Destroy All Humans! 2 (Xbox)

Following the success of the original release of Destroy All Humans! in 2005, developer Pandemic Studios released a follow-up in 2006, Destroy All Humans! 2. Much like the original game, I distinctly remember seeing this game in store displays, including a playable demo, and while I never played it, the name stuck with me. In my hype for the Destroy All Humans! remake, I bought a copy of Destroy All Humans! 2 on the original Xbox, not knowing if a remake of that game was in the works or not. Indeed, a remake of this game was announced as Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed, which made me realize I was in a unique position to compare the original release to the remake, since I went into the original game’s remake blind. Playing this game immediately following Destroy All Humans! (2020) is an interesting experience in itself, and while I liked it on a gameplay level, I had mixed feelings on it from a storytelling perspective.

Nicktoons Movin'

Though more EyeToy games were released following EyeToy: Groove, not many of them were released in the US, where instead the third game to be released for the peripheral was Nicktoons Movin’. Based on various Nickelodeon shows, it became the first EyeToy game in the US to not be developed by London Studio as well as the first to be based on a licensed property. In an effort to complete my EyeToy collection, I found this one for cheap at a local game store, not knowing what to expect going in. Once I played it, however, I walked away a bit disappointed for reasons beyond its content.

Devil Dice

As with any major console release, “homebrew” development exists to allow people to make their own games for a given system in an unofficial capacity. However, it’s not too often that any of said games get an official major release. Such is the case with Devil Dice (XI [sai] in Japan), a dice puzzle game from developer Shift of God Eater and Code Vein fame, originally developed for the Net Yaroze homebrew platform. After stumbling upon Devil Dice’s existence after having already owned its follow-up title, Bombastic, I managed to find it in a used game store on a trip to Texas, though I didn’t get around to playing it until recently. After getting the chance to play it, I found it to be a rather unique and enjoyable title in the puzzle game space.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (PS2)

When SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, based on the long-running SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon on Nickelodeon, was first released in 2003, I did not actually own any of the home consoles it was initially released on, and so had to settle with experiencing the PC version, which was presented as a point-and-click game. If memory serves, it was generally serviceable, however for years I had been wanting to see what the console version was like, even after finally getting a PS2 as a gift just as the PS3 was around the corner. After finally getting a PS2 copy of the game a few months ago, I was just planning on playing it after playing through the Spy Fox trilogy when a remake was announced by THQ Nordic for later this year, entitled SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, which promises a Crash Bandicoot-style graphical upgrade and the inclusion of a number of cut content from the original release, making me anticipate playing the original even more to see what it was like. After getting the experience I always wanted, I found the game had held up surprisingly well, even with some minor setbacks.

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy isn’t really a game I had heard anything about, but my interest in playing it came from stumbling across the GameCube version at a Game Stop, during the time when they were phasing out GameCube stock, and the cover art and praise grabbed my attention. Sometime later, on a recent trip to Texas, I remembered to look for it as I perused a couple of places, finding it at a Half-Price Books, once again on the GameCube platform. After getting it home, I began playing during my last few weeks of college, with Finals affecting my play time for a bit. Having recently completed the game, I can say that my time invested in the game was well worth it.

Two demigods named Sphinx and Horus are tasked by their master Imhotep with retrieving a sword called the Blade of Osiris. As the two try to acquire the sword, Horus ends up falling into a lava flow. Not long after Sphinx gets his hands on the blade, his efforts to go back are hindered and so he is forced to travel by way of a mysterious portal. Meanwhile, Prince Tutankhamen is getting ready to celebrate his birthday, while his brother Akhenaten is preparing a special surprise for him. Eventually, his and Sphinx’s paths cross as Tutankhamen gets captured and is transformed into a mummy through a ritual, which Sphinx disrupts. Once Sphinx makes his escape, it’s clear that there’s more to all of this than meets the eye.

Sphinx, one of the main protagonists and wielder of the
Blade of Osiris.

The story is actually pretty well-written, particularly the Mummy half of the story (which has sort of an anti-climax), but what bogs it down a little is the severe lack of voice acting. In its stead is some text acting as subtitles so you know what each character is saying. However, while normally you can skip some of the text at a prompt (and also make it scroll faster), there are points where it goes through by itself, so you’d better hope you were able to read it fast enough. The only real semblance of voice acting in the game is some grunts or screams, and even then the closest thing you get to full voice acting in cutscenes is an evil laugh from the antagonist, Set.

Tutankhamen, the other main protagonist, after
being turned into a mummy.

What makes this game interesting is that you can play as both Sphinx and the Mummy (Tutankhamen) at different points in the game, each having their own style of play. Sphinx portions of the game play out more like an action game of sorts, including having a health bar (made up of ankhs) and gaining more abilities over time that aid in battle, along with some minor platforming and puzzle solving. The Mummy portions of the game, on the other hand, are all about puzzle solving, with some elements of stealth; these puzzles can get more elaborate and creative than the puzzles in the Sphinx portions, mainly since they tend take full advantage of the Mummy’s undead state (he can’t die from what you have to put him through, although it is implied he can still feel pain), and the fun that can be had from solving these puzzles is aided by the fact that you don’t need to worry about health. On top of this, anything you happen to acquire in the Mummy portions is transferred to Sphinx at the end, so the two sides kind of feed off each other. Both of these gameplay types are really well thought out, though personally I had more fun with the Mummy portions of the game (which is probably at least partially due to my enjoyment of puzzle games), and the only problem I have with the Sphinx sections is that they can get a little cryptic sometimes, which can necessitate the use of a guide (Protip: Even though you have to strike a creature multiple times until it glows yellow before you can use a Capture Beetle on it, you do not need to do so on a Slim Burble; these guys you can capture immediately.)

Pictured: A Slim Burble

Another thing about the Sphinx portions of the game is that, more often than not, the sequence of events needed to advance plays out more or less like a point-and-click adventure game, often requiring completing a Mummy section to obtain a crucial item. For example, near the beginning of the game, in the Corridor of Champions in Abydos, there is an optional gauntlet you can go through. In order to go through the gauntlet, you have to pass a test. To pass the test, you have to bring a diamond back to a crocodile person in under 20 seconds. To do this, you need to be able to somersault, or double jump. To get the somersault ability (which you need anyway to gain access to another area in Heliopolis to advance), you have to find 3 Abydosian pearls to give to a guy so he can give you a key, then use the key to gain access to a higher level, go to a Monster Shop, use a number of scarabs you collected to buy a monster (it doesn’t need to be an expensive one) so you can donate it to a museum to get a zipline handle, use a zipline to travel to a boat, give the captain some scarabs to travel to Heliopolis, then swim over to an area so you can trick a monster into burning a box, use what’s inside the box at two marked points to summon an eagle, then trick another monster into blowing up some boulders, go through a cave to another area so you can swim to an island, enter a shrine where your mentor brings a basket (Bas-Ket) to life to revive Tutankhamen, use Tutankhamen to complete a series of tests in three different rooms by using fire and electricity, allowing Tutankhamen to retrieve some stolen diamonds from the museum in Abydos and the Wings of Ibis, then Sphinx gains the stolen jewelry and the Wings of Ibis, the latter of which allows him to somersault, then swim back across and go the boat that just appeared, give the captain some more scarabs so you can travel back to Abydos, then make your way back to the Corridor of Champions so you can try the challenge, do a somersault to bring the diamond back to the crocodile person within 20 seconds and gain access to the gauntlet. There’s plenty more where this came from.

