IGN | Darksiders II Review

IGN:

Darksiders II represents the latest offering from developer Vigil Games, a direct follow-up to the 2010 original. Much like its predecessor, Darksiders II provides some solid action, albeit nestled amid a somewhat flawed experience. It’s also possibly the most derivative game ever made - borrowing adventure and puzzle elements from The Legend of Zelda, action from God of War, platforming from Prince of Persia, and tone from some hellfire version of Lord of the Rings. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - an amalgamation of such incredible franchises could have resulted in the game to end all games. The thing is, if you’re going to so blatantly derive material from such well-known properties, you better nail it. While Darksiders II provides a lengthy and entertaining experience for action adventure fans to sink their teeth into, in the end it never comes close to reaching the heights of the various franchises it so freely borrows from.

[Jio]

People act like a 7.5 is a terrible score. It's respectable, I'll still get this game and enjoy it.

[Emilio_Estevez]

I don't think it's a terrible score, but from everything seen and read to this point, I thought it would get 8.5 at the lowest and get a bunch of 10's. Still looks great either way, most scores are very good.

[Awesome_Gamer]

It did get alot of 9s and 10s.

IGN/CVG are the only ones that gave it a score below 8.5, stupid sites will turn around and give the generic CoD a perfect score in november

[Shepherd 214]

If IGN gives a score that doesn't agree with what i had hoped for, i go to gamespot.com for a second opinion. actually lately I've been using gamespot for my first opinions.

Gamespot values originality over anything else, and it shows i their review scores. They're a very underrated site that doesn't get the word of mouth and credit they deserve.

[Biggest]

Remember when people cried about every game getting a 9/10-10/10? Isn't it funny that games are slowly being rated closer to how the complainers originally complained. . . Well you see it. Darksiders II is a good game. It's worth a buy. It's worth a 7.5/10-8/10 score. Enjoy it!

[Cerberus29]

It's not just the number score I disagree with. There are a lot of points in the review itself I don't agree with. I picked this game up last night and think its really good. One of the complaints the reviewer has is that the game is TOO LONG. I don't know about anyone else, but I like to get my money's worth out of a game, so I don't see how someone can knock it for being too long. But then they'll turn around and praise a game like COD which can be beat in three hours.

[antz1104]

How is what Awesome Gamer said "well said"? Because he threw out the most generic comment on this website, slamming a reviewer by making an unfounded prediction they'll give CoD a great score in three months? God this site is broken sometimes.

A 7.5 isn't a bad review, it got rated a good game. People should be happy less and less 9's and 10's are being doled out now. A score that high should count for something.

[Lovable]

Did you just said "a bunch of 10?" LOL yeah right...

[Kran]

Respectable, yes.

But I have a review copy myself, and I personally believe it's up in the high 8's low 9's, not this score.

Then again, i've only played the first 3 or so chapters.

[Wingsfan24]

I also reviewed it and didn't run into any of the glitches they're talking about besides a few wonky platforming segments. The combat isn't all about speed either, there's so many options. Ghosts die quicker when set on fire, the robotic things die quicker when electrified, they totally missed the in-depth part of the combat and the challenge it puts out there. Even on a normal setting the mini bosses and even some just normal fights were a challenge. Bad review in my opinion.

[oNIXo]

The guy that reviewed it is a super pokefan, he probably set it to the lowest difficulty so he could get through some of it.

[doogiebear]

Chapters? Wait, is it still open world, or linear?

[showtimefolks]

i kind of agree with IGN now here comes the disagrees. But i have been reading most of the reviews and each one talks about glitches but these are things the developers hopefully will fix fairly soon in a patch

i think most reviewers need to get one thing straight yes this is zelda,god of war and POP games get over it. If you gonna borrow or copy someone atleast copy the best.

a score in no way should change anyone's mind, this is a epic game and she used the word epic few times so let's play an epic adventure.

http://www.gamespot.com/dar...

gamespot gave it a 8.5 which i think this game deserves

metacritic is at 90 which is quite good

[pumpactionpimp]

Exactly a 7.5 isn't bad, but I also agree with ign. Glitches are a reason to mark a game down a notch or two. Although I very much liked the first game, bugs on the 360 were so bad(game freezing, puzzle pieces not showing up, getting stuck in walls, etc.) that I couldn't finish the game. And I got it through gamefly a good 8-12 months after it had been out.

