Darksiders

Darksiders Review

Graphics:  

They really aren’t anything special, technically speaking, but they have a very strong artistic design that makes them fun to look at.  The game is set on Earth, after the apocalypse, and, as such, the ruined environments are interesting.  The enemies are also well designed, and have a lot of different looks to them.  The combat also looks very good, with huge sweeping strikes from War’s blade, and blood flying everywhere when you execute a finisher.  War animates very smoothly.  Overall, despite the fact that this isn’t the strongest game technically speaking, the graphics are well done and look good.

9/ 10

Sound: 

The sounds of battle permeate the air almost all the time, aside from in dungeons.  The enemies sound good, and have otherworldly battle cries.  The finishers also sound quite brutal, with ripping tearing and ripping happening quite often.  Many of the guns you get in the game also sound very good.  The voice acting is very well done, with a lot of emotion and talent put to work here.  One of the standouts is Vulgrim, the demon merchant.  He has a raspy nasally voice, and he has a lot of expression.  He sounds very creepy, as well, which is the original intentions.  However, the game is lacking somewhat in the music department.  It’s not bad, per se, but honestly, I didn’t even notice most of it.  This game has its own little Zelda Chime for when you complete a puzzle, but it’s not as catchy as Zelda’s.  This is a good sounding game, but the music leaves a lot to be desired.  

8/ 10

Story: 

This is an apocalyptic game that starts at the end; Earth is being destroyed by a battle between Heaven and Hell.  No humans survive; yeah, when you think about it, this is a scary game.  They all become these easy to kill zombie creatures.  Anyways, the Horseman of the Apocalypse, War, is accused of starting the war.  Of course, he’s been framed by someone else.  After losing a fight to a huge demon named Straga, he is banished to Hell for 100 years.  Eventually, he is told by the Council that he must defeat a new enemy called the Destroyer in order to clear his name.  And just to make sure he doesn’t stray off the path, he is put under the watch of (you guessed it) the Watcher.  If he loses sight of his task or disobeys the Council’s commands, the Watcher has permission to kill him.  The story is pretty good, but a few of the plot devices aren’t explained very well, which makes it a bit confusing.  However, there is a good cast of characters, and there are also a lot of unresolved plot threads left, which promises a sequel. 

8/ 10

Gameplay: 

It’s kind of like Zelda, but more linear.  At the same time, it has a Hack n Slash combat system.  Sure, the game may be derivative (actually it is in a few cases) but the parts come together to make a game that is a hell of a lot of fun.

After an opening sequence detailing War’s fall from grace, (which is quite epic) you are put into a ruined world filled with supernatural threats.  After being tasked with finding the Destroyer’s Chosen and bringing their hearts to a character who will remain unnamed, you truly begin the quest.  The game’s structure is very much like Zelda; you explore an overworld, go to dungeons, fight monsters and solve puzzles.

The dungeons are well designed, and each one has a unique challenge.  For instance, in one of them, you must hunt down 5 huge spiders in order to reach the boss room.  In another, you have to realign laser beams to free someone.  There are well designed puzzles in each one, and the one about the lasers is particularly satisfying, because it spans the entire dungeon and requires a lot of thought and some careful planning.

Of course, no good Zelda clone would be complete without some awesome tools and upgrades to boost your character.  And this game definitely has some good ones.  For instance, in the first dungeon, you obtain a Crossblade, which is basically the boomerang from Zelda, complete with 5 target lock on.  The items are all very well implemented, and fun to use.  Near the end of the game, you will do a lot of weapon switching, so it’s a good thing that you can hotkey items.

