Growing up in the 1990s, and in the heavily Evangelical Christian South, I heard about Armageddon somewhat regularly. No, not the classic 1998 Bruce Willis film about oil drillers becoming astronauts so that they can drill into an asteroid and blow it up with a nuke. I'm talking about the biblical battle between God's armies and the demons of the underworld, detailed in The Book of Revelation in The Bible. Revelation is a wild read, to say the least. Scholars have debated for two thousand years as to whether or not John was prophesying a future supernatural battle between Good and Evil, or if he was merely using this language figuratively to warn against earthly concerns for the early Christian church. Regardless, the imagery in Revelation inspired the imagination of millions, throughout history, as we tried to produce imagery of what these heavenly and hellish beings and events might look like.
In the Darksiders video game series, brought to life in part by the visionary comic book artist Joe Madureira, Armageddon lies at the very crux of the story. Darksiders plucks names and elements from Judeo-Christian traditions and establishes a rich mythology that is unlike anything I've seen before, and really is one of my favorite settings in video games. To lay out the universe as simply as possible, the forces of Heaven and Hell are locked in eternal conflict. A neutral party, the enigmatic Charred Council establishes a system to keep the two sides from entering into all-out war and throwing the universe into the end times, at least until the proper time arrives. A key component of this system is the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a group of exceptionally powerful warriors who the Charred Council utilizes to enforce their laws.
This first Darksiders game, simply titled Darksiders, is about how Armageddon is suddenly ignited without the proper protocols being gone through, and the Horseman War is blamed for the following Apocalypse, in which humanity has been completely eradicated from Earth. War is sent on a mission to find who triggered Armageddon, while negotiating and dealing with various powerful angels, demons and otherworldly agents, as well as battling fearsome beasts in the ruins of Earth.
Darksiders is something of a triple threat between the visuals, gameplay and story. The distinct art style and world design is impeccable. The character, enemy and creature aesthetics in this game are just incredible. It almost has a Warcraft-esque fantasy style. War would actually look right at home in Azeroth with his enormous pauldrons and hulking sword that would look perfect in the grip of a Death Knight. Also, Samael, a renegade demon/fallen angel, has one of my favorite designs in the game. His inverted, almost draconic wings look so cool.
The locales that you encounter across the game are also quite striking, typically being some sort of hybrid of a post-apocalyptic human settlement or structure, but changed by the supernatural forces occupying Earth. Though there are also some purely fantastical locations that are really neat. I remember one specific dungeon where you have to free an imprisoned archangel, and to do so you have to solve some mind-bending puzzles involving portals and I felt totally in awe at the inventiveness of it all.
Beyond the art though, the gameplay itself is phenomenal and deeply satisfying. Darksiders essentially plays like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, though with much better, action-packed combat. You're sent across a massive world where you have to solve puzzles, fight monstrous enemies and navigate mysterious ruins and dungeons. You're also frequently finding gadgets and tools to help War throughout his journey. While War has that aforementioned sword, he also has access to a full-blown arsenal of additional weapons that add so much depth to the combat. If you're needing ranged options, War can utilize weapons like a huge shuriken or his brother Strife's pistol. Once you've closed the distance, you can really carve up some damage with close-range weaponry. Besides his sword, War has a massive fist weapon that he can use, along with a gnarly looking scythe. You can bounce between each of these weapons in a wildly gratifying, gore-soaked dance of combat that keeps you excited for each round of battle.
While the original version of Darksiders released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this newer "Warmastered" edition is available on modern platforms. There's nothing of major note included in this remaster, other than improved performance and visuals.
Darksiders is really a wonderful game through and through. The game doesn't have a weak point, or an aspect that left me dissatisfied. If you enjoy the classic 3D Legend of Zelda titles, I definitely think you'd enjoy Darksiders. Between the distinctive art and universe design, the delightfully violent, kinetic combat and the great story, there's just a whole lot here to love.
VERDICT: Recommended
Reviewed on PlayStation 4
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