[HiddenMission]

Then by yours and Pumps logic Skyrim should have been a 6 or below because it was beyond glitchy to the point of being broken yet IGN gave it a 9.5.

This is what an adult calls double standards and why IGN has no means of being reliable or consistant with their review score process.

Audrey the reviewer proved that she had zero understandings of the workings of the title and she proved that she is horrible and gaming.

[NastyLeftHook0]

7.5 is a good score, 5 is medicore. a 4 would be bad.

[StayStatic]

Good score , I shall buy.

[hades07]

Seems like some of the sites now are contrasting each other. Ign did not like the puzzles but loved the boss fights; Gamespot like the puzzles/dungeons but did not like the boss fights.

Reviews are a personal taste, if the game is getting good reviews in general, try it out for yourself and see if you like it.

[s8anicslayer]

Sounds like she was nit picking a bit!

[SilentNegotiator]

But in this generation, a 7.5 is a MEDIOCRE score, the way they throw around 9s and 10s compared to last gen.

[BraveToaster]

It just means the devs didn't pay IGN enough to give it a 9.

[Morgue]

A multi plat payout costs around $3.25

7.5

Depending on who reviews it, throw in an $1.00 it's an 8.5

[WeskerChildReborned]

I know, 7.5 is still a good score and i think this is the lowest i've seen cause i've seen some 9's or 8's

[palaeomerus]

"People act like a 7.5 is a terrible score."

No, people act like IGN is a terrible website with terrible writers who write terrible articles and reviews and make mediocre podcasts.

[HiddenMission]

IGN has been caught plagairising, cutting and pasting reviews from console to console when only one console version had specific issues and rating up games out of fanboy popularity...Skyrim broken game 9.5....how does sn utterly broken game get 9.5.

Point being if they like a title they will over look game changing flaws and if they dont those samr flaws will be used to damn a game.

Its called being consistant and credible which IGN stopped being since the late 90's.

[The Meerkat]

At odds with the main bulk of the reviews.

I wonder what Edge will give it.

[dasbeer88]

Edge will probably give Darksiders II a 6/10...and that's just them being generous.

[Afterlife]

Yes but they aren't alone.

Another 7.5 - CVG
http://www.computerandvideo...

[HammadTheBeast]

Edge likes being special, so probably a 3 for them, and tons of hits.

[R_aVe_N]

Think this is the lowest review score I have seen so far so that says good things for the game. I usually don't agree with IGN so that tells me the game is better than that lol.

[Kinger8938]

Play it yourself and decide what you think, not a bad review and it makes sense! the video review made the graphics look very dull and dark i think most footage ive seen has been pc till now unsure!

ill get this after GW2 for now

[dafegamer]

lol this is gravity rush all over again
i bet the metascore would be drastically better than ign's score

[Afterlife]

I predict around 80 because there's another 7.5 and I'm expecting scores around 7-8 from Edge and Gamespot.

http://www.computerandvideo...

[iXenon]

People need to understand that not everyone uses the same score system. A 7.5 isn't equivalent to a C in high school. A 7.5 in IGN is "good". An 8 is "good" some other places. Either way, it's still "good".

Sheesh

[MidnytRain]

Are people still holding personal grudges against IGN?

[ApolloTheBoss]

The problem is that it's not good, It's GREAT!!!

[neutralgamer19]

Kran ill take your word for it!!!!!

[BigShotSmoov007]

There's only 3 website I really go to when it comes to reviews anymore, gametrailers, giantbomb and gameinformer. They seem to still be in touch with what gamers really want and like in games. All the others are out of touch in my voice. I'm even loosing respect for g4 now also.

[VideoGameJimmy]

lol

[Campy da Camper]

Review scores are like women scores 10 or 9 get all over that. An 8 is not too bad
Once you get to 7s or lower you need a couple beer in you to like them.

[Despair666]

This is why girls should'nt play games

[despair]

dude don't disrespect the Despair name with such a dumb statement.

[Moby-Royale]

Lol "you're making me look bad".

