Darksiders II

Perhaps the plot is a little light but Darksiders II is perfect in its gameplay. Long lasting, with plenty of contents and so much fun in its combat system.

It has everything – great environmental puzzles, Prince of Persia style acrobatics, spectacular combat and an advanced character development system. It's definitely the best slasher available on PC and X360 and one of the best in genre's history. [10/2012, p.48]

Darksiders II is in no way a groundbreaking game. It's not the kind of game that people see has potential and makes a million shameless copies of. It's a game that's realized an old formula and has recreated it well. By doing so, it has made a game legitimately worth playing.

Darksiders 2 rises above the rest as a perfect example of what an action-adventure game should be, and if I had my way, Vigil Games would be making them all.

Better than its predecessor in pretty much every way: it's slick, polished, smart, beautiful, and most importantly, fun to play, giving you plenty of freedom and adventure with exciting combat and some excellent art and music to go along with the solid voice acting and interesting plot.

While the lack of advanced graphics options are disappointing, the core experience of Darksiders 2 remains intact with its assortment of gameplay genres and content rich world. Darksiders 2 on PC provides fans of the original and series newcomers with a seemingly endless amount of quests to complete and collectibles to discover, with the added bonus of Death himself as the protagonist.

Darksiders 2 is larger, more varied and more motivating than the first game, and all game elements - be it story, battle, puzzle or skill pad - engage almost perfectly. I would have preferred a slightly more modern technology backbone and more fine-tuned mouse and keyboard controls. But these are small things that I forgive in such a captivating game as this.

The PC version of the game is pretty much identical to the console versions. The game offers up controller support, and with an Xbox 360 controller, the game plays just like the 360 version. The only difference is that you can't rename possessed weapons.

Darksiders 2 is immersive, rich in content, it displays well-executed (although not original) mechanics and is a huge game that will quench your thirst for a top-notch, “intellectual” action game. [October 2012]

The game is not perfect in any way, but it still manages to deliver its premise successfully with great design and fluid combat. RPG elements are a neat new feature, however, the story is uninspired and bland and some levels cannot keep up in quality.

Darksiders 2 may not be perfect but it is a great action game nonetheless and guarantees hours of thrilling entertainment.

Most hack & slash titles are missing acrobatic sequences or RPG elements or open worlds – Darksiders II brings this all with great boss battles and various puzzles. [Oct 2012]

Loot interacts with combat far better than Death's abilities. [Oct 2012, p.68]

Darksiders II merges action, exploration, and loot-driven progression into an excellent and sizable adventure.

An exciting and lengthy adventure with interesting characters and a host of items and features that make its mix of combat and puzzle-solving very attractive. It's better if you also played the original game, but even if you didn't, Darksiders II is definitely worth looking at.

Ultimately, Darksiders II often makes you think of how it is similar to other games in certain respects, but it still feels like its own creature. The combat is enjoyable if a bit mindless, but considering how some of the puzzles can be, that might not be a bad thing. However, since skills and gear have such little leverage in the game, it feels like something substantial is missing. The rest of the game doesn't suffer, and the title is certainly engaging, but Darksiders II feels like it hasn't lived up to its full potential.

Darksiders 2 managed to rise above the original game by fixing broken gameplay elements and adding good new ones.

Agreeable hack-'n'-slash fare – the puzzling and platforming is lightweight, but offsets the roaming and robust combat well.

At the end of all things, Darksiders II is a deeply middling sort of game. Too much to be a mere expansion pack, too little to be a full blown sequel.

The RPG elements and to-the-point action all make for some solid gaming, glitches and all. It's a shame so many glaring issues hold such an ambitious endeavor back from the greatness its developers were clearly aiming for.

Although expansive, sometimes beautiful, and occasionally fun, Darksiders II is mediocre at best, a rambling bore of a game and a shoddy sequel. You may have liked the original, and you may enjoy action RPGs, but you've played this game before, and not just once.