XBox 360 & PS3 – THQ – $59.99

Score: 8.0

Since we got to take a look at Darksiders for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con and get our hands on it this past fall at the Big Apple Con, the game has piqued our interest over here at the Flickcast. With a story that could have been ripped either from the silver screen, the chance to step in to the boots of War, one of the four horseman of the apocalypse, has been an opportunity we were looking forward to experiencing.

The brainchild of Battle Chasers creator Joe Madureira, it was interesting to see how someone so versed in the art of comic book storytelling would be able to translate to the epically different medium of interactive entertainment.

Gameplay:

The concept behind Darksiders comes across like it would be a simple hack and slash adventure game. For those expecting a Ninety-Nine Nights or Dynasty Warriors style game where War runs through thousands of enemies, Darksiders makes sure to add a layer of depth one wouldn’t expect in the game.

While there are tons of enemies to rip in half, impale and crush the skull of, the real fun of Darksiders comes from its puzzles. Inevitably compared to The Legend of Zelda series, War is much more cunning than one would expect. Using items similar to Link’s Boomerang or Portal’s Portal Gun, War must uncover hidden passages and solve environmental quandaries to progress in his quest.

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The Apocalypse comes early and one of the horseman, War, is blamed for it. He comes to earth fighting both angel and demon alike in an effort to find out what put the cataclysmic events into effect before they were supposed to come to fruition. It could sound like the plot of a major summer blockbuster, a comic book series from Vertigo or Darkhorse or a video game. It turns out it could be all three.

In a recent interview with VG247, creative director of the recently released Darksiders game for XBox 360 and Playstation 3 Joe Madureira said that “We’ve gotten some interest from Hollywood, we’ve talked about doing a comic series… At least a couple of those things have to happen, I’m sure.”

Darksiders has already been given a special comic book pre-order bonus from Gamestop so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for a series to be in the work, especially since Joe Madureira made himself famous in the comics industry back in the 90s. The recent string of lackluster video game to movie adaptations (like Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li or Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) might be biggest factor to overcome as time and again Hollywood has shown they don’t really have a full grasp on taking a 10+ hour game story and crunching it down into only 2 while still keeping the essence of what made that game great in the first place.

But with Joe Mads at the helm as creative director, this THQ property might have a chance of making an impact on the big screen. Check back at The Flickcast later this week for more coverage on Darksiders as well as Matt Raub’s exclusive interview with Darksiders creative director Joe Madureira.