Darksiders: Wrath of War - Hands On Preview

The coming year will see heroes across different mythologies duke it out for supremacy of the video games market. Following the success of God of War, game developers have realised that epic mythology is ripe source material for video games. The larger than life characters, previously confined to the classrooms of dusty Classics teachers, just require a touch of creative licence to convert them into high-octane, ass-kicking, video game superstars.

The astronomical rise of Kratos, the ill-mannered Spartan turned God of War, has also shown developers that gamers are bored of playing the kind of hero that you could take home to meet your mother. Enter War, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and hero of Darksiders: Wrath of War. Someone has brought on the apocalypse a tad prematurely and framed War for the mess. As punishment, War has been stripped of his powers and his horse, but he has been offered redemption if he can find those responsible.

Give 'em hell boys

The game's art team have clearly revelled in the post-apocalyptic brief. The opening level is set in a decimated 21st century town square with smouldering wrecks and shattered windows aplenty. Even the moss that allows you to climb certain walls is not just any old moss. No, only "organic hell-growth" will do here.  Although the game isn't brightly coloured or cell-shaded, there is definitely the sense that the artwork has been inspired by comic books. Which is not surprising, considering its Creative Director, Joe Maduriera, was formerly a comic book author.

However, the visual style of the combat is unavoidably comparable to God of War: swathes of enemies lurch towards you while you dole out massive, devastating blows. War also has unique fatality moves for each enemy, which can only be used once the foe is sufficiently weakened (signified by a B button symbol over its head). Pulling this off results in an execution sequence that is perhaps a little too close to God of War for comfort, but enjoyable nonetheless. Once they're defeated, enemies release glowing souls which act as the game's currency for upgrading your sword and buying new items. Darksiders has also inherited God of War's penchant for grand set-pieces. For instance, we were shown a spectacular boss sequence with a bat demon, named Tiamat, atop a roofless cathedral spire that was very slick indeed.

Fortunately, the similarities to God of War end at the visual style of the combat. Using all the controls you'd expect (X for attack, A for jump, Y for secondary attack and B for grab), Vigil Games seems to have successfully meshed combat systems from different games in such a way that fans of the genre will feel instantly at home. The lock-on system is also pitch-perfect for twitch gamers, enabling War to shift in and out of combat range in an instant. Combat variety comes from using a mixture of the additional weapons that you get as you progress through the game.

We got to play around with the Crossblade - essentially a giant shuriken - which you can use to swiftly lock-on to several opponents before releasing it and hitting them in sequence. Vigil Games also say that there will be a whole host of extra weapons including guns (even miniguns if the rumours are to be believed). War can also pick up most props in the game using the grab button: Lampposts can be ripped out of the ground and used as makeshift baseball bats and cars can be used as battering rams. When you're done, War can then hurl them impressively far at enemies in the distance. As you would expect, War also has an array of spells at his disposal that add another dimension to combat. Using them depletes a rage gauge that fills as you deal out damage. If you hold back on the spells, and let the bar fill, War can then transform into a hulking monster that eliminates pretty much anything in its path.

Another pleasant surprise came with the casting of serial voice-actor, Mark Hamill. He has lent his eerie voice-over talents to the "Watcher" character who has been chained to War in order to guide and police him throughout his journey, although arguably he's basically annoying. Nevertheless, the investment in a big name signifies Vigil Games' efforts to create a world and a story that is just as engaging as the combat. The brief scenes we saw were all well scripted and voiced with a potentially engaging story.

War? What is it good for?

In our hands-on session we got a brief look at an unfinished level in which War mounts a griffin and takes flight to battle the angel Uriel and her forces. Meanwhile, in another level we were shown later (set in a cathedral), War was required to engage his thought muscle and do a bit of puzzle-solving with the odd bit of ledge-jumping. Together, these peeks at levels hinted at the possible depth of gameplay across the game, which could help to elevate it to the same level as its popular competitors.

The initial concept of Darksiders started life as a four player co-op game, where you could pick one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and lay waste to the planet. The game we were shown on our hands-on has been scaled back from this ambitious idea to something a little less unwieldy for a first outing from Vigil Games (who are also working on a Warhammer 40K MMO) . Nevertheless, Darksiders feels remarkably accomplished and broad for a first game.

Darksiders' biggest weakness could also be its biggest strength. At first, we felt constantly reminded of its competitors in the genre because it had borrowed so much from a little Zelda here or a dash of God of War there, and so on. The lack of innovation might be a little disappointing but Vigil Games has brought together some of the best parts of great games, which in itself is no bad thing, but breaking out from such an illustrious crowd will be very difficult indeed.