That's good stuff. Haha

[Dread]

sexist!

its 2012 for gods sake.

[despair]

just saw the reviewer, I very much disagree with 90% of her reviews so I'm guessing this one is a 9/10 for me, plus most other reviews place it in a very high bracket.

[VideoGameJimmy]

"so I'm guessing this one is a 9/10 for me"

wait so you haven't played it?

[HiddenMission]

I have sunk 12 hours in and she is full of shit the title is everything fans of the series have been asking for and much more.

Audery just doesnt know what shes talking about and its just that simple it has nothing to do with her sex shes just weak at being connected to what she does for a living...

[despair]

@VideoGameJimmy

No from experience with her reviews I usually like the games she hates and hate the games she likes, so by that measure and the quality of the original darksiders I can estimate a value on the game even without playing it for myself.

[VideoGameJimmy]

@despair Okay I guess that fair. At least you can explain your reasoning behind having a solid opinion on something you haven't touched unlike many other commenters :).

@HiddenMission I don't read her reviews anyway (not the biggest Nintendo fan) so I wouldn't know what she does.

[Kingdom Come]

I find it frustrating when games presumed to be bad that turn out to be surprisingly enjoyable are scored higher based on the shock of its decency (Sleeping Dogs), yet games such as Darksiders II are overhyped and receive negative reviews due to the reviewers exaggerated expectations.

[SageHonor]

Youtube folk gonna be mad lol

[IQUITN4G]

The score sounds about right for something that probably isn't all that inspirational in it's own right. A solid game that will be fun enough especially if you liked the atmosphere and general theme of the first game. I'm starting to tire of the predictable and safe though and I suspect people are too slowly. Looks good enough though for most people to enjoy it and and the score does seem to reflects this

[ApolloTheBoss]

I don't want to sound like an ass, but I think IGN's scores are based on how much of a bribe they get from publishers. Almost every other reviewer gave it either a +B or an -A. This is the definition of biased opinion.

[jagstatboy]

"...borrowing adventure and puzzle elements from The Legend of Zelda, action from God of War, platforming from Prince of Persia, and tone from some hellfire version of Lord of the Rings.....in the end it never comes close to reaching the heights of the various franchises it so freely borrows from"

The art style of Darksiders is better than those games...Joe Mad for the win.

[Drithe]

They should let someone who likes these type of games review them, then someone who doesnt. That way we can get a view from both.

This review was from a little girl who obviously hates these type of agressive evil games and likes hello kitty and zelda better. She should have never been allowed to review this game.

End of Line.

[YoungPlex]

Oh Audrey Drake, no disrespect, but your a Nintendo gal, and your opinion seems to be a little harsh on this game... Your constantly comparing the game to the other games it borrows from and have set the bar so high, that I feel your opinion is getting a little to biased for my taste. Judge not for what it borrows from but for what it is!

I've read some decent reviews that score it fairly for what it is, not what it borrows from. Sure it has glitches, but most third-party games do. Most Nintendo and Sony games have little to no glitches as they are designed strictly for one console, so please give this game a break! I, for one, will not take this review seriously as a 7.5 and refuse to believe that it scored the sames score as a game like Heroes of Ruin! People really need to sit back and take these facts into consideration before posting a review. I honestly can't wait to dig into this game and continue my quest from part one.

IGN has truly spiraled downhill and should reevaluate how they review games! I used to love waiting for their reviews but have noticed that the $ is were their review stands and that's totally immoral in my book. Shame on you...

[IQUITN4G]

You actually believe that nonsense Drithe?. There are plenty of girl gamers very much into all game types and themes, with a lot of them perfectly capable of kicking our arse while they're at it too. It's like saying girls also can't play darts or Snooker because there are more that don't. Really very ignorant

[mafiahajeri]

She should stay in the kitchen...

[turgore]

It deserves more...

[Captain Qwark 9]

you know the best way for everyone to disagree with this review??????

buy the game anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lets not let this one underwhelm in the sales department. its a damn shame cod can post crazy numbers but the first darksiders did mediocre at best. let not let that happen again!

[DialgaMarine]

While this game looks alright, it's becoming too obvious that God of War: Assecension is going to kick it's ass. Hard.