Sphinx in action (this is a PS2 screenshot because GameCube screenshots
are difficult to find).

As this game is over ten years old and I don’t have much experience with the GameCube, I’m not sure I can really say much about the graphics other than that they manage to hold up really well, which can likely be attributed to the game’s cartoonish art style. The music is also pretty good, as it does a good job of keeping the Egyptian vibe going throughout while still having range. It’s not exactly something I would rush out to buy a CD for, should one exist, but it still does its job really well.

Mummy puzzles often require the Mummy to do harm to himself, in this
instance dividing himself into three.

One last thing I should mention as a bit of fair warning is that this game has a particularly nasty bug, known by players as the infamous “glitch door”. During the start of the second Mummy section, if you save at the save point and then turn the system off, a door that will allow you to advance will remain forever locked, causing you to have to start the game over again to get another shot at it. Since I knew about this glitch going in, I did what I could to avoid it, mainly by simply continuing play after I saved my game, so I never came across it. Should you decide to play this game though, this is something you should really keep in mind.

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy is a really enjoyable game, though whether you prefer the Sphinx or Mummy portions of the game depends on the player. Its graphics really hold up after over a decade and it can get really creative with its puzzle design. A fan of action games akin to Legend of Zelda would probably find some enjoyment in this game, since, while I have never played a Zelda game before, I have read that this game shares some of that franchise’s gameplay elements. If puzzles are your thing, the Mummy portions of gameplay have some really fun puzzles to solve that provide a unique experience. However, if you own any of the major sixth-generation consoles (or any later systems that can play those games), this is a game that’s definitely worth giving a shot.

Second Opinion - South Park: The Stick of Truth

While I hadn’t seen much of South Park beforehand, having seen a handful of episodes and the movie (South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut), it wasn’t until I saw a preview of the then-upcoming game, South Park: The Stick of Truth, the subject of this review, at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, that my interest grew. From what I had seen in that preview, I knew it would be imperative for me to see every episode of South Park I could in order to get the most out of the game, which I did over an extended period of time. While the preview I saw was from THQ, the company would unfortunately go bankrupt, causing the game to shift hands to Ubisoft for release, in turn leading to a number of delays (to the point where the penultimate 3 episodes of Season 17 (“Black Friday”, “A Song of Ass and Fire”, and “****ies and Dragons”) that lead up to the game, collectively known as the Black Friday Trilogy, made numerous jokes about it). Even then, from the small snippet of gameplay in 2012 to the night before the game’s release in 2014, I knew it was a game I wanted to play. Having played the game, with this review delayed by school work and my Bionicle Heroes review, I would say the overall investment in South Park was worth it to the very end.

You play as The New Kid, whose appearance you get to customize, who has just moved into the quiet little mountain town of South Park. When The New Kid’s parents insist he go out and make friends, he comes across Butters Stotch, who takes him to see Eric Cartman, the Grand Wizard of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep, who currently holds the Stick of Truth as part of a LARP campaign. Soon after The New Kid joins in the game, the Stick of Truth is stolen by the Drow Elves of Larnion, the enemy of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep, and Cartman tasks him to retrieve the Stick. What starts out as a fairly simple game of LARP eventually turns into something much bigger than anyone involved could ever think possible.

The eponymous Stick of Truth, right before being stolen by Drow Elves.

Due to having heavy involvement from series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the story of The Stick of Truth feels and plays out just like an episode of South Park, especially in how the characters interact and how everything blows further out of proportion the more events play out. Numerous references and call backs are made to the show throughout, so only those who have already seen the show will get a good number of them, but they are still inserted such that prior knowledge is not required in order to enjoy the game. Of course, with South Park being a comedy series, the game is extremely funny, with every humorous moment, of which there is plenty, hitting more often than they miss; the show has its own ups and downs in regards to its humor, but, like the Black Friday Trilogy preceding it, this is one of South Park higher moments when it comes to laughs. Some of the jokes are based in pop culture references that will eventually make the game more of a product of its time, but the way they are executed is so hilarious that, unlike other games that do this, I don’t really mind it in the slightest. In essence, if you play this game, you are definitely guaranteed a laugh.

Once you join Cartman’s ranks, you not only get to choose your name (though everyone else calls you a different name(s) anyway), but also your Class, of which you have a choice between Fighter, Mage, Thief, and Jew (if you play as a Jew, damage output increases the lower your health is); I chose the first, mainly because I haven’t played many RPG’s that use a Class system. You can also customize your armor and weapons as you go, mainly to befit your Class, although the leveling-up system (not to mention some side quests) may require you to change your equipment a number of times over the course of the story. Certain scenarios in combat may also make you change out your weapons a few times as well, but you will find a strategy you’re comfortable with in no time. Interacting with residents of South Park also nets you Friends on Facebook in-game, allowing you access to Perks that can really help you depending on your play style.

Combat itself is similar to that of Penny Arcade’s Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness series, having the turn-based system of Rain-Slick 3 and 4, but also having timing-based attacks like Rain-Slick One and Two. When you or your buddy (one of a select group of South Park characters) initiates an attack during combat, timing is very important, in that you have to press a button(s) at just the right moment in order to maximize the damage you deal to an enemy. These attacks can either target single enemies or a whole group of them (when multiple are present), and the ever-changing tactics of some enemies can make you make some important decisions on how to approach a given situation, including whether to use a ranged or melee weapon on a target. Some special attacks require PP to pull off, but they are often worth it in the end, such as being able to jump and perform a massive ground pound or having Princess Kenny summon a unicorn to ram an opponent(s). You can also use your Mana to fart on enemies (this game’s form of magic), with stronger farts requiring increasing amounts of Mana; this is the only stat that does not regenerate after an encounter. Certain residents of South Park can also be summoned, such as Jesus, in order to take care of an enemy, but only once per (in-game) day; they also all give their own excuse for not being able to take on bosses (some of whom are actually pretty easy to take down, even on a higher difficulty).

