Darksiders Genesis Preview – As it once started
So much is announced at E3 that sometimes something threatens to pass unnoticed. One such game that was not highlighted during a major press conference was playable on the trading floor. Publisher THQ Nordic had set up about twenty play areas for it, and in one of those places we made the first meters in the game.
Darksiders was one of the series that fell victim to the bankruptcy of the original THQ. The rights to the game came into the hands of what is now called THQ Nordic. The creator of the first game, developer Vigil Games, did not survive the bankruptcy, but the former employees of Vigil founded two new studios almost immediately. The first, Gunfire Games, was responsible for Darksiders III.
The other studio, Airship Syndicate, first made Battle Chasers: Nightwar, but is now allowed to enjoy Darksiders Genesis. The fact that Genesis is made by Airship Syndicate means that the appearance has been well taken care of. One of the founders of the studio is Joe Madureira, the cartoonist who shaped the graphic style of the first game. Remarkably enough, he opted for a slightly different angle with Genesis.
First there was Genesis
However, we start with the story. The term Genesis is biblical, which is of course not strange for Darksiders. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that are central to the series are described in chapter 6 of the New Testament book of Revelation. The addition Genesis means that the new game is a kind of prequel to the events of the first game.
War returns as a playable character. We know the checkered warrior from the first game. This time he is once again armed with Chaos Eater, the almost man-sized sword. However, War is joined by his brother Strife in Genesis. Strife is new and after War, Death and Fury the fourth Horseman to appear in the series.
War and Strife are ordered by the Council to face none other than Lucifer, the Demon King who is trying to disrupt the Balance the Council is trying to preserve. To achieve his goal, Lucifer has sent a number of Master Demons to Hell, who must defeat War and Strife. For those who have followed the storyline of the series: in Genesis you learn more about the origin of the Seven Seals.
From above
Back to that other angle. You should take that quite literally, because Airship Syndicate has given Darksiders Genesis a different camera angle. The camera is placed upwards, so that you view the game world from an isometric point of view. It suits the slightly different gameplay of Genesis. The game is now more of a dungeon crawler like Diablo, while the previous games were more third person action. Genesis is also fully playable in co-op. When playing solo, you can switch between War and Strife at any time. If you play as a duo, each chooses one of the two brothers. Both players are also looking at the same screen, which means you have to stay close to each other.
Genesis also has a different structure than its predecessors. There are no vast levels of which you unlock more and more parts and in which you regularly retrace your steps. Genesis consists of separate dungeons that are composed of different levels. There are seventeen of them. You still have to climb and jump a little bit, but not nearly as much as in the previous games, and the share of puzzle work has also been drastically reduced. The new game is mainly about hack ‘n slash , especially if you play with War. Strife is equipped with two pistols and thus more ranged than his brother. Being able to switch even mid-battle is helpful. This allows you to start from a distance with Strife, and then finish the fight with War up close.
specials
Both combatants also have a meter that fills up as they progress through the dungeon. Once the time has come, you can deploy the Special available to both combatants. They then become about four times as big and also a lot stronger, which is useful for the boss battle that awaits in every dungeon. Because you will have to defeat a lot of weaker opponents before the meter is full, it is important to save the Special for such boss confrontations. War and Strife can also be upgraded considerably, which is also necessary to defeat Lucifer and his demons.
What stood out while playing was that the controls of War and Strife were very pleasant during combat. That was not always the case in the previous games. Outside of combat, however, the controls were a bit less intuitive. Especially in the parts where you have to climb and jump to reach other parts of a dungeon. There is still some room for improvement.
As mentioned at the beginning, Madureira has given Genesis a slightly different graphic style. Protagonists and enemies now look a bit more cell-shaded, which fits well with the changed camera angle. Now that you look at the world from a little further, it is good that the lines are accentuated a bit more. Beyond that, however, the style is still very recognizable.
Preliminary conclusion
Darksiders Genesis just seems to be a nice prequel, in a series that has a somewhat messy history. The fact that Joe Madureira is responsible for the appearance makes everything look great again, and with a duo in the lead role, the gameplay is more varied than ever. The fact that the makers of Genesis have made a dungeon crawler is an excellent choice in our opinion. The puzzling in the previous games was nice, but fighting was always the most fun part, and that is now more prominent than ever. Wonderfully uncomplicated Demon bashing and collecting loot ? We are looking forward to it.