Here at Game Rant, we’re just like you. As much as we all try to stay up with the never-ending stream of games released each week, no one can play everything, all the time. And sometimes the games we play for fun aren’t necessarily the newest titles out there. That’s where What’s Game Rant Playing? comes in. This new (semi-regular) column is a place for us to come and just rant about the games we’re actually playing. These aren’t reviews - heck, we probably won’t have finished most of the games you read about here. But we will give you our honest opinions. We want to hear from you, too. What are you playing? What do you think about the games in this column? Seriously, let us know. We’ll try to keep up with you in the comments. And now, without further ado: Darksiders.
Background: the last two games I beat were Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain. Big, marquee titles, referentially important. They both embrace an open design aesthetic that can feel liberating to players. On the other hand, that kind of open design can completely dilute the forward momentum of the story, tangling players in layers of ultimately inconsequential minutia (Mass Effect 2), or leave players with a completed play-through that is not only unfulfilling, but can actually cause players to regret the experience of the game (Heavy Rain). I’ll leave it to you to suss out my experience with these two games.
Completing those, I was ready to try catching up on some of the titles I’ve missed from the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. The day I visited my friendly neighborhood game retailer, Assasin’s Creed 2 was on sale for a price too good to pass up. I’d liked the first title, repetitive though it was, and the sequel had received near universal acclaim, so how could I lose? The answer: open design.
Don’t misunderstand me – Assasin’s Creed 2 is a stellar game, handily righting all the wrongs of the first title in the series. The narrative is strong, the setting unique, and I loved the little historical “factoids” you discover during the course of the adventure. But it was hard not to notice that I never felt like playing the game. Never once while mindlessly flipping channels on the TV did I think to myself, “Man, I should go and play some AC2.” Just didn’t happen. Gradually, it dawned on me: I’d had enough open world, player directed action. I wanted to play a game. A “game” game, if you understand me. A title that both understands and revels in its game-ness. Which led me to Darksiders.
Like a lot of people, Darksiders really wasn’t on my radar until just before it released. The prevailing description of Darksiders, “Like The Legend of Zelda, but mature and dark,” did not grab me. My favorite Zelda (and the best game ever, for that matter - commence internet uproar) is Wind Waker. “Darkness” is not an element I thought would add to the Zelda formula. I thought it would seem forced. Extreme with an X. But I was totally, totally wrong.
From the awesome opening cinema, to the voice acting, to the chunky character design and on, I’ve been having a blast with Darksiders. It is just the kind of directed experience I was looking for. This is the kind of game that repeatedly puts you in a room, locks the doors, and says, “You’re not getting out of here until you kill this many dudes in exactly this way.” Love it!
I’m about 10 hours in. Is it as derivative as you’ve heard? Yup. I’ve played through Zelda bits and Panzer Dragoon bits. I’ve engaged in a little Gears of War style third-person shooting, and a lot of God of War style combat. But everything – every boss encounter, every cribbed mechanic, every new dungeon – is well and thoroughly designed and implemented. That it looks great, and is surprisingly colorful for such a reportedly “dark” game, is icing on the cake. (I’m playing on PS3, for those who are interested.)
I’m not suggesting Darksiders is a timeless classic. There is enough of the game left for things to turn seriously sour. But for now, this is – for me – the right game, at the right time. In the end, that’s all you can really ask for.
So, what do you think? Did you play Darksiders? Are you burned out on open design games? Do you just think I’m nuts? And, most importantly of all, what are you playing?