A small sample of combat in-game.

There are also a number of collectibles to be found in the game, including Chinpokomon and a number of useful items. Some of these items, however, are very miss-able, meaning you can’t go back and retrieve them once you’ve gone through certain story points, which can hamper one’s experience with the game a little bit. To this end, learning from my brother’s frustrations with this during his playthrough, I tried to get everything I could whenever I could, though I also used an online guide to make sure I grabbed everything.

The graphics of this game are very impressive, especially considering an engine capable of advanced 3D graphics was used to accurately replicate the 2D construction paper cut-out look of the show. This helps the game look and feel just like an episode of South Park, further increasing enjoyment of the writing and gameplay. Due to Parker and Stone’s ties to the development of The Stick of Truth, the two of them, alongside the returning South park voice cast, give performances that help the whole experience feel even more authentic. This is not getting into the background music, which generally would not sound out of place within the show (it even includes the show’s signature banjo music and ending credits theme), along with some (often humorous) recycled sound and music clips from the show that offer extra enjoyment for dedicated fans of South Park.

Once you find Jesus (among others), you can summon him during
combat once per day.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is not only a great South Park game, but also an amazing RPG experience in general. The whole thing feels as if it was ripped straight out of the show, providing a faithful South Park experience to those seeking it out. Prior experience with South Park is not required to have fun with the game, so fans of, or newcomers to, RPGs (within the appropriate age group) can safely be encouraged to seek it out, as it is very accessible to players with little to not experience in the genre, although watching the show beforehand is a necessity to understand and laugh at the numerous references and call-backs to previous episodes (I would highly recommend watching the Black Friday Trilogy at a minimum before playing The Stick of Truth for the first time). Admittedly, the game doesn’t take that long to get through, clocking in at roughly 12-15 hours depending on your actions, but getting the full South Park experience alone makes it all worth it in the end.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

In August, 2012, I wrote a review of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, declaring it one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. In that review, I mentioned South Park: The Stick of Truth, the subject of this review, as though it was going to be released in 2013. Though the game was certainly announced before I watched the movie that time, and I saw a preview for it at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, it wasn’t actually until last week that the game came out. This is due to multiple factors, the main ones being that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone kept rewriting the script and that THQ, the original publishers of the title, unfortunately went bankrupt, forcing them to sell off all of their assets and original IPs; in the end, Ubisoft gained the rights to The Stick of Truth. So numerous were these delays that South Park itself lampooned them during Season 17’s Black Friday Trilogy (“Black Friday”, “A Song of Ass and Fire” and “****ies and Dragons”). Some good did come out of these delays though, as it gave my brother and I more time to catch up with the entire run of South Park as well as see The Book of Mormon at the Pantages (long story short, go see The Book of Mormon). In true South Park fashion, we even finished catching up with the show the night before the game came out; there are still only three episodes out of 247 that we haven’t seen because Muhammad (“Super Best Friends”, “200” and “201”), so we’ll probably need to invest in the season sets to try and rectify that (though we did settle with text summaries). Since the game finally came out, I actually had a lot of free time, so after we rewatched the Black Friday Trilogy, I sat down and played through the whole game in the span of two days [Note: This review was delayed due to the reviews of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection]. Would I consider all of that effort to catch up worth it in the end? Yes.

The original box art from when THQ was to publish the game.
It also would have had Kinect functionality so you could berate Cartman.

The New Kid (You) has just moved into South Park and is tasked by his parents, especially his dad, to go out and make friends. Soon after he leaves the house, he is greeted by Butters Stotch, who leads him to Eric Cartman’s house to join the Kingdom of Kupa Keep. When the New Kid successfully joins Cartman’s group, he ends up being roped into a city-wide Live-Action Roleplay (LARP) campaign revolving around an object known as The Stick of Truth. The Stick has great power, as whoever holds the stick controls the universe. Things go south when a rival faction, the Drow Elves of Larnion, successfully steals the stick. Cartman orders the New Kid to go and retrieve the Stick and, during his quest to become cool, what begins as a simple game escalates to a level that no one could ever have anticipated.

The Kingdom of Kupa Keep.

Through the course of the game, the plot plays out exactly how an episode of the show would. Over the course of three days, the New Kid experiences one strange event after another, culminating in one of the biggest, funniest and most ridiculous plot twists I have ever experienced in a video game. I really enjoyed the escalating antics of the story, as it really helped the immersion and the feeling that this really is an episode of South Park. Every single person in the game is completely in-character, with nothing about them out of place. The story is tightly written and I really can’t find any flaws with it.

One of the highlights of the script is its comedy. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have become two of my favorite comedians, though I’ll admit that not every episode of South Park can be a winner, and The Stick of Truth does not disappoint. Just about every single line, in some way, is funny. Almost everything the characters say is funny, the NPC reactions are funny, even one-off lines, sound clips or descriptions of items can be funny. Simply put, it is one of the most humorous video games I have ever played and I seriously could not stop laughing at times, especially when I had someone else in the room to laugh with. This is in part due to all of the references made to the show, all of which I understood due to my one-and-a-half years of binge viewing the series in my free time. However, if I had to find one flaw it would be that there isn’t enough dialogue during fights or within the world, such as during a specific mini-game. Eventually you begin to hear the same things being said repetitively, which dulls the sensation a bit until it gradually just ceases to have any humor value. In most cases the dialogue is varied enough that recycling through them can still lead to some great gems, but I think some work was needed in other areas.

Because of all the LARPing in the game, it’s only natural that The Stick of Truth would be a full-blown RPG. It has everything, from quests and collectibles to shops and item management. It all begins when you first enter character customization. The customization isn’t as deep as one would find in other games, mostly due to the art style of South Park, but there is still enough to make the New Kid resemble you if you’d like. When you join the Kingdom of Kupa Keep, you also pick a class, with a choice between Fighter, Mage, Thief and Jew (a “high risk high reward” class where the damage increases the lower your HP is); I chose Fighter because I like to focus on attack power in an RPG. Upon selecting your class, you are given a set of armor and weapons matching your class, but throughout the game you’re allowed to customize your character further by swapping out your weaker equipment for more powerful sets. Some pieces of equipment can even have items like stickers attached to them to grant additional effects, such as higher damage or siphoning an amount of health from a Bleeding enemy. The initial customization may be impressive, but the depth added over time during actual gameplay definitely is.

