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[ZealousD]

can someone make an official thread for Darksiders? to be honest, I'm more excited about this game than bayonetta

I've already got it completed. I was holding off posting it until next week, as the rules technically state that you have to wait a week before release to post OTs. The Assassin's Creed II and NSMBWii threads were even temporarily locked until the one week mark. If the mods keep the Bayonetta thread open for another day I'll post it.

 

[Tokubetsu]

You don't have any local stores in your area?

I do, I'll probably try there but I know a lot of the brick and mortar places can/will fuck you out of bonuses.

 

[ZealousD]

I do, I'll probably try there but I know a lot of the brick and mortar places can/will fuck you out of bonuses.

Being potentially fucked is better than being certainly fucked.



Anyway, the Bayonetta thread is lasting longer than I expected. If it's still not locked by the time I wake up tommorow morning, I'll post the OT.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Surprising. That's the best way to describe Darksiders halfway through (eight hours in). It's not such a shock that the first game of 2010 appears to be a pretty solid offering. The real surprises come from the game itself. Darksiders does a great job of tossing in new gameplay twists right before the current brand of hack and slash is about to grow stale. There's always something new around the corner.

Things begin as little more than a God of War clone. You start off getting a taste of your full powers, to ensure you know exactly what is being lost. And once you lose those powers, you go about button mashing through a few different enemy types. Oh sure, it's enjoyable, but it's nothing new for the first hour. Just when I am thinking I knew what the next 16 hours were going to be like, it changed.

The Twilight Cathedral, your first major dungeon, is an equal balance of combat and puzzles. Suddenly Darksiders is more like Zelda, right down to the boomerang-like Crossblades. And that's how most areas turn out. You do fight a lot of enemies -- which is good, because you gain experience for your weapons, leveling them up and making them more powerful -- but also solving some puzzles. None of the puzzles will break your brain, at least not in the first half of the game, but it's just one of the nice little wrinkles in gameplay that freshens things up.

Darksiders is the kind of game that really appeals to me. I like collecting stuff. I like mashing buttons. I like riding a horse with flaming hooves. I wasn't expecting so many different little twists along the way, but they've all been very refreshing. It's easy to look at Darksiders' pieces and say, "Well this is from God of War and this is from Zelda." Fair enough. But how often have elements from a bunch of different games been brought together? That's what makes Darksiders special in my eyes.

It remains to be seen how the second half of the game plays out, but if it continues to build on the promise of the first eight hours, Darksiders will prove to be a good way to start the New Year.

Look for IGN's review on January 5, 2010.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/105/1057234p1.html

 

[AgentOtaku]

Game has completely gone on my radar thanks to GAF's enthusiam and a little research.

Can't wait! ...though wish I could see the PS3 version.

 

[Spike]

Game has completely gone on my radar thanks to GAF's enthusiam and a little research.

Can't wait! ...though wish I could see the PS3 version.

http://gamersyde.com/stream_darksiders_wrath_of_war_ps3_gameplay-13076_en.html

 

[SamBishop]

This final boss fight is kicking my ayass... It's been about 13 hours of almost complete bliss, though. I love this game.

 

[-tetsuo-]

http://gamersyde.com/stream_darksiders_wrath_of_war_ps3_gameplay-13076_en.html

Lord that dude is terrible.

 

[Feindflug]

This final boss fight is kicking my ayass... It's been about 13 hours of almost complete bliss, though. I love this game.

Are you playing the PS3 or the 360 version? Some impressions/comments about frame-rate & tearing will be much appreciated.

 

[KevinCow]

This final boss fight is kicking my ayass... It's been about 13 hours of almost complete bliss, though. I love this game.

Only 13 hours?

 

[GrayFoxPL]

I'd be all over this game if not for the art style used. It just doesn't apeal to me. Too deformed like new us cartoons.

Would love to get it for the gameplay, but going through the game and thinking: "This design sucks." kind of misses the point.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Only 13 hours?

It's been said that to 100% the game it takes about 20 hours and that's what I intend to do.

 

[Bad_Boy]

I'm more excited for this game than xmas itself. :lol

 

[DieH@rd]

I'd be all over this game if not for the art style used. It just doesn't apeal to me. Too deformed like new us cartoons.

His design is the part of what make this game appealing to me. But on the other hand, i followed his comic book career for a long time. He kinda revolutionized American comics 10 years ago with his Battle Chasers style of drawing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Chasers

 

[SamBishop]

Are you playing the PS3 or the 360 version? Some impressions/comments about frame-rate & tearing will be much appreciated.