And how is the combat?  Very, very fun.  Each weapon swing feels very powerful; the controller shakes with each impact, and each swing can hit multiple enemies.  War’s Sword, Chaoseater, is just one of the weapons you get access to.  You eventually become able to use Death’s Scythe, and a Power gauntlet that can sends enemies flying with a single punch.  You always have your sword equipped, and can switch out between the gauntlet and scythe.  You use X to swing your sword and Y to use the other weapon.  After purchasing a lot of moves, this allows for some seriously super combos.  Needless to say, the core combat is a lot of fun.  Other additions to it are Wrath moves, which are abilities that can be used in mid combat, at the expense of Wrath.  (think Magic Power from Zelda)  These are simple to pull off, and a lot of fun to use.  Also, after a certain point in the game, you gain access to War’s super form.  

After enough fighting, you can transform into this huge, invincible red beast.  Each sword swing does a ton of damage, and can make short work of even the toughest enemies in seconds flat.  However, it doesn’t last very long, so you must know the time to use it and the time to save it.

All of this fighting yields Souls.  These are the currency system of the game.  You trade souls with Vulgrim for upgrades, moves and items.  This has been done in other games, and works well.  In addition to that, scattered around the world are Artifacts, which can be traded to Vulgrim for a profit.  (Which is weird since you end up buying from him anyways.)

Speaking of hidden items, all around the world are upgrades to your health and wrath.  A late game item makes them much easier to find, but they are still satisfying to find.

And lastly, this game has some great bosses.  Each one has a terrific sense of scale, and makes great use of your arsenal.  I won’t go any further in order to prevent spoilers, but let me say that the huge enemies in this game are very awesome, and don’t go down without a fight.

9/10

Overall

9/ 10

Darksiders is a derivative game.  No doubt about that.  However, it’s also a very well made one, and is a ton of fun to play.  There are some great puzzles and bosses, the combat is very fun to do, the game has a good story and great visuals, and there is a promise of a sequel.  If some of the issues are fixed (the game was short, about 15- 20 hours, and the overworld is more linear than I like) then Darksiders 2 has the potential to be something very amazing.  I recommend this game to anyone who likes Zelda, hack n slash, both, or just a well-designed game.  You can also read the Zelda Ocarina of Time review since they are very similar types of games.

You can buy this game for $18 new on amazon or as low as $10 used. The cheap price is definitely worth buying.

  

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Review

This is a game that is considered one of the best, if not the best, game of all time. With the release of Zelda: OoT 3d coming soon I thought it would be a good idea to review the classic.

  

Graphics:  

Primitive by today’s standards, but looked great for the time.  There is great use of color, and the game has a very strong artistic design.  The characters are surprisingly expressive at times, and everything animates pretty smoothly.  There is the occasional frame rate hitch, but it really isn’t a big deal.  It doesn’t look as good as Majora’s mask, but still looks great.

9/ 10

Sound: 

There are some great sound effects in the game.  From swinging your sword, to slaying an enemy, to galloping across Hyrule Field, this game hits all the right notes in the sound department.    However, the real reason you’ll want to play this game full blast is for the music.  This game easily has one of the best soundtracks ever featured in a game.  Everything just sounds like it belongs exactly where it is.  From the soothing, peaceful melodies of Zora’s Domain, to the absolutely epic and exciting Gerudo Valley, everything sounds amazing.  The composers really pulled out all of the stops for this game, and it shows.   Really, the only other games I’ve heard that come close to rivaling this game’s music is Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker and Super Smash Brothers Brawl.  

10/ 10

Story:  

It starts off with a young boy named Link waking up from a bad dream about a dark figure taking over Hyrule.  It turns out, this boy is Link, and he’s supposedly a Kokiri, people who live in Kokiri forest under the watch of the Great Deku Tree and never age.  After performing some simple tasks and finding a sword and shield, he goes inside the Deku Tree to get rid of evil inside of it.  I won’t really go any farther, but I will say, at its core, this game is just another save the world story.  However, there are many interesting twists, such as discovering more about Link’s background, and the revelation of a certain character’s true identity.  There is also something about the game that makes it a deeply personal story, and gives it a lot of personality.  It’s definitely one of the better stories in games.