Combat in The Stick of Truth is turn-based, using mechanics which, from my experience, are similar to Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden. Apart from a Health meter, the player, and their buddy (a selected South Park character), also has PP and Mana meters. PP is used to pull of special attacks, with different attacks costing a different amount of PP to activate. These attacks range from a rain of arrows to a buffing/debuffing blow horn or even Butters in his Professor Chaos persona inflicting a random effect determined by a spinning wheel. The Mana meter is used for casting magic, which in this context is how you manipulate your farts (believe it or not, farts are very important to the game). When used right, magic can be very useful and powerful, but unlike Health and PP it doesn’t regenerate after battle, so consuming mana potions (gassy food) is the only way to replenish what you’ve lost. All attacks, like in Barkley, require the completion of a short mini-game or timed button presses to determine how successful the attack is and how much damage it inflicts on a target. Summons, including Mr. Slave and Jesus, are also available once per in-game day, except against bosses, by completing a sidequest; afterwards you just need to talk to the character to regain their summon item. This system works well and the controller-friendly approach to it helps it be as smooth as possible.

What combat generally looks like.

While I do like the gameplay systems in general, I do have a few complaints. Sometimes while I’m fighting, the frame rate will dip for a second or the game will lag, causing me to miss important attack or block timing; sometimes the command wouldn’t register at all. I’ve also had the background music for fighting completely disappear, necessitating a reboot or a reload of my progress. In addition, the game in general is a bit easy overall thanks to the dynamic difficulty, where the game’s enemies level up with you. The most challenge it ever got was from a specific boss fight, and even then it was an optional one reached through a sidequest. That is not to say the final bosses weren’t challenging, but they weren’t on the same level as the optional boss. There’s also the collectible aspect, which is actually perfectly fine save for the fact that some are missable, such as six of the Chinpokomon. I missed two of them, so if I wanted to have them all, I’d need to restart the game from scratch. Some might also complain about the short length of the game, about 12-15 hours depending on how much you do, but personally I feel that the game doesn’t overstay its welcome and if you wanted to replay the game as another class, or to get every collectible object, it won’t take terribly long to do so.

Also, this area from the THQ version no longer happens.

The most notable thing about Stick of Truth however is how involved creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were during the process. Disappointed by the quality of the South Park games on the market, the duo were actually more hands-on with the game Oblivion was trying to make by providing assets from the show’s entire run as well as offering advice on how to help the game stay true to the spirit of South Park. Oblivion even went so far as to modify the engine so that production of the game could be similar to an episode of the show, including the ability to change the look of a single object across the entire game with minimal effort. Fittingly, an engine normally used for 3D games, the Dungeon Siege III engine, was used to perfectly capture the 2D cutout look of the show. Parker and Stone also provided completely original voicework and wrote the script for the game, allegedly starting out at 850 pages before being trimmed down for production; there’s even a lot of original songs and music from the show used as background music, including the distinct banjo chords that open most episodes. As a result, the game feels exactly like an episode of the show, at times even feeling like you’re watching South Park before the time comes to remember that it’s a game. This is The Stick of Truth’s greatest feat, which I think will be very hard for future video game adaptations of TV shows to accomplish.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is not only one of the funniest games I have played this year, but also an early gem for this year. The turn-based combat, though simple, is fun and I felt totally immersed by the world presented. There are a few flaws here and there, including the sometimes inconsistent frame rate, but these are forgivable in light of how perfectly the source material is translated to video game form. Due to all of the references and callbacks the game makes to the show, I can only really recommend this to already existing fans of the show, as the uninitiated may be confused by these same references that can be important to the story. It may be possible to enjoy the game solely based on the mechanics, but it is most definitely made to cater to those who are already familiar with the show. In either case, I’d recommend watching the Black Friday Trilogy right before giving it a go; it’ll transition well into the plot and will get you into the right mindset to play.

[OLD] Saints Row IV - Everything You Want in Open World Gaming

I’ve mentioned before that open world gaming isn’t a genre that I normally pick up. My main experience in this genre of gaming has come from the Assassin’s Creed and Infamous franchises as well as Batman: Arkham City and Saints Row: The Third (as well as a couple hours of Grand Theft Auto). While I have some experience with Saints Row 2, it was Saints Row: The Third that got me into the Saints Row franchise, so my anticipation of Saints Row IV had already begun when development of it became known. As it turns out, while they were developing this game, they had cancelled the planned Enter the Dominatrix DLC for the third game, as they realized that they could expand the concepts from it into a full game and fold it into what they already had (though now Enter the Dominatrix will be DLC for this game, which is kind of weird). This explains why Volition returned to Steelport for Saints Row IV and recycled assets, but doesn’t explain why no one was mad at them for reusing Stilwater between Saints Row 1 and 2.

Every video I saw of it increased my anticipation, with the reveal of some of the customization and weaponry wishing I could play it quicker. In that time however, THQ sadly went under, which briefly put the franchise in a state of limbo. As the publisher’s properties went on sale to other companies, publisher Deep Silver acquired developer Volition as well as the Metro franchise. It is through this acquisition that Saints Row IV was able to be published last week and how I’m able to share my opinion on the game. This latest entry in the Saints Row franchise is an improvement on Saints Row: The Third and is a game that open world fans should definitely look into playing.

Five years after the events of Saints Row: The Third, the Saints have risen from taking over Steelport to taking over the White House, with The Boss as President of the United States. Things seem to be going well, although the President’s approval rating has dropped to only 20 points. Just before he can give a big speech however, an alien race known as the Zin invade and abduct the important members of the President’s cabinet. While the President attempts to fight them off, he is ultimately taken by Emperor Zinyak, leader of the Zin Empire, who places him in a simulation of Steelport for his own amusement. The President manages to escape from Zinyak’s control, ending up on a spaceship with Kinzie and Vice President Keith David. Seeking revenge, the President decides to use the simulation to rescue more people he thinks will be useful so that the Saints can defeat Zinyak and take back Earth.

Emperor Zinyak at his throne.

By focusing on a single villain, the story of Saints Row IV seems to have more focus than the previous game. While I did say I liked the story of Saints Row: The Third, though there were problems with it, there seems to be more to this entry. I saw some character moments that seemed to mean something and there is a specific scene which gives the player good motivation to try and kill Zinyak. We even get to understand the kind of person the President is and see that the justification for his actions is quite sound. However, while the story is longer than that of Saints Row: The Third, it does prove itself to be nothing more than an excuse to throw as much over-the-top lunacy as possible to the player, and I consider that a good thing considering what we get to play around with.