PS3. It's fine for the most part on both counts, with the framerate chugging pretty hard in most of the Ashlands and some later areas that I don't want to mention as they haven't really been revealed yet and it'd be all spoiler-riffic for you guys. Overall, it's very, very solid, but there are some minor performance issues. Nothing that interfered with the game for me. Tearing is pretty uncommon for the most part, though you might run into it in some of the more dense/open areas.

Only 13 hours?

I absolutely screamed through the first part of the game that took me about 5 or 6 hours to get through during the preview event a few weeks ago (probably did it in under 4 this time), and there's no way I'll 100% everything, so don't take that as a first-time run through things. There are some puzzles that will take a bit of sussing out, but once you know what to do, you can kinda haul ass through it.

I'd be all over this game if not for the art style used. It just doesn't apeal to me. Too deformed like new us cartoons.

Would love to get it for the gameplay, but going through the game and thinking: "This design sucks." kind of misses the point.

If you can stomach WoW or Warcraft III, you can handle this. I assure you, there are some downright gorgeous parts of the game that owe as much to the consistency of the look as they do the creativity of the art team.

It's been said that to 100% the game it takes about 20 hours and that's what I intend to do.

There's a decent amount of stuff to do/find -- including pieces of armor that seem rather well-hidden -- so if you take your time and really enjoy things, I'm sure you could bump up against 20 hours without too much padding.

 

[Corky]

:O! I've been following this game since the first time they showed it year(s) ago, loved everything about it, art,story etc etc etc expect the hitimpact delay but looking at the most recent footage it looks like they fixed it! :: YAAAAAAAY

Lets just hope GOW 3s hitimpact is drastically reduced the demo made me wanna die when it came to that.


now to see if us swedes get the game 900 years later than everybody else.


edit : aaaaw MANG, the game comes at the same day at bayonetta

 

[Feindflug]

Thanks for the impressions SamBishop, game sounds great though it's a shame that they didn't fix the frame-rate problems in the retail version.

Anyway still getting it day one.

 

[Spike]

PS3. It's fine for the most part on both counts, with the framerate chugging pretty hard in most of the Ashlands and some later areas that I don't want to mention as they haven't really been revealed yet and it'd be all spoiler-riffic for you guys. Overall, it's very, very solid, but there are some minor performance issues. Nothing that interfered with the game for me. Tearing is pretty uncommon for the most part, though you might run into it in some of the more dense/open areas.

Thanks for the info. Now, if someone can please post some impressions for the 360 version, it would be much appreciated.

 

[SamBishop]

:O! I've been following this game since the first time they showed it year(s) ago, loved everything about it, art,story etc etc etc expect the hitimpact delay but looking at the most recent footage it looks like they fixed it! :: YAAAAAAAY

Lets just hope GOW 3s hitimpact is drastically reduced the demo made me wanna die when it came to that.


now to see if us swedes get the game 900 years later than everybody else.


edit : aaaaw MANG, the game comes at the same day at bayonetta

That's actually one of the things I called out in my preview. The fact that you can dash out of a combo at almost any point during the animation is one of the biggest areas where the game shows a marked attention to keeping it from being frustrating or cheap. I said it in the preview, but the amount of time and effort put into making the game fun above all else is really quite amazing to me. You'd swear this was the studio's 10th game rather than their 1st. The combat is a blast.

Thanks for the impressions SamBishop, game sounds great though it's a shame that they didn't fix the frame-rate problems in the retail version.

Anyway still getting it day one.

Honestly, it's not that big a deal. I know people love to harp on things like that, but the only time I really take serious offense is if a game moves into a single-digit slideshow territory or it happens in such a way that it hurts the action. Neither happen here, so it's really just a little niggling complaint. It's also possible (though not likely) that things could be fixed up before the game goes out to final mastering as this is not a final boxed retail copy. My guess is that's already happened, though. This build seems more or less identical to what we played down in LA a few weeks ago, so my impressions from before stand.

Thanks for the info. Now, if someone can please post some impressions for the 360 version, it would be much appreciated.

Fo sho. I'll go into more detail when the embargo lifts, but I expect the 360 version is probably about the same -- in other words, it's nothing to get worked up over. It's a damn fine engine for something that was built from scratch, and it can only get better with further iterations.

[edit] Just finished the game. Darksiders 2 now, pretty please.

 

[Enigma777]

Whoa! THE Sam Bishop? Can I get a BEYOND in here!

Glad to hear you'll be reviewing it Sam. I always enjoy reading your reviews...

