his text from a card.

Perfect coop for two

Darksiders Genesis is a game created for coop. We can control Strife and War, between which we can freely switch in the cooperative mode. If we play alone, we control one rider and switch to the other at will, or when the other character dies. And I have to stress right away that this game is designed for two players from ground-up. We can play in split-screen, which gives the game a whole new dimension. Why?

The entire game world changes into coop mode. Puzzles and riddles are constructed in such a way as to emphasize the cooperation and simultaneous use of two characters. In the single-player mode, Darksiders Genesis is fully functional and there's no need to worry that something will not work. Remember, though, that it's impossible to complete the entire game with a single Rider – you will have to alternate every sometimes.

Jumping, puzzles and dynamic combat

At first glance, it may seem that Darksiders Genesis is a new Diablo clone. However, as little as five minutes in the game will convince you it's not like that at all. Darksiders Genesis is still just Darksiders, only in an isometric variant. This is a full-fledged slasher in which shredding enemies is as important as exploration and platform elements. All these ingredients together give a bit of freshness to games utilizing this classic perspective.

I really was pleasantly surprised by how well Darksiders Genesis works in isometric, without losing the charm of the original games. Our Riders travel on horseback, can jump, have to solve minor puzzles that require combining and using what's nearby. The platform sequences are delightful, and the number of collectables and secrets invites to explore each map.

Is there enough room for combat left? Even too much! It's still not a hack'n'slash, but I guarantee that you won't run out of demons and other filth to kill. The combat system itself is dynamic and doesn't really deviate from what we know from Darksiders. Each Rider has their own combos, attacks, and special abilities. War is the same War we know from previous parts, so the returning fans will feel at home. Strife uses his guns, only resorting to melee weapons when there's a necessity.

Be warned, though, the difficulty level of Darksiders Genesis can be surprising. On normal, opponents were not that easy and required the use of every ability of my Rider. One careless move, a missed bullet, and the game promptly switched me to another character. Over time, once I acquired all improvements and abilities, the game has become significantly easier, but I always had to be really careful.

Freedom and simplicity

We can develop Strife and War through the Creature Cores. These are special stones, providing specific bonuses. They serve as a form of equipment that we can loot. Usually in Darksiders Genesis, we do not have the opportunity to just purchase the best equipment. Instead, we stock up on the souls of defeated enemies, which are the main currency, and the Boatman Coins are an additional means of transaction; on top of that, we have the Creature Cores.

The latter provide bonuses and additional effects and have their own levels. The more cores of the given type of enemy we find, the stronger it will become, which will increase our overall strength. Bosses also have their cores, providing even better results. All these stones are placed in a special tree with a limited number of slots and are divided into certain categories.

Essentially, we can't use all the cores the way we want. To reach full power and get all the bonuses, we place the Creature Cores in the appropriate slots, so that the chain is not interrupted. In addition, some stones also have negative effects that disappear when we level the core up to the third level. This solution encourages replaying the game and maxing the cores to get the best bonuses that will suit us.

I’ve got the moves like Juggernaut

In Darksiders Genesis, there is no character creation. We can increase the life or anger bars, give the characters a few bonuses to their standard abilities, and have some abilities with a passive chance to cause some effects. However, they both have access to a rich range of attacks. Dodging, dashing, pulling enemies, tossing them around, charging – there's many moves we can use, and as we progress, we gain access to even more abilities.

We decide ourselves during the game what type of ammunition is more suitable for us as Strife, and what sword infusion works better for War. In addition, there is a special attack called synergy, and the ability to temporarily transform into a demonic form. All this makes for riveting combat that provides great room for experimentation.

The only thing I didn't really like was the solution of executions of low-health enemies. It doesn't work only for bosses, but when it works, it can spoil the fun a lot. As I said, combat can be difficult, but when we perform the finishers, we become temporarily immune to attacks, and it's easy to start exploiting this. Playing as War, you can do this to cope with larger groups of enemies.

16 chapters = 11 acts + 5 bosses

Darksiders Genesis consists of sixteen chapters, in eleven acts, during which we cross different areas of Hell and Eden. These stages combine platform sequences, puzzles, exploration, and fighting minor monsters. In addition, we have five "chapters" consisting only of fights with individual bosses.