First off, let’s talk about the super powers. That’s right; the President of the United States has access to super powers. This feature seemed to be the one discussed the most, which is why I wish to bring it up first. Among the abilities accessible are Super Speed, which can extend to gliding and running up buildings, and a Super Jump, which will eventually let you leap tall buildings. Other powers, like Blasts and Telekinesis, also have further sub-abilities based on what element is selected at the moment. This means that, for instance, a Blast augmented with fire has different effects from one augmented with ice, which allows the player to use their newfound abilities as they see fit. Using these powers in combat gave me new thrills, but it was especially fun to just roam around Steelport with a combination of powers, especially as they got more powerful, which also really increased mobility and made it more fun to get to places, rather than having to drive a long way to a mission or go somewhere to acquire some kind of jet. Just having the powers gave me a sense of glee, and even if it does make things easier, I like that they didn’t completely remove the sense of challenge from the game.

Of course, just because you get super powers, it doesn’t mean you can’t use any weapons. Saints Row IV sees the return of the standard weapons from previous games (Pistol, RPG, etc.) as well as their different versions, but now there are a slew of brand new weapons that are so ridiculous you’d be crazy not to use them. Apart from standard alien weaponry –laser-firing versions of standard weapons– Volition has included such things as an Inflat-O-Ray, which cartoonishly expands people’s heads until they explode, a Bounce Rifle, which fires balls with the properties of a pinball ball, and my personal favorite, the Dubstep Gun, which fires Dubstep instead of bullets. The preview that introduced the Dubstep Gun was the one that sold me on the game and, as a result, this was pretty much the only weapon I used regularly, especially when fully upgraded, which made the wubs generated by the weapon explosive. If you have the Commander in Chief upgrade, you also have access to the 'Merica weapon, a combination of a dozen guns as well as flamethrower and rocket launcher, which is so American that it hurts.

The Dubstep Gun, the best weapon in the game (no, really).

The best thing about having weapons and super powers is that you can combine them in combat, such as using a freeze blast followed by a gunshot to break the frozen enemy, or even use a particular power to enhance your bullets with a selected element. You even have the option, should you desire, to only use conventional weaponry and keep the use of your powers to a minimum, but it’s good to be aware that you’ll need to use your powers sooner or later to fight off the Zin, particularly against Wardens and shielded variants of the Zin (as well as shielded Wardens).

In addition to the weaponry, there’s also a rather wide selection of vehicles. All of your favorites from previous games are back, along with some new ones acquired from story progression or completion of certain challenges. Your super powers may allow you to run faster than a car or fly at the speed of a jet plane, but sometimes you want to just go for a drive, or get into a tank and shoot the crap out of everything or even take a plane and do some barnstorming; whatever floats your boat. While you don’t have a garage anymore, vehicles you are currently in can be saved by pressing the down button on the d-pad so that you can summon it at any time with your phone. If that doesn’t sell you, then consider that you can even combine super powers with vehicles, which includes jumping off a tall building and then summoning a jet to your location, such as the awesome Screaming Eagle (available with the Commander in Chief upgrade), thus now letting you pilot it while you’re in mid-air. You can even steal a car Dukes of Hazard style by running up to the desired car while going at supersonic speeds and then initiating the action. Performing this on my own generated some laughs as well as amazement from accomplishing it.

While you can use super powers with your guns, you’ll no longer be able to use grenades, as they have been removed from the game…Whatever.

Of course, I should also mention the customization options, which blow Saints Row: The Third right out of the water. Not only can you customize the President or your car collection to absurd degrees, but now guns have a much greater degree of customization. Aside from a series of skins, your guns can also assume different shapes, including making your RPG look like a guitar case or a Burst Rifle appear as a Super Soaker, perhaps even making a Quickshot Pistol into a Star Trek phaser. There are even skins for these different looks and it’s amazing how much attention to detail there is on the weapons, such as how the different skins for the Dubstep Gun change the music that comes out, one being an industrial mix of the default music and another allowing it to fire “Vindicate” by Datsik & Excision; the Dubstep Gun even has dials which react in time with the wubs. The level of customization is insane and I like this game all the better for it.

You didn't believe me about the guitar case, did you?

Most importantly, I like the fact that the options are open for the players. Whether you want to use your powers or conventional/alien weapons or just go for a joy ride, you can do it all and have everything look the way you want. I applaud Volition for this move, as, even if I don’t take full advantage, I’d rather have the option be there than not have the option at all.

Another improvement over Saints Row: The Third is how activities work. In the previous game, the only real incentive for completing activities was to take over 100% of Steelport or complete another version of the same activity at a higher difficulty (Easy, Medium or Hard). In Saints Row IV, activities now have completion tiers (Bronze, Silver and Gold) in addition to having different levels of difficulty. Not only will you want to improve your performance, but getting enough Silver and Gold medals across all instances of the activity will earn you new stuff to play around with, which is fine by me because I want to be able to run on water and get Gold in everything I possibly can.

As for the activities themselves, you won’t be finding all of your favorites from the course of the series, including the oft-mentioned Septic Avenger activity from Saints Row 2, but what they do have are better versions of activities from the previous game, or at least in the way that they accommodate both cyberspace and the super powers. Trailblazing, for example, is now Blazin and has you using the Preisdent’s Super Speed and Super Jump to collect orbs that will increase his speed and temporarily freeze a timer, with the goal of running all the way to end while hitting every checkpoint. The Mayhem activity also returns, but with many more variations in the level at once, such as Tank and Mech Suit versions, to provide some variety and let you blow stuff up with whatever you happen to use. I’ll admit that super powers did make the Insurance Fraud mission a little easier to do, but in the fun way where I tried to see just how much damage I could rack up with my ragdoll flying a few stories into the air in its travels. There are others, one which features Professor Genki again, but most of them are really fun to play and the Gold medal rewards are worth it.

Yay! More Genki!

You can also perform missions for your Homies, which are actually the open world activities grouped into sets, their completion tied together loosely for one reason or another. As these missions grant worthwhile rewards, there are a couple of ways you could go about them Either you could keep going back and forth between your ship and the simulation, or you could actually complete every mission available and then talk to your Homies a few times to receive every available reward. This is something to keep in mind for those who don’t like the idea of constant movement, but all you really have to do is take advantage of the option to circumvent movement and give you more time to play around.

If you want to get the best ending in the game however, you’ll also need to complete each of your Homies’ Loyalty missions. These Loyalty missions reveal more about the characters and provide different spins on certain things, such as one referencing Genki Bowl, but reward you with a super powered version of that Homie to call on in combat with the phone. On the subject of references, the missions you perform to rescue members of the cabinet are isolated and warped simulations based on fears that those characters have. These levels are also unique in that they reference past games all the way back to the first one, as is the case with Benjamin King, or actually act as vehicles to lampoon other popular video games, such as Asha Odekar’s targeting Metal Gear Solid (as a fan of the series, I actually found it to be quite funny, though I was a little disappointed by the use of an inexplicably popular misquote). These levels contribute to the story, but also let you have some more fun with how ridiculous the game can get.

