‘Darksiders’ Hands On First Impressions

This past weekend at Big Apple Comic Con, we had the opportunity to get some exclusive hands on time with the upcoming THQ release Darksiders. Our very own Matt Raub also got the chance to sit down and talk with its creative director Joe Madureira of Battle Chasers fame to talk about the game. That interview will be up soon.

Darksiders tells the story of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Like his other three cohorts, Death, Strife and Fury, he’d help bring upon the End of Days when the time was right. But something went wrong and someone set events in to motion for the end of the world too soon and War was blamed for it. Now, a hundred years later, War comes back to earth to try and set things right in a literal post-Apocalyptic world where he hacks his way through both angels and demons to try and find out what went wrong.

Starting off with just his sword in hand, War cuts his way through demons very much in style similar to God of War. War, being the master of weaponry, is also able to pick up non-traditional weapons to the original Apocalyptic mythos when he is able to wield an assortment of guns as well. As his attacks pile up, War also gains access to the power of his Wrath meter which allows him to unleash stronger attacks and various powers that he regains through the progress of the game.

The game’s action takes place in underground areas filled with puzzles as well as topside of a free roam world. Joe Mad has compared the style of gameplay to that of the Legend of Zelda series. When wandering through the demo levels, the game was easy to pick up and play with intuitive controls and easy to navigate areas.

The artistic direction of War looked very similar to a higher def version of Warcraft. With the large armor paired with the large sword, he closely resembles a Warcraft knight. The bright colors also liken the game to the popular MMO as opposed to taking the desert wasteland approach of that of Fallout. The modern cities where War traverses do take on a look of an abandoned New York as well with subtle dustbowl-like effects to emphasize the lack of survivors since the world has fallen to pieces.

We’re looking forward to seeing the final version of Darksiders when it is released for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 on January 5, 2010. Until then, take a look below at the footage we captured from Darksiders and check back soon for Matt’s interview with Joe Madureira.