Exploring is a fun and crucial element to Darksiders, and Genesis has struck the balance between repetitive and enjoyable in that it drip feeds you these rewards at just the right rate to keep it fresh, giving you that ever-important dopamine fix every time you unlock something new. A minor gripe, but it never stopped it from being annoying when you were in the middle of smashing demon heads together only to have a rock block your view for a second or two.Įxploration is its own reward in Genesis, with upgrades and bonuses hidden away in every level. Every now and again the map does become a bit of a hindrance, sometimes getting in the way and blocking your character, and often at the most inconvenient time. Flipping the perspective from a third person to top-down doesn’t change the core gameplay too much, with the main changes coming in how you see the world around you. Hacking and slashing has always been the main ingredient when it comes to Darksiders, and that still holds true for Genesis. Not to worry though, should you want it, all of the back story is kept neat and tidy in the games Journal should you wish to access it via the pause menu, but really, who reads all that stuff?
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If you’re a newbie to the series Darksiders Genesis works fine on its own merits, and if you’re a Darksiders mega fan you’ll no doubt enjoy the references and Easter Eggs that clear sailed right by me. The good thing is this didn’t hamper my enjoyment of Genesis one bit, and the 1% I did understand made me feel like I was in the know. Having played the three “main” Darksiders games I was concerned that all the goings-on would sail straight over my head, and if I’m totally honest I’m 99% certain most of them did. Luckily, the gameplay is strong enough that it kept me going, with getting from Part A to Part B never more complicated than swinging and shooting your way through a few unruly demons and their minions. I will confess, sometimes the backstory did get a little lost on me, with so many biblical names and grandiose titles getting thrown about it all becomes a little unwieldy. Your job, as one of the famed Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is to maintain the balance between Heaven and Hell. If you’ve played any of the previous games in the series you’ll get the basic premise here. Making your way through each level their banter comes across as genuine, with the two often talking back and forth as to the goings-on and keeping you in the loop to the various demons and subplots you come across as you make your way through Hell. Strife, on the other hand, is an easy-going and affable member of the Horsemen clan, serving as a banter balance against the serious and stern War. War, having been introduced in the original Darksiders, is as gruff and steadfast as he was in the first game. For the first time in the Darksiders series, you can switch between two Horsemen, with War being the other Horseman on duty. And it works.ĭarksiders Genesis serves as a prequel to the previous Darksiders games, and introduces the fourth Horseman, Strife, as a playable character.
Such a curveball doesn’t happen very often in today’s gaming industry – but it did. Let’s take our popular third-person action game and turn it into a top-down dungeon crawler. Darksiders Genesis is one of those weird and out there decisions.