Before I end my review, I’d like to mention the music. How good the licensed music selection is in a video game is very subjective, but I think that the songs in Saints Row IV are more miss than hit. A lot of the radio stations return, including a new one devoted entirely to the Mad Decent record label. However, what I didn’t like was the complete lack of a Heavy Metal station, which had been a series tradition since the first game. Personally I liked most of 106.66 The Blood, as well as the presence of an Adult Swim station, and the former was actually the only station I listened to with any regularity. So, for the first time, I created a Mixtape of what I thought were the best songs in the game, including the lone In Flames song since it was the closest I could find to Heavy Metal; I hope that a fifth Saints Row game brings back this station. The only consolation I had was that the radio can now be heard anywhere in the world, not just when you’re driving a car, which is a huge improvement (and would’ve let me enjoy Heavy Metal at all times).

I find your lack of Metal...disturbing.

Though extremely over-the-top and occasionally nonsensical, Saints Row IV is the open world game to play. It improves over Saints Row: The Third in almost every way and while the story is ultimately useless in the long run, it did actually have a good progression and gave the player some reason to care about the events taking place. Fans who don’t mind an insane premise and equally insane execution should pick this up, as well as open world fans in general who want to be able to experience things they won’t be able to anywhere else (though if you liked Crackdown, Prototype and Destroy All Humans!, you’re in for a treat). While this entry did start life as an expansion, it has managed to become, and should be seen as, a full game in its own right.

[OLD] Darksiders II: Death's Door (Comic) - A Comic Fit for a Horseman

Among my many Christmas gifts, one of the things I received was a thin hardback collecting a digital comic tie-in to Darksiders II. Naturally I was curious about its contents and just decided to read it. Since I've read it from the hardback I was able to see the entire story in one shot, which I believe was the most effective way to read it. With that said, this is a video game comic that, while well-written, is still most effective as a tie-in.

The story, as scripted by Andrew Kreisberg and David Slagle, serves as a prequel to the video game Darksiders II. Bascially, Death is asked by the angel Abaddon to slay a demon in the White City that has killed several of his men. To accomplish his task, Death sets off to find the right weapon to do the job and even revisits a part of his past. Admittedly it's a pretty short story that can be read relatively quickly, if only due to the entire story being 60 pages long and operating somewhat under modern comics decompression. However, in that short space it is able to not only introduce certain characters and concepts that are important to the parent game, but also show us how exactly Death got his horse, Despair. When I read the dialogue, I was able to hear everyone's voice from the game in my head, a sign that the characterization was down pretty well. There is also a character that is introduced and then never appears within Darksiders ever again, but it seems to be a necessary evil to move the plot along. The script, then, does a good job at being a companion piece to the game, but isn't really much more than that, since the final panel advertises Darksiders II as a continuation. Still, I feel that under the circumstances, Kreisberg and Slagle did a good job.

However, a comic book cannot exist without its art, which I think is a highlight of this book. The combination of Roger Robinson's pencils/inks and Michael Atiyeh's colors really help the world of Darksiders II come to life on the page. There are plenty of large panels and splash pages in the book, but these also serve as a good way to showcase their talents. The art is very dynamic and has a sense of fluidity, which is effective for the many fight scenes and varied camera angles, along with highlighting big moments. At a couple of points there are scenes that take place in the past, and in one case another character's perspective, which the art is very good at with differentiating between. There are some beautiful shots of the River Styx and a mixture of light and dark tones that allow each environment to stand out and remain believable within the realms of the game. The characters also look the way they should, down to the proportions and scale, which shows that the duo actually knew what they were doing.

My only complaint about the hardback I read from would be the lack of a cover gallery. I'm used to comic book compilations supplying the covers to each issue either between issues or at the back, so the lack of them here either means that they all have the same cover online, which an internet search proved false, or Dark Horse decided not to do it for some reason. I feel a little robbed of being able to see more good art on display, but at least Joe Madureira and Avery Coleman's cover for the hardback is eye-catching and garners interest in Death's exploits. While passing between issues, I was also able to tell where each cover would probably have been, thanks in part to how each issue was written.

Overall, Darksiders II: Death's Door is a good companion piece for Darksiders II. The story is paced well, but is pretty short at only 60 pages for six issues (Issues 1-5 plus Best Buy's exclusive Issue 0). However the art makes up for this and is very complimentary to the action. It's a great read for fans of the Darksiders series, but outsiders should only really consider a read if they plan to play Darksiders II before or after; it just reads better that way.

[OLD] Darksiders II - The Apocalypse Continues, And It's Still Awesome

Tragedy has struck within the gaming industry. Long-time developer and publisher THQ is suffering from heavy financial trouble, closing down studios while cancelling various projects and narrowly avoiding a NASDAQ delisting. At this point, the company needs to put quality above all else if it wishes to thrive into the next gaming generation, a strategy that they have recognized and have tried to emphasize over the last few months. With both success and failure along the way, they need a hit game now more than ever. Despite a slightly flawed presentation, I greatly hope that Darksiders II will be what gets them back on their feet.

I'll admit that the following premise is something that I couldn't look up in an instruction manual or on the back of the game box for reference and instead had to glean from a couple of websites, since apparently we are in an age where we don't like manuals and the best we can get is a piece of paper (which may or may not fold out) that may or may not tell you anything (this one at least has the courtesy to give you the control scheme): After War is captured for his supposed crimes against the Kingdom of Man, the Charred Council inform the other three Horsemen of it. Death, knowing his brother to be the most honorable and incorruptible of them and would never trigger the Apocalypse early, is enraged by this. Believing it to be conspiracy, he defies the Council and sets off on a personal quest to find evidence that will clear his brother's name. His journey takes him across The Abyss, a place between the three realms, where he seeks the beings that reside there for assistance.

In true Darksiders fashion, the game takes the player through the story by homaging some of gaming's greats. While I still got a God of War and Devil May Cry vibe, with a hint of Portal, I also felt a little Prince of Persia in the mix while playing this time around. As with the first game, I've heard comparisons with The Legend of Zelda, combined this time with Diablo. I haven't played any games related to both of those franchises so I can't really agree with these statements. However, based on what I've heard about the gameplay from them, I can sort of see what they're talking about if not exactly. In any case, the returning elements have been improved upon and the new additions help raise the game to a new high.