[Captain Qwark 9]

i dont think i could lol at this harder. with its ninja gaiden 3 multiplayer and gameplay that i can virtually guarantee will be unchanged, doubtful

GOW1 was the shit, 2 was unbelievable. then 3, they had so few changes i though i was playing gow2 but worse. they added nothing to 3 other than sexier graphics and bigger boss fights ( admittedly it did have some of the best boss fights ever but that was its only real highlight for me. gameplay>graphics anyday ). it had no actual changes, oh wait it did add a couple new weapons but they were virtually useless

[InTheZoneAC]

Every god of war has been epic to me. I waited until a month before God of War 2 came out to play GoW 1. Why? Because it didn't appeal to me. I tried it and it surpassed all expectations.

God of War 2 was even more epic. Yes GoW has a great story to go with insane fights.

Then 3 came out and it was boss fight after boss fight. Another great title.

They got better with each release. I have both PSP versions on bluray, have yet to play much of either but I need to complete every one of them.

[Captain Qwark 9]

to each his own, thats justmy opinion. 3 was a decent game at best to me. it was similar to resident evil 5. both were very good games and still better than a lot of whats out there however i dont think they measured up to my expectations for the series or their predecessors

[InTheZoneAC]

I liked the original Darksiders and IGN gave it a 7.8. Typically games rated whatever then would rate poorer now. So to me a 7.5 from the same guys, if it was the same reviewer, means the game will be at least as fun as the first.

What's funny though is how a horrible, possibly the worst 1st party shooter ever made in Socom 4 only received half a point lower than this game. I know they're different games, but the quality of this game blows Socom 4 out the water.

[badvlad]

haha i knew it and people was bashing me when i sid it was not near that triple A title hype it got. Games are like 80 euros and this game is worth 25

[MadMax]

So, you are going to go on what one reviewer says? Without even trying it for yourself, are you frikin kidding me? Go by a review and thats it, wow! Lol, i guess some people dont want to try and think for themselves anymore.

[badvlad]

No I predicted it was gonna be average like the first one. And the reviwes confirm it. I hate when companies pump money into mass promotion of average games. Most of these hypes are generated by companies of the game that pay different sites to advertise subliminally. Im no straner to enjoy sucky games but il skip this one cu sits mad by jews. Im kidding about the jewpart just as I was kidding about japanese people have little shrimp hands. Dont expell me please again im stond

[MadMax]

Lol, well i can say it lives up to the hype. Now a game like Halo is overhyped! Check out the reviews, its scoring 8 and 9s everywhere else. Ign had someone review the game that gave Skyward Sword a 10!!! Go figure. Seriously though, its far better than the first one and worth a pick up. Dont be swayed because 1 reviewer didnt give it a 10.

[frankboy2012]

People fuck the reviews i have lost faith in these so called reviewers/review sites to be quite frank,im not bashing call of duty because the same could be said about other titles but when a game gets recycled with a slightly different colour palette and still uses the same game engine year in year out and still scores 9's/10's then sorry all my credibility goes out the window.

[MadMax]

Everywhere else is giving it much higher scores. If you want a really honest review by someone who has been around longer when it comes to experience with games, go check out Gamspot.com. As they gave it the score it deserves, 8.5.

I have had the game since Friday and have been pouring in alot of hours into it. Its much better than the first game and quite a bit different. Awesome game nonetheless!!! You cannot take what some of these blowholes up at Ign say to heart!

[HaVoK308]

Like the original, Mainstream outlets will turn up their nose towards it, and the Indie (actual gamers) outlets will love it. Not surprised.

[Drainage]

so basically, its like the last one. Overrated, gets stale midway into the game . Too many non action times

[pandehz]

Yep does get stale midway.

I played it for a bit now and lemme summarise

Pros:
Good art style
Fast combat
Horse (thank god, cant imagine walking again like in amalur)
Nice music
Few nice bosses

Cons:
Repetitive puzzles, every area is basically a puzzle fest still you meet some mobs and then again same puzzles till you meet same mobs and then a unique boss at the end. Trust me this is exactly what it is.

