Review cover Darksiders Genesis (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

  • Release Date (NA): December 5, 2019
  • Release Date (EU): December 5, 2019
  • Publisher: THQ Nordic
  • Developer: Airship Syndicate
  • Genres: Action, Adventure, RPG

Game Features:

Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
Darksiders is back with a look. After the dismal performance of the third installment, will this new title usher a new genesis to the series?

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'Tis the season for rewinds and Darksiders hops on the bandwagon and does one of its own, bringing players to a time before events from the first title took place. Darksiders Genesis gives players control of not one but two Horsemen, swappable on the fly, who have been sent on a mission by the Council to figure out what the demon king Lucifer is scheming, halt his plans to bring doom to all and in so doing, restore balance. During the process our protagonists will come across familiar faces like Samael and Vulgrim.

Plotwise, Darksiders Genesis is pretty simple and straightforward. It nevertheless has the iconic Darksiders mumbo jumbo that gets you to take Hell and its inhabitants seriously. Simple, yet nicely executed - this seems like the philosophy the developers took when developing this new addition to the series. They played it safe and played it well, considering how poorly the previous entry, Darksiders III, was received (our official review  gave it a 6/10 and the title has an average score of 69 on OpenCritic).

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Issues the last entry in the series had with its combat, dodge, upgrades and map have been addressed in Genesis. Fighting hordes of demons is as fluid as hell. Dodging is now a safe bet to stay immune to attacks for an instant and also adds to the fast-paced action that the game wants to convey. Upgrading characters’ stats feels like the original entries, with Vulgrim once again offering his shopkeeper services by selling key items and upgrades. There is also the creature core system, which serves as the primary progression system in Genesis. The three types of core (health, wrath and attack) can be leveled up by replaying levels or battling through the Arena. The latter is a feature that opens up later on during the game, allowing you to grind and collect orbs and souls by slashing through waves of enemies.

One of the major changes in this Darksiders title is the transition from third-person to top-down view à la Diablo. However, the game still feels and plays like a Darksiders game, as you progress through its missions, unraveling its rather straightforward plot. By hacking through monsters, collecting orbs and dismembering gargantuan bosses, I nevertheless often had the feeling of playing a classic God of War game, especially given the new locked camera view.

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Oh, and another new feature in this title is the new playable horseman, Strife. Wielding two guns and being quite the loudmouth, he is a welcome addition to the series. By sharing quips with War and witnessing their character development throughout the game, the game is fleshed out, despite its rather simple and predictable plot. Strike’s combat style can be summed up as swift and smooth as he fires his bullets from afar. I found his style to be appropriate for the fast-paced action defining the game, even if his attacks don’t do as much damage but have the advantage of being speedy and long-ranged. For more forceful offensive moves you can count on the series’ icon War but his is almost exclusively short-ranged attacks. Those two characters are swappable at any time and this action would have benefited by having a hotkey rather than a two-button combo. Nevertheless, you can play the game with your favourite of the two for the most part, except for solving certain puzzles that involve a character’s specific equipment like War’s fancy boomerang.

I also wish there was a way to check out tutorials again, especially with the new skills unlocked like Strife’s portal creating trick, but the game offers none. As you progress, you will unlock such skills for each character which can be used both in combat and to solve the game’s simple puzzles. The latter shouldn’t be too surprising considering the linearity of this entry, but then again, the developers seemed to have wanted to play it safe and it worked to output a nice game, although not one that particularly stands out.

Combat is fast-paced, fluid and aplenty but often feels more of the same, especially with the similar-looking minions populating the game. Boss fights will bring some challenges but will also include those pesky minions impeding your way. While they do add a layer of challenge, they are more annoying than challenging as they mostly serve as fodder to fill the life gauge by mindlessly hitting them.

The co-op feature is another big addition to the series. Allowing you to play online or in split-screen in local co-op, it adds a layer of fun to the game and allows players to overlook the title’s linearity as you team up with a friend to give hell to those demons. Playing in co-op mode will also make you face tougher and overall more creatures and will also alter some puzzles to better work in teams.