Unlike its predecessor, Darksiders II has a heavy emphasis on RPG elements. It is possible now to have an inventory of various items, including primary weapons (Scythes) and secondary weapons (Maces, Arm Blades, Hammers, etc.), greaves, upper and lower body wear and talismans. These items and weapons can be obtained through breakable objects or killing enemies and each item has various stats associated with it depending on what you find. This creates a deep level of customization to suit any and all play styles, which I've found can change depending on what you find to be more practical. For example, I started primarily using scythes with heavy weapons for crowd control, but after a certain point in the game I used a particular set of arm blades near exclusively, emphasizing speed and using scythes to extend my damage combos.

The RPG styling also has two things that come with the territory: shops and a level system complete with skill trees. During gameplay you can collect Gilt, the currency of the Darksiders universe, which can be used to purchase just what you'd expect: items, weapons, health and wrath potions and extra combat moves. The amount of Gilt that can be obtained is infinite, but the rate of collection is surprisingly high. You can even sell off items to afford new ones from vendors, a highly recommended action for many reasons, with the most powerful weapons coming at an appropriately high price. By the time I considered myself finished for my review however I had above 200,000 Gilt on me, which is well more than enough to get by at the end game.

As for the level system, killing enemies and completing quests rewards the player with XP and increases the length of a gray bar present on the HUD. When the bar reaches the end, Death levels up and gains stat boosts and a skill point. Skill points can be spent within two different skill trees, representing his skills as a Harbinger, directly tying into direct assault, and a Necromancer, involving spells that summon forth different beings. Skills gained here can be extremely useful in combat, my favorite one in particular being one that allows you to summon forth flocks of demonic crows to damage enemies and harvest you more health and wrath. It is even possible, through interaction with the returning character Vulgrim, to reset your skill trees and reassign skill points for your personal pleasure. However, I'll admit that once I maxed out all of the crow skills and got raising the dead to a good level, I could easily depend on my summons to take down larger enemies much faster to the point where I almost never took my scythes out.

Combat feels a little different when handling Death rather than War. For one thing, the combat felt faster and more fluid, with an equally fluid dodge mechanic in place of blocking to help emphasize the speed. This gave me more thrills and while actions are still determined by pressing only two buttons for the most part, the various moves and weapons available, including Strife's Redemption gun, offered a different atmosphere. The enemies are still very detailed and stylized, with AI that gives the player a challenge as well, especially when it makes taking down the tougher ones a lot more thrilling and makes the player feel like the pale rider himself.

As with the combat, I noticed an improvement in the platforming abilities of Death. While it's not really platforming in the normal sense, there's still plenty of wall running a la Prince of Persia. It is possible to use the environment in new ways to continue momentum while going to the next spot, including wall posts, wall jumping and posts that require a device not unlike Nero's Devil Bringer arm from Devil May Cry 4. I once again use the word fluid to describe the motions involved in this and puzzles which require these acrobatic feats are challenging enough that you actually feel smart for completing them. Other puzzles reward the same feeling, especially when powers earned later in the game make them increasingly elaborate.

Some of the platforming and puzzles actually involve the returning Voidwalker item from Darksiders, though it only fires blue portals this time around. I felt that it was integrated much better into the gameplay here, including the visual style of the portal-able surfaces and the fact that they now fit behind the entire portal every time. A new upgrade for it also helps a brilliantly designed puzzle level, though I won't really spoil it to keep the surprise there.

The environment in this game is much larger compared to its predecessor, giving it a more open world. Death's horse, Despair, can be used to get across the landscape fairly quickly, with a fast travel option to make it easier to get to locations marked on the game map. Everything also feels larger, creating a larger sense of scale. At times this can make it a little confusing to figure out where to go next in an area without an obvious symbol on the HUD map. Fortunately, Death's crow, Dust, can be commanded with a click of the left stick to show you the way to the next location. It's a nice feature, though I've found its effectiveness to sometimes depend on what your surroundings are like.

As I felt with the previous installment, the story, while still intriguing and original, is something I didn't feel completely invested in. While it does expand on the story well and focuses on Death's character in allowing him to question his morality, I still didn't get a sense of how big the apocalypse truly was, since "Earth" still means that one city we saw previously. There are interesting characters however and the explanation for the events, a great corruption, seems to make some amount of sense. It is fascinating to think about how both Darksiders games thus far take place at the same time, which means that an expanded pattern would mean a singular story told in parts, but I still didn't feel that hook to get me truly engrossed in the world and characters. To put it simply, it's like turning an amp that can go to 11 only up to 10; 10 is powerful indeed, but sometimes you need that extra kick and need to crank it to 11.

Before I end my review however, I'd like to talk about codes. More specifically, the sheer number of them this game has. My GameStop pre-order got me the Death Rides Pack containing additional side quests (one); I had to input the code for the online pass (two); The Limited Edition, automatic upgrade, came with a code for the Argul's Tomb DLC (three) which I had to input on another website to try and get a redeemable code (four); I decided to buy the strategy guide under the promise that I would get the Fletcher's Crow Hammer (five) if I redeemed the code on another website to get a redeemable code (six); If you "Like" a Facebook page, you get a code for Rusanov's Axe (seven); Signing into your THQ account before actually starting to play grants you codes for the Van der Schmash (eight) and Mace Maximus (nine).

Yes, I did actually deal with that many codes to get what I was entitled to. To add to the pain, the system seemed overwhelmed upon release, delaying when I actually got my codes, and when I could access the two sign-in weapons, by up to a day. It is simply crazy when a game like this has that much DLC right off the bat, especially when the player has to jump through so many hoops just to try and get everything they qualified for. If that wasn't enough, I still haven't gotten the code for Argul's Tomb at the time of this writing (a full week after release), which seems to indicate that its not even available yet. Maybe they should cut down on this the next time around so people don't get so exhausted.
At this point, I'd also like to address one complaint that I have about the game: Inventory space. Inventory, while seemingly big, is also very limiting. It may not hit you for quite a while, but at some point you may have no room if you're a gamer like me that absentmindedly keeps it full until the game informs you that you need to remove some stuff (this describes how I've managed to play every RPG ever). This would be alright with me if not for one particular event. A bonus boss exists in the game known as the Deposed King and I lost when trying to fight him while with too low a level to do anything. To that end, I decided to wait until after beating the game before trying again, since I knew I would be a lot stronger then. Well, after a few days, I tried again and after a couple of tries reigned victorious. I was finally ready to receive the Legendary item for beating him, the Scepter of the Deposed King, but then my heart sank when the game told me that I was unable to get it because my inventory was full.

After calming down greatly from the initial frustration of this event, I realized how it could still have given me the item if Vigil wanted to program it with a fix in mind instead of depending on everyone's inventories to be practically empty at the time. Either: The game could tell you to expel some equipment first, meaning that it would buffer the item into the inventory when sufficient room (one slot) was created; they could have made the item a drop in this situation instead of automatically trying to give it to you, meaning that the game would automatically put it in your inventory unless it detected insufficient space in which case it becomes an item you can pick up; they could have taken advantage of the Serpent Tome system to reward you with Legendary weapons and items.

