The idea behind Darksiders it is something unique (and courageous): each game, in fact, aims to tell the story of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (War, Death, Fury and Conflict). Although the names differ a lot in comparison to the four horsemen seen in the Apocalypse of John (even if the only one named is Death, while the other 3 are only defined as carriers of War, Pestilence and Famine), the idea was born precisely from battle of Armageddon described in the Book of Revelation. After 3 games and some ups and downs, now Airship Syndicate decided to shift the focus from the classic gameplay (which in any case varied from time to time) towards something different, isometric, and above all cooperative: here it is Darksiders Genesis.
Change
Abandoned the third person soul of the first three chapters (even though the second had become more RPG and the third had enhanced the phases platform), this time the game uses an isometric camera and gameplay structured primarily as a cooperative. In the role of War and Conflict, the player will have to complete the mission to stop the enemy on duty, who intends to upset the Balance and therefore bring chaos to all creation. The title is prior to the events that occurred in the other three games (thus abandoning the whole plot linked to War and the consequences), and for this reason it takes the name of Spin-Off (although the two characters are known in the main titles).
As we said, the game takes advantage of an isometric view, and with this it shifts the emphasis on some new gameplay dynamics. Let's start with the fact that the game is playable in both single player in that coop (local or online): if in the second case a player will control a single character, in the single player mode instead the switch can be done without problems with a button (it will be possible to exchange characters even in coop). This need arises from the fact that in some stages it will be necessary to exploit War, in other Conflict: we are talking about puzzles, real sessions in which the player will have to solve environmental puzzles (not too bright but fun). For the rest, the two characters have a very different game mode: Guerra will opt for the melee, with powerful sword slashes (Divoracaos) and physical attacks, while Conflict will have his two guns (Mercy e Redemption) to shoot all enemies from a distance (even if he still has some melee shots). The two characters are equally balanced, but your choice will probably fall mainly in the sphere of subjectivity, rather than necessity, pushing you to use the character that suits you best (although sometimes changing will make you comfortable to kill some hordes of enemies or to avoid dying).
The RPG core
Guerra can then use his Sword (or other which he will unlock in the game) while Conflict will be able to rely on his guns (by changing munitions when necessary): the two Knights, however, will not only have their weapon, but also skills. In some cases these will be closely linked to the weapon in use, thus pushing you to build your tactics on it, other times they will be real skills that will allow the two characters to carry out special attacks by spending the "Anger". To conclude the combat package we think there Chaotic Form, a transformation that War and Conflict will be able to carry out (temporarily) and which will see giant forms of these characters in play, destroying every enemy that comes under them.
If the combat system so change the right to become something cooler, unfortunately we can't say the same of Boss Battle and sections Platform, two cornerstones of the series: the first unfortunately do not shine with genius, leading each Boss to have very recognizable and predictable patterns, and therefore pushing the player to hit in quantity until his death. The platform phases, on the other hand, take advantage of the fantastic settings very well, but unfortunately due to a camera that is not too well managed, every now and then they become tedious enough to curse them a little.
Naturally Darksiders it cannot be defined as such without mechanics RPG, and this spin-off does not forget: if already the selection of weapons and skills will allow players to better manage their game sessions, the two characters will also have upgradeable values. Health, Attack and Wrath can be improved with creature cores, items that you will drop from combat (or that you will buy from the much loved Vulgrim, old acquaintance from the first episode) and that you can use in the power-up tree to improve stats and make battles easier. If this interests you, then you will also be interested in what the game will be replayable at a higher difficulty level once the first run is over, giving you access to what you have been missing (and game maps have many secrets to discover).
"The Pact was not broken"
Although the fear for a fan of the series could be that of being a diametrically opposed game to the old ones Darksiders, genesis keeps all the dogmas of the old titles of Vigil Games, starting with the development studio (which sees many in it and sees again Joe Madureira e Ryan Stefanelli as founders) and moving on to the choice of style: each setting, stylistic detail and characterization are in fact so well defined as to recall the quality seen in the first Darksiders, especially as regards the settings, this time more visible thanks to the camera. The story is also very accurate, telling itself through interesting dialogues (which lose a little due to the not too successful localization in the dubbing phase) and bringing new light on a period prior to the one we already know. The synergy between the two brothers, one rigid and the other more comic relief in the game, is interesting and never boring, and perfectly manages to bring to the screen a relationship that in the first three chapters had never been shown.
