Darksiders 2: The Digital Foundry Verdict
It's safe to say that Darksiders 2 is a worthy buy on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with multi-platform aspects well handled, on consoles at least. In fact, outside of a few specific elements, such as the use of higher-resolution textures on the PS3 and additional lighting on the 360, there really is nothing to separate the two games at all.
Performance is also very similar during gameplay, with neither version really commanding a noticeable advantage. Any variances in this area are more likely down to subtle difference in how we played the game, rather than how well each console deals with the rendering load. In that respect we think that Darksiders 2 is worth checking out regardless of which platform you happen to own - both consoles offer up the same core experience with very similar plus and minus points in terms of visual quality.
On the other hand, it's difficult to avoid the feeling that the PC version comes across as a barebones release transplanted from console DNA. The experience is somewhat held back by the console-quality assets, which don't scale up all that well when the game is run in higher resolutions, and the lack of any PC-specific graphical upgrades comes across as something of a disappointment. It is rather pleasing to see that high frame-rates are easily attainable on a number of configurations, even if this is more down to the lack of advanced graphical effects and memory intensive texture work on offer, as opposed to being well optimised for the PC platform. Either way, running the game at 1080p60 easily makes it the best version to get, with smoother gameplay and more responsive controls delivering a tangible edge over the consoles.
