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Game Bytes: Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition


War is still in trouble: let's take on the role of Death to find a way to clean his name

Darksiders 2 is a 3rd person hack&slash style game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ Nordic.

We take on the role of Death, "primus inter pares" (first among equals) of the four horsement, looking for a way to redeem his brother War, who was accused of starting the apocalypse before it was due.

This review references the previous chapter, so I suggest you to read Game Bytes: Darksiders Warmastered Edition first.

Graphics

Darksiders 2 has graphics which are comparable to Darksiders Warmastered Edition, with good support for high resolutions, high-quality textures and varied and very detailed settings.

Graphical variety was sacrificed in favour of a more immediate gameplay: instead of various handholds like steel cables, metal or wooden beams, we have few well-recognizable types of holds.

Such sacrifice is well repaid in other sections of the game. What's here is still well detailed and mixes well with the environment.

Setup and Performance

Installing the game via Steam is absolutely fast and painless, performance is great, without any frame drop with high resolution and quality. I didn't feel the need to change the default controls, which are still comfortable enough after getting used to them.

Sound

Great sound design, sounds have excellent quality and are played without any latency.

Countrary to the remake of the previous chapter, I didn't find any bugs when it comes to sound. This keeps the player immersed in the game for the whole duration of the experience.

Gameplay

The game is a 3rd person hack&slash style of game, where we are controlling the horseman Death.

Controls are slightly different compared to the previous chapter, with a control scheme that I judge better overall, and a combo system that continues to be simple to use and learn.

This game also has some puzzles that can be a bit harder than the previous chapter, but are overall better designed and feel less "arbitrary".

Compared to War, which felt (rightfully) heavy, Death is nimble and light, allowing for wall-runs and vaulting between different handles with ease and gracefulness. Death is a pleasure to control.

Furthermore, this game has weapons, armors and talismans that are procedurally generated, adding another level of depth to the game. This is further improved by "possessed weapons" which can level up by "eating" other weapons that we don't use.

Extra: Bugs and extra campaigns

Compared to the previous game, a lot of improvement was made when it comes to stability: I found only 3 bugs while playing through the entire game twice (the first time some years ago).

Let's start with the first one, found in both gameplays: the collision of a certain "invisible wall", similarly to the previous chapter, fails to be removed after an arena-style battle, stopping us from proceeding.

The problem is solved by loading the savefile again.

The second bug is another instance of "falling out of the map", but this time a "death plane" forces Death's "demise", bringing us back where we should be.

The extra campaigns are a very appreciated addition, that lengthens the gameplay by a couple of hours, but I would have preferred accessing them directly from the main campaign instead of selecting them from the main menu.

Conclusion

In its second chapter, the Darksiders series finds a fantastic sequel that surpasses the first chapter in every field: the story is compelling, the setting is varied and well-crafted, stability is improved, sound design is excellent as is the gameplay.

As usual, the score goes from 0 (the equivalent of Apocalypse on Earth) to 100 (the sacred relic in the White City).

The score is: 88/100 , solid and very close to perfection, besides some trifles here and there.

Thank you again for reading, see you in the next post!

Penaz.