To elaborate, Serpent Tomes are physical locations in the game that work similarly to an in-game email client. Periodically, or when you enter an item code, the game will alert you when a new item has been sent to you. When you go to a Serpent Tome and open a message, the item gets added to your inventory. In fact, if you have an online pass, it is possible to send or trade items with other players. I think that if they also applied this to Legendary weapons as a backup, I wouldn't need to try and get someone to send me their Scepter. Then again, I'm the kind of gamer that likes to have a full set and earn it properly, so at some point in the future, I might try to replay the game through a New Game Plus to try and regain the scepter.

One final minor complaint: navigating every menu is done exclusively with the left analog stick, rather than the more natural D-Pad. This threw me off a bit at first and as I played, I began to think of different ways that navigation could have been handled and yet still incorporate both sticks. For example: D-Pad to navigate and left stick to scroll descriptions on items menus, with the right stick to still search the map screen.

Darksiders II is a great improvement over the original. While the story still isn't completely engaging, plus a couple of other annoyances, the improvements to combat and puzzle solving alone make this game well worth picking up. In a time of financial crisis, I hope that enough people get this game so that THQ may still thrive as a publisher and that Vigil may be able to work on a Darksiders III; this series is really growing on me.

[OLD] Darksiders - The Apocalypse Begins, And It's Awesome

In preparation for Darksiders II, to be released August 14, I took it upon myself to play the original Darksiders. I'll be honest, the first time I played this game a couple of years ago, I started playing and never got around to finishing it. I believe it was due to outside circumstances, but I regretted not being able to finish it. So on my second go round, and for the 200th review of this blog, I began my quest anew and found myself drawn into a fascinating and enjoyable 16+ hour game that's got me excited even more for the sequel.

The apocalypse has broken out on Earth, aka the Kingdom of Man, and War, one off the Four Horsemen, is there to fulfill his duty. However, it turns out that the end of days was set off prematurely, and the Charred Council blames the horseman for it. Out of the seven seals that would need to be broken to kick things off, one remained intact. While the council wants to execute him to death, War asks to find the one responsible for summoning him early, declaring that he is innocent in the matter. The council accepts his request, sending him back with a companion named The Watcher to keep track of his whereabouts and actions. It turns out that a century has gone by, and to find the one he seeks, War will need to strike a deal with a demon named Samael, who craves the still-beating hearts of the Chosen.

A really great way to describe the experience of Darksiders would be to say that it feels like a combination of multiple game franchises. In my case, I would describe it as a mixture of God of War, Devil May Cry, and Portal; I've heard others also state The Legend of Zelda as a big influence on the overall design, but since I'm one of those people that has yet to play a single game from that franchise, I feel unqualified to agree. Even so, while they might say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I feel as though Darksiders is much more than a cheap imitation.

The God of War influence I spotted was in the combat. God of War's classic two-button layout, where Square is for light attacks and Triangle is for heavy attacks, fits in with the game's absolutely perfect control layout and allows War to make the battle seem more visceral and gives the player the feeling of ultimate power as one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Heck, the Circle button is even used to display a unique  finishing move for each enemy, just like Kratos himself. Where this game decides to introduce its own spin on the formula is how instead of a heavy attack, the appropriate button will use a secondary weapon instead, allowing for varying attacks to help easily clear an area of enemies. In addition, he can access an array of extra abilities in the vein of God of War's magic, as well as access a Chaos form by filling up a gauge through battle in a similar fashion to Kratos. Despite the similarities, I feel that the combat was executed very well, with plenty of enemy variety and additional tactics to keep players on their toes and get in the zone.

On the subject of weaponry, this is where I form my Devil May Cry comparison. This is not in the actual weapons themselves, but rather the amount of weapons available. While Dante definitely isn't short on weapons in his career as a professional demon slayer, War seems equally capable at gathering an impressive arsenal. While his Chaoseater blade never leaves his side, other weapons like a Scythe and Tremor Gauntlet can be interchanged to help suit an individual's play style. He can even use a bladed boomerang or a gun with limitless ammunition when locked on, among other useful items. I enjoyed the array of weapons available and experimented with different combinations to find what would work best not only in combat, but also what would have the best application for the next part of the level.

But why Portal, you might ask? Well, in a later portion of the game, War acquires a device called the Voidwalker, which is essentially the Portal Gun, down to firing orange and blue portals on a specific surface, which appears here to be stained glass circles. The only difference is that momentum doesn't transfer between portals unless you charge the shot and you can actually fire portals through portals to extend your reach. This is essential for some of the puzzles, which is also where my connection to the franchise comes from. The puzzles in this game are very creative and can even stump you for a moment as you try to figure out exactly what you'll do. While some of the complexity made a level or two feel a little long, I still enjoyed solving them and feeling a strong sense of satisfaction upon completion.

On a technical note, I thought that Darksiders looked pretty good. The graphics may not be the best in gaming, but the detail achieved and the intricacy of the characters models had me impressed. Everything looked stylized with a carved edge and a smart angular appearance that still allowed everything to flow organically. I even saw a pretty good smoke trail from The Watcher and flow in the long hair of some of the characters.

One aspect I'll readily praise is the sound quality. The game has an amazing score that perfectly captures the feel of the events, even during the most mundane things. Voice acting is also top notch, featuring memorable performances from such names as Liam O'Brien, Phil LaMarr and Mark Hamill. I enjoyed hearing the characters interact, especially when thinking of some of their other roles, and felt that everyone sounded just right.

If there's one area the game doesn't feel right in, it would be the story. While the tale is very intriguing and original, I couldn't feel myself getting invested in the entirety of the events, part of which is due to the apocalypse not being given an appropriate scale within the context of the event. If there was a much larger scope to show the gravity of the situation and what exactly hangs in the balance, then maybe I would have cared a little bit more instead of feeling a little indifferent. Nevertheless, there are some interesting character moments and twists set that are worth seeing, plus a world that I would actually like to see more of with its depiction of mythology.

Darksiders is one of the more unique experiences that I've had in gaming. While a lot of its core concepts are indeed borrowed from other franchises, the way that Vigil Games used and combined them shows that they are not only passionate, but also creative in their ability to build upon their inspirations. Save for a couple of things, this game is one that I would readily recommend people to play if they want a well made action-adventure title to satisfy their hunger, especially since it ends with a great cliffhanger that teases a lot of potential for a sequel.

Now its time to wait a little bit and see just what they'll do with that potential.