 9/ 10

Gameplay:

  It starts out with you finding Rupees and a sword.  To find the sword, you must avoid a rolling boulder in a maze.  And you must buy the shield.  This eases you into the game nicely, and introduces you to the games mechanics.  After that, you go into the Great Deku Tree, and face your first dungeon.  The basic design of the game is explore overworld, find someone with a problem, solve their problem, go into the next dungeon.  Usually, the pre dungeon challenges are entertaining, and help flesh out the overworld. 

The overworld is fairly sizeable in this game.  There is Hyrule Field, the “hub”, and a few different locations for you to go to.  They are all entertaining and have a personality all their own.

The dungeons are well designed and many in this game.  There are 2 that actually take place inside a living creature, which is a nice change of pace.  Overall, I believe there are 9 dungeons, each of which takes a few hours to complete.  They all have a unique challenge, like finding a freeing imprisoned Gorons, or, probably the most famous one, raising and lowering water levels in order to progress.  There are some really tricky puzzles in this game, and it’s very satisfying to figure them all out.  There’s even one where you must go to it at 2 different time periods in order to complete it, which is a very nice twist.

Through methods I won’t say here(in case you’re one of the few people who don’t know anything about this game) Link can travel forward in time several years to adult age.  A lot changes in Hyrule in 7 years.  There are challenges and secrets to discover in each time period, which is pretty neat.  Although, the Links from both time periods control and play in pretty much the same way, but young Link generally has less damaging equipment.  However, the changing thing really fits well with the story, and adds to it a lot.

There are several minigames for you to partake in, and they are fun diversions.  There are things like shooting galleries, obstacle courses, a chance game and even an interesting take on bowling.  They drain money fast, but that’s good, because this game falls into the same trap as many other Zeldas:  lack of things to spend your money on. 

There is also a good amount of sidequests in this game, though not as many as in MM or Wind Waker.  Most involve the minigames, but there are a few that stand out.  For instance, in the future, you have to race a greedy man to win a horse, but also save a ranch from his grubby hands.  The horse, Epona is incredibly useful, especially for the extensive trading sequence that is available.  Also, this is the game that introduced future masks in the series (namely Majora’s Mask) like the Mask of Truth, Goron Mask, and a few that weren’t in MM.  There is also a few sidequests involving these.

The game should take you around 20- 25 hours to beat on your first runthrough.  However, it just screams minimalist three heart runthrough, and other interesting challenges that the designers probably didn’t intend.  For instance, you can go to some of the dungeons out of order, if you so choose.  I, myself, have replayed it 2 or 3 times, and it remains fun to this very day.

There are also many secret grottoes to discover.  While, most of the time, they just contain rupees or something similar, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from finding them, and if you are someone who likes to find every secret, this should keep you busy.

That’s not to say it’s flawless.  For one, it is fairly easy.  There are a few challenging bosses (the Forest Temple leaps to mind) but, if you’re careful, you should be able to make it through the game without too much trouble.  It is more challenging than, say, Twilight Princess, but it’s nowhere near as hard as I remember.  Also, the controls for jumping over a fence with your horse could be improved upon.  You have to approach the fence head on, otherwise the horse will balk and stop moving. 

However, these are minor complaints in what is, all in all, an excellent game.  

9.5/ 10

Overall

9.6/10

OoT is one of those rare games that feels like it has a certain sense of magic to it.  (I think the series stopped having that feeling after Wind Waker.)  The story is intensely emotional, the graphics are good, and the music is pretty much perfect.  The gameplay also holds up very well today.  If you are one of the few individuals who, by some strange twist of fate, has heard of the game, but never played it, I highly recommend doing so.  It’s definitely one of the top 10 greatest games.  It is a game that brings back a certain nostalgia that most games don't have, so even if you have played it many times its still fun to go back to.

You probably already own it, but if you don't you can buy it on amazon for $15 which is one older game that is definitely worth the price.(See link below)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time