Developer: Gunfire Games
Publisher: Nordic Games
Platform: PS4, Xbox One (standard edition on previous generation of consoles)
Tested on: Xbox One
Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition – Review
It’s been a while since we last saw Death in action in Darksiders II, and even though many would rather see a third installment of the franchise, we will have to quench our bloodlust with the properly named Deathinitive Edition of the second iteration. We’ll be treated to an upscaled version of the second game, with all the DLC packages, offering a lengthy adventure. Even though this deadly package is well appreciated, it does have a few flaws.
Story
After successfully slaughtering all the other Nephilim, Death still holds on to the amulet in which he trapped the rest of his brethren. Even though this was not a part of the agreement, he still decides to let his fellow Nephilim ‘live on’ inside the amulet and thus he will not give it up without a fight. Nonetheless, there are other pressing matters, as Death’s brother, War, is currently being charged for his crimes, even though it’s clear he is ‘innocent’. Death intends to make sure his brother does not get punished for something he did not do and resurrect humanity at the same time.
Sadly, before he knows it he ends up in the Forge Lands, which is populated by the Makers, who are pretty much the creators of worlds. Even though these beings are powerful, they are not omnipotent and thus even their world suffers from a nasty corruption, which Death will have to get rid of.
Truth be told, if you haven’t played the first game things will be rather confusing at the beginning. Nonetheless, during your playthrough things will slowly get a bit more clear, but overall it’s rather confusing what is actually going on, especially seeing you have to keep in mind what happened in the first game. That being said, things are still enjoyable, even with the slightly confusing plot at the beginning of the game.
Graphics
It’s clear that our Xbox One version of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition did not put the potential of the console to use, but that it’s a ‘simple’ remake of the original game. That being said, the game does look a decent amount better than its original state during the previous generation. The detail level is amped up a bit, characters still possess a harmony that puts serious and comical together quite nicely, in combination with the rather serious but bright and colorful environments. Overall it’s a decent upscaled version, but not that much more. Of course, the style of the game allows for much more leeway, as it has a certain presence that is harder to maintain or build with games that choose a realistic style.
Whilst the whole picture looks very decent, it’s sad that some environments still look and feel a bit empty or that the same obstacles are used over and over again. It would have been nice if certain things were filled up a bit in the remake, or that some new clutter would have been scattered around the world. Nonetheless, these are just minor flaws in the otherwise decent remake.
There are still a few flaws that also should have been removed, seeing the game now runs on ‘superior’ hardware, compared to the consoles it originally came out on. You’ll still experience some frame drops when things get a bit too rowdy and sometimes overview tends to be a tad on the difficult side when you start casting some of your abilities in the midst of battle.
Sound
Qualitative voice acting and bombastic combat sounds reign supreme in this title. Throughout combat the volume level seems to be cranked up a few notches, in order to make the battles even more grand scale than they actually are. You’ll hear a hefty combat tune with overwhelming stomp, slash and grunting noises all over the place. Out of combat the soundtrack takes a turn to a more serene style, making exploring a tad more peaceful.
The game has a decent amount of different characters, each with a proper amount of lines to spew at you. It has to be told that Death has a great voice to listen to and for once isn’t the typical macho cliché. Of course it’s a given that he has a rather tough voice, but he also has a sharp edge that is actually quite pleasing to listen to, even though he represents death himself.
Gameplay
Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition is an action RPG, with sufficient hack and slash sequences and many puzzles for you to solve. You’ll be mostly roaming around the Forge Lands in order to crawl through dungeons, beat monsters and of course complete the many objectives you’ll receive throughout your deadly journey.
Overall things are pretty straightforward, you’ll be able to slash your enemies just like in games such as God of War, whilst climbing walls and jumping from one pillar to another like in Assassin’s Creed and solving puzzles in dungeons pretty much like many of the Zelda games. Even though this sounds like many different things in one single game, it’s actually a great combination where the different aspects flow into each other quite fluently.
The controls prove the be rather responsive, and easy to work with but there are a few things that could have been slightly better, or improved. Dodging is not always that responsive, aiming is a bit tedious and positioning your jumps when climbing isn’t always that easy either, due to awkward camera angles or unclearness as to where you will end up.
As this game has a decent amount of RPG elements, you’ll be able to gain experience by completing quests and defeating foes. With this experience you’ll be able to purchase new abilities, which are either damage based or summoning skills. These skills will of course deplete your rage bar in battle. Other than that there is gear to be found, be it new scythes, secondary weapons and armor pieces. These pieces of equipment can either be found during your adventures or bought.
Other than level based skills there are store bought ones, which are often combo skills, and those that unlock during your journey. The latter are often skills (or items that are actually ‘skills’), which are sorely needed to progress in the game. The game will also force you to find these skills, thus making sure you have the right luggage to complete the missions at hand.
You are free to roam around the map, to a certain extent. You can access many areas (you have already visited before) in order to complete side-quests, or uncover small new locations you missed the first time around, or those that weren’t available just yet. Nonetheless, you’ll still be able to explore a bit without a true objective at hand and the quick travel certainly helps a lot.
Sadly, some of the original bugs remain, namely a few invisible walls here and there, which should have been removed in this ‘cleaned up’ version for the next generation. Whilst these are only minor issues, they can hamper your experience at rather crucial battles.
Conclusion
Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition is still a great title, even on the new generation of consoles. Nonetheless, those who played the original game and the DLC, will not have that much new to experience, except for the updated visuals. Even though it would have been better if the first game was also included in this remake, those who missed this game in 2012 should give this one a go, it can easily put up a fight against the top titles that are being released during this season. Death beckons.
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[…] 2019 surely is the year of the remakes/remasters. THQ Nordic is proud to announce the remaster of Darksiders II, the remastered edition is lovingly called Deathinitive Edition. In this game, you take control of Death, the baddest of the Four Horsemen. Awakened by the End of Days he must embark on a quest to redeem his brother’s name. The remastered edition features all Darksiders II content including all DLCs and adds not only visual updates but also gameplay and loot distribution improvements. The game is now available on Nintendo Switch. You can find our review of the original game from 2015 on Xbox One right here. […]