Page 87 - PC Gamer - UK (February 2020)

RE VIE W
between Axel Foley and Peter Quill,
while War has been turned into a
cross between Drax and your dad.
Worst of all, I counted just one gag in
the whole script that made me laugh.
TROUBLE AND STRIFE
Still, the talking head story sequences
can be skipped if you wish, and
gameplay is thankfully miles ahead of
the writing. There are 16 chapters in
all, and each one (excluding the five
which are major boss fights) is a
superbly designed open map. You’re
prevented from riding your ghostly
horse across a frustratingly large
percentage of the landscape, but
combat is more fun on foot anyway.
Yes, there are swarms of demonic
baddies to kill punctuated by the
occasional bit of light puzzling, but
that’s only half the story.
There are many nooks and,
indeed, crannies that can be missed
on your way to the end of the level.
Some of these will be impossible to
access first time round. You might
not have the ability needed to, say,
smash through an obstacle or activate
what is in effect an apocalyptic
trampoline. Then there are Trickster
doors. These are usually hidden and
require special collectible keys to
unlock (often, more than one at a
time). These might lead to a small
room with goodies and a handful of
enemies, or a larger area similarly
laden with treasure. It’s well worth
seeking these and other hidden areas
out. I was rewarded for completing a
slightly annoying optional puzzle,
with an ammo type that makes
enemies bleed health orbs, something
that came in handy for the final boss.
It’s important to hoover up
everything that bursts from chests,
broken boxes, and fallen enemies –
souls (the game’s currency), ammo,
health, Wrath orbs to power
limited-use abilities – but nothing is
ultimately more important than
creature orbs. There’s no traditional
character levelling. Instead, each
enemy in the game is represented by
an orb that you can equip in a skill
tree, which increases your characters’
power ratings as well as bestowing
individual buffs. These orbs are
dropped randomly (with the
exception of bosses), and it’s not
quite as simple as grabbing one and
equipping it in the menu.
Each orb has multiple power
levels. Equipping one automatically
activates level one, but you’ll have to
collect many of the same type –
Darksiders Genesis
DARK SLIDERS Theupsanddownsoftheseries so far
Quality
DARKSIDERS DARKSIDERS II DARKSIDERS III DARKSIDERS:
The birth of the A great sequel that Oh dear. Good effort, GENESIS
series. Dumb, fun, introduced weapon but unfortunately The boys are back in
and dripping with choice and Death it’s not a patch on town! Another great
atmosphere. doing some parkour. what came before. game in the series.
usually dozens – to fully power it up. represents an enormous difficulty
There are further complications too, spike) and Apocalyptic difficulty is
such as matching bonuses within the unlocked. This setting is not messing
tree and some nodes limiting the around and will see you dead within
potential of an orb. So if you want to, minutes if you’re careless or poorly
say, maximise your attack power, prepared. With all chapters now at
you’ll need to have the right orbs in your disposal, it’s time to construct
the right slots, and keep revisiting the very best orb tree you can, and
levels heavily comb back through
populated with the each level again and
enemies you’re after. It’snot again. Find every path
complicated, and collectible, max out
THUMP & GRIND andonlygrind- that orb tree, purchase
This might sound all those upgrades, take
complicated and heavyifyou a deep breath and do it
grind-heavy. Therein wantittobe all over again on
lies the genius of Apocalyptic.
Darksiders Genesis Plus, partway
– it’s not complicated and it’s only through your adventure you unlock
grind-heavy if you want it to be. the Arena. This is a series of survival
Clearly aware that the game might challenges, each consisting of ten
attract series fans who wouldn’t waves of enemies, with an endless
usually consider playing an isometric mode to be unlocked once you’ve
action-RPG, the developers have mastered all the others. This feeds
made provisions for those who want from and into the core loop in an
to play through the game start to interesting way. It’s great for grinding,
finish without looking back. Casual as it’s a simple and relatively quick
difficulty is forgiving enough that you way to harvest creature orbs and
need only give the orb tree the souls. Challenges increase in
briefest of considerations. I played difficulty as you make your way
through on Normal, and managed to through the list, requiring you to
finish with very little grinding thanks power up more in order to have a
to the orb tree and some mildly decent chance of success.
tactical play. In fact, I ignored There are plenty of reasons to
recommended power levels for keep coming back, then, to the simple
chapters, and probably could have but satisfying combat. It won’t be
finished with no grinding at all. Hard long before the levels have given up
mode requires you to be a bit all their secrets, but what remains is a
more careful – but, for solid apocalyptic action-RPG.
those who live for
the grind, it’s VE RDICT
after you see A great one-shot
the credits roll adventure or an
that the true game begins. enjoyable grindfest, 81
Vanquish the big bad at the end depending on which
of the story (who, incidentally, you’re after.
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