 

[badcrumble]

Alright, I've done my part and preordered. My wallet is preemptively crying out in pain for what it'll have to face over the next three months. Still not 100% there on Dark Void or MAG so I should at least be able to afford food and alcohol.

 

[AgentOtaku]

http://gamersyde.com/stream_darksiders_wrath_of_war_ps3_gameplay-13076_en.html

thanks man!

....though only bittorrent available with no seeders =/

EDIT: damn, that guy is terrible! Also, is PS3 version sportin' Vsync?

EDIT 2: nm, I see tearing

 

[Ze_Pershing]

That's it, Bayonetta will have to wait. Darksiders will be my first game of 2000 and 10.

 

[ZealousD]

Honestly, it's not that big a deal. I know people love to harp on things like that, but the only time I really take serious offense is if a game moves into a single-digit slideshow territory or it happens in such a way that it hurts the action. Neither happen here, so it's really just a little niggling complaint. It's also possible (though not likely) that things could be fixed up before the game goes out to final mastering as this is not a final boxed retail copy. My guess is that's already happened, though. This build seems more or less identical to what we played down in LA a few weeks ago, so my impressions from before stand.

Are you playing on a final retail copy or a green disc?

One of the developers was mentioning on their forum that burned discs don't read as quickly as final retail copies, and that this can actually affect things like framerate and tearing. First time I've ever heard of that myself, though...

 

[Canova]

I've already got it completed. I was holding off posting it until next week, as the rules technically state that you have to wait a week before release to post OTs. The Assassin's Creed II and NSMBWii threads were even temporarily locked until the one week mark. If the mods keep the Bayonetta thread open for another day I'll post it.

just post it up, if boyonetta can have her official thread this early, so shall Darksiders

 

[Spike]

Fo sho. I'll go into more detail when the embargo lifts, but I expect the 360 version is probably about the same -- in other words, it's nothing to get worked up over. It's a damn fine engine for something that was built from scratch, and it can only get better with further iterations.

Good to hear.

[edit] Just finished the game. Darksiders 2 now, pretty please.

Now this is what I wanted to hear. It makes the wait even longer, though...

thanks man!

....though only bittorrent available with no seeders =/

EDIT: damn, that guy is terrible! Also, is PS3 version sportin' Vsync?

EDIT 2: nm, I see tearing

The streaming version does work. That's how I viewed it.

 

[ZealousD]

OT is up

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=383054

 

[Caspel]

I've had similar problems with the Ashlands area. It was like playing a game in a slideshow. Pissed me off.

If IGN's review is coming on January 5, you can expect a score lower than an 8 unless THQ isn't willing to let them break the embargo.

I'm enjoying myself in the game though. I have about 8 hours and I'd expect another 4 hours left. I'm on my way to have about 70-80% completion with finding all the items.

 

[SamBishop]

Whoa! THE Sam Bishop? Can I get a BEYOND in here!

Glad to hear you'll be reviewing it Sam. I always enjoy reading your reviews...

Awww, thanks for the kind words, man! BEEEEE-YOND!

Are you playing on a final retail copy or a green disc?

One of the developers was mentioning on their forum that burned discs don't read as quickly as final retail copies, and that this can actually affect things like framerate and tearing. First time I've ever heard of that myself, though...

I know there's an official thread now, so this'll probably be lost, but aside from perhaps having instances where something is being streamed directly from the disc and thrown into the game world (which doesn't seem to happen much), I don't know how a green disc would affect framerates/tearing. As it is, the only way to get a green disc on the PS3 is to have it sent through Sony's mastering lab, which means it's essentially a finalized Blu-ray, not a burned version with the final boot stuff on there so it runs in a retail unit. Those guys are the ones making the game, though, so I'll happily defer to them and say it may be a non-issue when the game finally launches.

I've had similar problems with the Ashlands area. It was like playing a game in a slideshow. Pissed me off.

I'm enjoying myself in the game though. I have about 8 hours and I'd expect another 4 hours left. I'm on my way to have about 70-80% completion with finding all the items.

Whoa, it definitely wasn't that bad on my end. Low 20s/teens at worst, so it was choppy but hardly unplayable. I take it you're running the 360 version? I'm going to be seriously weirded out if a brand-new engine runs better on the PS3 than the 360, but it'll be even more bizarre if my PS3 somehow ran it better than yours.

The single best part about the game is that they weren't really kidding: it keeps giving you something new almost up until the end. Wait until you get the final item. It kicks the puzzle solving bits into overdrive in a very good way.