Death is supposed to be killing in insane speed and chaos but nope he likes to solve the same puzzles and go back and forth same areas. Well he does have all the time in the world so yea he does do all the crappy stuff.

Death is weak. I mean really no badassery.

Death is not Death. I know he sort of looks like and they gave him a voice and he has scythes and stuff. But look past all that surface stuff and you wont feel DEATH as DEATH. No fear, danger, nothing sinister no indepth background story or anything really. Death is just another hack and slash char who moves like a mix between dante,kratos and prince and does not have an identity of his own. I wished they would give him his own speed, mannerisms and much more to define him but no its mostly graphical.

Very predictable fights, once you get a hang of the moves you wanna use you prolly wont bother to master any other combos.

Too much platforming. I mean death should literally look bone thin with the amount of jumping and climbing and kinda pointless swimming (just added into the mix for no reason) that he does.

Whatever happened to earth? what is this alternate fantasy place that the story is taking place in lmao

Cheesy plot, cheesy dialogue, easily readable characters.
Villains are villains and good are good blah

Feels like im fighting less. There are 20 min moments when you have like few mobs and majority just doing the exact same kind of puzzles.

Huuge empty world. You can count the npc's.

If youve played GodOfWar, Zelda, Prince of Persia, Assasins Creed, Shadow of the Colossus etc you will know that each feel very very different from the other even though all of them atleast have a thing or two in common. This game takes many things from all of them and did not master anything nor did it bring anything new to the table.

It feels like as if I've played this game before, thats the problem with the game.

So yea like Drainage says, it actually is overrated.

[sugadaddy]

The real issue I have with the review is the fact that the first game garnered a 7.8 out of them and when a sequel comes out that improves upon practically every aspect of the first it somehow manages to get a 7.5. I realize the two reviews were written by separate people but in the end, it's "IGN" at the top of the review. A little consistency might be nice.

Oh well, when only 4 reviews out of 35 are sub-80 scores on Metacritic you know you've found a solid game.

[Romudeth]

I can't wait to play this.

[Braid]

The art style and the overall design is so professional in this game that it can put many of the so called AAA titles out there to shame, and it definetely don't deserve the 7 score they gave for graphics/presentation. I mean, it's Joe Mad who's responsible for the art direction of this game, guys, how can you possibly go wrong with that?

As a true comic book and dark fantasy literature fan, I'm in love with how this game looks and I simply can't accept a 7 for a presentation score. I respect your opinion but I just find it hard to take a seven for this game's graphics/presentation seriously as it's the point that needs to be praised most regarding this game. There are some technical problems for sure, but these problems must be game breaking if you think that a game which looks this stylish deserves such a mediocre score. Or we just don't share the same taste of artistic design eith the reviewer, I don't know...

[Adolph Fitler]

Didn't IGN give Perfect Dark Zero a 9? Can't remember if it was IGN or GS, either way, they are both as crap as one another, as I remember GS gave Godhand a 3 or 4, then IGN gave it a 8.5 or 9. There shouldn't be huge scoring gaps between reviews from site to site on great games like this.

I'm sick of these sites scoring games down for being generic & not doing anything different, but then contradicting that by scoring C.O.D. 12 a 9 or 10.....it is stupid & does not make sense.
Darksiders 2 should score 8.5-9 if it is better than the 1st 9, if same as 1st, then a 9.

[annus]

HOW DARE PEOPLE HAVE OPINIONS!!!!!

[jalen247]

Loved the first Darksiders. Definitely picking this one up.

[-Gespenst-]

First one was a yawnfest and I really didn't like it's visual style and design. This really seems like more of the same.

[BushLitter]

It seems Darksiders was a 'hate-it-or-love-it' type of game. If it's not for you, it's not for you. I loved it, and still rank it in my top three games this gen. I agree that it seemed to have lost its pacing in the middle, but it climaxed brilliantly. If 2 is more of the same, then I'll love this one too. But my money is on it being even better.

[Grimhammer00]

I'm loving it! But I got this audio glitch right from the start - music only cuts out continuously, but voice work is perfect...

[AllSystemsRocks]

It's a girl don't worry they don't know how to handle a car so I don't expect much with a game pad !!!

[BushLitter]

This comment confuses me!