The Gaming Vault Review: Darksiders 2 (Multi)

Two years ago, the original Darksiders debuted with little fanfare but managed to attract critical praise and affection for being an extremely solid, if technically unspectacular title which folded in popular gameplay elements seen in other games; most notably from Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series.

With their second outing in the franchise, developers Vigil Games have been keen to follow the same, successful blueprint lain out by its predecessor. Continuing the trend of inspiration, Darksiders 2 also cribs inspiration from another popular gaming franchise (Blizzard’s Diablo no less) and sweetens it all with a penchant for epic spectacle and grandeur that was muted somewhat in the series’ debut installment.

Like its predecessor though, Darksiders 2 is an imperfect beast that remains an eminently playable and lengthy affair and which is superior than the sum of its qualitatively inconsistent parts. 7/10

[borisfett]

I could never get into the first one. My biggest fear is that this one is just as meanseringly average as the original.

[MrAnderson]

I enjoyed the first one, finished it, but it never wowed me, Darksiders 2 is leagues above the first and one of the best RPG's i've played in a long time, 7/10 is an insulting score for the work that clearly went into that game.

[bubblebeam]

I'd give it an 8 or 8.5.

Loved the first, and the second is awesome. Just a bit pissed it keeps making my console freeze. Don't know why, maybe they need to patch?

I'm doing the soul arbiters maze and it keeps freezing. Only done like half the crucible.

[Aeon]

Best game I've played all year for me.

[shammgod]

I have to agree, however I do have Sleeping Dogs waiting for when I finish Darksiders 2 and I also loved Max Payne 3! Good year for gaming with borderlands 2 and AC3 still left

[Aeon]

Sleeping Dogs is also a great game, and I loved Max Payne 3 too, very good year for games!

[Sidology]

pretty cool zelda game, vigil.

[Bitsnark]

@MrAnderson

I'm like you, I wasn't bowled over by the first in anyway and I do feel the second did a lot of things right.

And trust me, I *do* acknowledge the huge amount of work that has gone into it; that much is evident from the lovingly crafted dungeons and the epic spectacle that the game consistently has on offer.

Also, since when was 7/10 a 'bad' or 'insulting' score.

Where I work, 5/10 is an average game, 6/10 is a better than average game and 7/10 is a good game.

Darksiders 2 is precisely that; its a good game, but one that is arguably flawed.

Don't see the insult there.

[MrAnderson]

Because I feel it deffinantly justifys being more than "good" but that's my opinion, and you have yours, I don't mean it dissrespectfully, I just feel if Skyrim can get 9s and 10s all over the board (i'm not hating on Skyrim, I love Skyrim) but if Skyrim can get 9s and 10s all over, then 7 is way too low for how good Darksiders 2 is (again, my opinion)