The five bosses may not seem very impressive, but I guarantee each one will stick in your memory. Mostly because one careless move is enough to kill you. When both riders are dead, the fight is over. We have to note that the death of Enmity does not mean the end of adventure. If that happens, we switch to War and just wait for our brother to recover, which takes a few seconds. This allows you to extend the fights, especially when one character is less developed than the other.

The problem is, it's easier said than done. The bosses in Darksiders Genesis have their own mechanics. On normal, when I had a level than the game recommended, it was possible to ignore quite few of these attacks. But still, it was necessary to be very careful, and I had to replay some of the bosses several times. I shall only mention that the fight with Astarte was, in my opinion, the worst sequence in the whole game. Using horse was a nice idea, but the remaining elements were just annoying.

12 hours, and even more

It took me twelve hours to get through the game on normal difficulty. I admit I had real fun and I will certainly return to Darksiders Genesis for more, and that's for a couple of reasons. I haven't had the chance to explore most of the secrets, which all looked really captivating. There's plenty of locations that hide a ton of secrets. Near the end of the adventure, we also get access to all the special items, which can be used in the initial maps. Think of it as an invitation to revisit the games.

On top of that, we can also unlock an additional difficulty level by completing the game, which works like a New Game +. I checked it out, and damn it, it's hard. In order to take this challenge, I'll have to spend some time in the Arena mode. This is an additional mode, where in each level we fight ten waves of enemies with increasing difficulty. The Arena is perfect for grinding Creature Cores that enhance the strength of our character.

In addition, you can also go through individual chapters again, but not in order to uncover all the secrets. Darksiders Genesis also comes with a set of additional missions that require performing concrete tasks, in exchange for rewards. And I admit it definitely encourages exploration. Here, I shall add it's worth searching the lair of Vulgrim thoroughly, as it holds many secrets and goodies.

Isometrically means better

I wasn't sure how the isometric perspective will work in Darksiders Genesis, mainly because of the graphics. I thought Airship Syndicate, the developers of this installment, won't have a big budget, and will have to cut corners. Even if this was the case, the cuts were totally inconspicuous. On the visual side, Darksiders Genesis comes out on top, and can even look surprisingly good at times.

My attention was drawn to multidimensional level construction. There's no requirement to move on linear lines; I was able to jump down and find new ways. All the while, I was able to see enemies and objects from afar. And it all gets even better in platform sequences. Cameraworks were also surprisingly good, I would even say infallible, if not for a few moments when it made life harder. These instances were, however, few and far between, and it mostly works great.

The music is also fantastic. There's no other way to put it. All the songs fitted their moments perfectly, and some of them were even evocative of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.

Minor errors and shortcomings

However, there is a fly in the ointment – inaccurate textures. Sometimes, I would get stuck or fall into a hole that I couldn't get out of. Changing characters often helped, but I had to reset the entire level twice. Darksiders Genesis uses an auto-save system, which creates some problems in this respect.

I also encountered occasional disappearance of wings of the Riders when they were hovering in the air. What certainly deserves criticism is the unintuitive map – using it requires some serious cartography skills. However, I hope some of these flaws were related to the pre-release version I was playing, and that the appropriate update will fix most of them.

Still, sound during dialogues would sometimes change volume, and there were some discrepancies between subtitles and spoken utterances. After you got off the horse or swapped characters, there also was a split-second character freeze. During this short period of time, I would totally lose control of the hero, which led to my death several times. Totally unable to do anything.

Darksiders Genesis is a really good game

Time for the final verdict. I expected a lot less from Darksiders Genesis than I got. The developers managed to positively surprise me. Browsing the Web, I've seen a lot of comparisons to Diablo, so I expected a hack'n'slash; meanwhile, I just got Darksiders in an isometric variant that really delivers. I'd even venture to say this game is better than Darksiders 3, which I foud rather mediocre.

The adventures of War and Strife certainly stroke a chord with me. The series was invigorated with the new ideas, and I think this should be the new direction for subsequent installments. I will choose isometric over TPP every day of the year – it just works so well. Really, I'm totally sold on the entire concept – if there's another installment, I want it to offer coop for a few people. War and Strife really come along!