This time, I want to do a detailed breakdown of the factors that made Darksiders one of the great games of 2010. To be honest, I was skeptical about playing it in depth for a long time, but thanks to my good friend OwAlvCarD, who insisted tirelessly, I’m now writing this great review. With the second installment on the horizon, I took it upon myself to comment on the aspects that made this title a masterpiece. A warning to any reader about to take a look at this review who still has the game collecting dust on the shelf: DO NOT proceed, as you may come across some details that will surely lessen the satisfaction of playing it (and don’t say I didn’t warn you!).
The hack and slash genre is well-known to everyone: the classic “me against the world,” packed with bloody combat, where the distinctive feature (that sets it apart from beat ’em up) is the use of weapons (mainly melee) to carve your way through hordes of enemies. In recent times, this genre has seen many exponents across all platforms: starting with older titles like Devil May Cry, followed by wonderful works like Ninja Gaiden, Dynasty Warriors, X-Blades, Bayonetta, Mad World, Nier, Dante’s Inferno, Heavenly Sword, Ninja Blade, and even companies like Konami, which, seeing the popularity of the format, decided to carve out a niche and capitalize on it by releasing Castlevania: Lord of Shadows, quickly becoming one of the most impressive titles in the entire franchise (and that says a lot in Castlevania, take it from an expert). And as expected, we must mention the God of War series, which reignited the flames of hack and slash, being today the ultimate reference point and the big brother everyone wants to emulate.
From the list mentioned, some titles can be taken with a grain of salt, as the genre has closely intertwined with Action RPGs, becoming two styles today that share many similarities. So many might argue that certain games don’t belong on that list. But let’s focus our attention solely on the God of War and Devil May Cry series as the genre’s top representatives, serving as our reference points.