War and Ruin, My Heroes!

I know it's a little late to be bringing this title for the Playstation 3 to light, but I cannot stress enough how superb this title is. Darksiders for this Playstation 3 was nothing less then an amazing title.

Ok. For those of you that are not familiar with the back story on this title, War is one of the Four Horsemen Of the Apocolypse and Ruin is his trusty sidekick in malevolence and mayhem. Upon being mistakenly awakened for 'Armageddon', the 'Council' governing War, decided he broke the sacred balance and was subsequently stripped of all his hay making abilities. I really don't want to dive into the plot all that much as it would destroy certain cut scenes for you. But at a glimpse, the whole point of the story is that you are trying to prove your innocence to the 'Council' whilst getting revenge on your betrayers. The story and characters are interesting enough, but that is not the read draw on this masterpiece.

The attraction here, by far is the open world you get to explore after a certain point in the story. These landscapes of a ravaged, dystopian Earth or something straight out of Seth McFarlane's Spawn comic. You couldn't be any more engrossed in these matte paintings if you were digitized yourself. Unbelievable 'eye-poppers'. Screens: (1,2) Keep in mind, these screens are In Game. They are not cut scenes at all.

I could talk endlessly on the artwork, however, there are other points of interest equally just as stellar. Take the game play. The animation is smooth, and the controls are exceptionally crisp. There isn't a lag here at all in character motion. You want to squish a zombie tortured soul's head, you get it on demand. You are high tail luggin' it across the Ashlands and don't really feal like walking any more, just call up Ruin and there he is. In a seamless motion though. When War mounts Ruin, I gotta tell ya....It reminds me of the old style westerns where it used to be the thing to have your main character run and mount the horse at the same time. Vigil, the game's developer, knocked it out of the park. That motion is flawless and certainly adds a level of 'ass whoopin' ego to the game. Because War's sword is so large, and he effortless hops up with one arm; One could certainly understand why his name is War.

Vigil didn't skimp on the 'stuff to do' in game either. Casting the linear storyline missions aside, there are plenty of bonuses to go after in game. Again, I will not divulge any spoilers, so do your own homework. Trust me, there is a lot more other then the story. I didn't go for the platinum on this title. Don't get me wrong it was fun and in depth, but not enough to keep me interested in the platinum award. I finished this one out at 68% of trophies to be earned.

Overall, I give this title an 8.3/10 on the 'Clay's Collectible Game List'. Buy it for your collection and squish some demons for me!