Although the game appears to take place in a vast open world what we have in fact is pretty linear level design. Whilst there are certain levels that can be explored in more detail almost all only have one way to progress. Personally I found that this does not really take anything away from the enjoyable gameplay and is just a minor criticism of what is a pretty good game.

 

 

There is no denying that Darksiders really shines in the looks department with some superbly animated environments which do extremely well to set the scene of being immersed in an apocalyptic world.

 

Everything about the environment is superb to look at and certainly pushes the PS3’s graphical capabilities. On more than one occasion I left my character standing still to pause to take a look at the depth of the huge open world and the vast array of things happening in both the foreground and background.

 

Character animation has also been very well implemented and it is refreshing to see that for once we have a game where care has been taken to ensure every character looks good and not just the lead.

 

 

One area which has always impressed me with the PS3 is how nice most of the games sound and Darksiders is no exception with some excellent battle sounds, destruction and character voice acting which again adds to the overall feel of being immersed in the apocalyptic world with all manner of undead and hellish creatures.

 

The only negative aspect with the games graphics is that sometimes the game is prone to a little screen tearing which is a disappointment considering the effort put into getting the game to have such a polished feel. Whilst this is only minimal I should add that it does not spoil how they game plays overall yet it is still noticeable enough to be a little on the annoying side.

 

 

With any third person game it is crucial that the camera follows the action well and for the most part this works well. Admittedly there are always likely to be minor niggles and in Darksiders these are evident particularly in the swimming sections and at times gauging jumping distance but it must be said that the camera usually works well in the fast paced action sequences and this is key in this game.

 

 

With such an array of commands and weapons at your disposal there was always a danger that controls could be confusing however what I found was that the PS3 pad is perfectly suited to this game and all buttons on the pad have been utilised to great effect without leading to confusion and this certainly helps the game to flow at a good pace rather than having to stop start to have regular check as to which buttons should be used in different scenarios.

 

 

With "Darksiders" being compared to a number of other games it was always a danger that it could fall short having been unfairly compared to such titles. What Darksiders offers though is a very enjoyable game in it’s own respect backed by a solid story and some excellent visuals.

Admittedly the gameplay is rather inconsistent at times however this is only a minor criticism and certainly should not put off anyone thinking of purchasing what is a very impressive overall game.

Darksiders is a game that certainly would be welcome amongst the hugely impressive catalogue of PS3 titles currently available and is an excellent start to gaming in 2010 and certainly gives evidence that this could be an exciting year.

 

 

 

 

+ Very nice visuals
+ Good story
+ Good range of weapons