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Darksiders Genesis is currently available for PCs and Google Stadia and will release on consoles in February 2020. It's a fine title if you're itching to play some new Darksiders and while it's an upgrade from Darksiders III, it won't blow your mind as a must-have title. 

Darksiders Genesis - Launch Trailer

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Co-op feature plays out well
  • Fun fast-paced action
  • New look still gives the Darksiders vibe
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Not so challenging puzzles
  • Linear progression and predictable plot
  • Lack of enemy types and some reused assets
8
Gameplay
Darksiders Genesis runs fluidly and heavily relies on its fast-paced appeal which plays out well. The co-op feature also adds more fun to the game.
7
Presentation
Looks can be deceiving but Genesis looks different while emitting the Darksiders vibe in a good way in its simple, linear and rather predictable plot.
6
Lasting Appeal
If grinding is your thing, you can access the Arena to collect more orbs or replay levels to find Trickster keys to unlock areas hiding some additional goodies. However, the lack of enemy types and linearity of the levels don't make for a much appealing case
7
out of 10

Overall

Darksiders Genesis delivers a nice installment to the Darksiders series by sporting a different look while playing it safe.
It feels like this series is wasted potential: other than the first game, it seems like scores (just going off of scores, mind you) for these games were kind of in the 7-8/10 range, with the third game being the worst by far.
 
I've not played this but have to agree @Silent_Gunner the first game was awesome, second ok but third I gave up after just an hour, mainly due to poor performance on PS4.
This is a great IP but doesn't have a great studio to do it justice.
 
I've not played this but have to agree @Silent_Gunner the first game was awesome, second ok but third I gave up after just an hour, mainly due to poor performance on PS4.
This is a great IP but doesn't have a great studio to do it justice.

I played a little bit of the second game on the 360 when one of my older brothers was still living at the house, not playing the system itself a whole lot, and it was free with GOLD. I got to the first not-Shadow-of-the-Colossus boss fight, then there was some dungeon where I think I was on some giant monster and the whole monster had this dungeon on top of it or something?

I just never felt all too compelled to play it a whole lot. Might have to do with my brother being the 360 guy in the 7th generation of consoles and him not exactly being liberal with allowing me to borrow it, but even then, the game just didn't have any oomph to get me to keep playing. I'd rather play Nier: Automata (which I think is an interesting game even though I think it's way too easy on normal, especially if you get a bunch of chips and buff yourself out to a ridiculous degree, those electric dragon-eel things when you're not 9S notwithstanding) just because the characters, world, and story are far more interesting, and I haven't played any of the Drakengard games or the original Nier! (although, from what I understand, Drakengard and Nier's relation to each other is kind of like Xenogears' is to Xenosaga, and Xenosaga's to Xenoblade's, Xenoblade's to Xenogears...)
 
I enjoyed all the games, would rate 1>3>2.

Will get this a little later, too many games to play at the moment. Need to stop with the prequels though, finish the damn story. Waiting nearly 10 years for the horsemen to fuck shit up and still just prequels.
 
I look forward to this game on ps4 when it releases next year. I saw the ign review and it scored well, got the highest rating out of all DS games. I find the new art style nice, Id prefer cutscenes instead of artwork and text and dialogue but the company is on a small budget so I can understand it. It does look like fun and I love co op play to game with someone in the same room. But itll be neat if you can co op online via ps4 also then take on campaign with fellow DS fans its a win win. For sure giving this game a shot
 
This review is an opinion. Not a fact. I find it very enjoyable and absolutely fun and to my liking. Thank you anyway.

The whole point of giving a review is to state opinions. Not a single reviewer on this planet has (or should) the benefit of stating facts. Your post is just as much a review (albeit not as thorough), as the review is..
 
Review cover
Product Information:
  • Release Date (NA): December 5, 2019
  • Release Date (EU): December 5, 2019
  • Publisher: THQ Nordic
  • Developer: Airship Syndicate
  • Genres: Action, Adventure, RPG
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

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