Darksiders III has been long-awaited by fans, and now that we finally have Fury in our hands, its almost a bittersweet moment. Having been a massive fan from the the first release in 2010, my expectations going into this game were high, and while Gunfire Games didn’t disappoint me, I still didn’t feel as satisfied as I would have liked.


Love the way you look at me with those, uhm, eyes?

I am not going to harp on about other negative reviews and reactions about Darksiders III because, quite frankly, this was a fan-made game. In that, I mean the game was targeted and created for current Darksiders fans and doesn’t try to persuade newcomers to the franchise. This is actually a good thing, but this is also the reason why the game has been receiving such negative criticism.

From the get-go, I want to just say that this is a good game. It is not objectively bad, as some people are stating, and while everything is subject to opinion, this is a good title. It isn’t the greatest title of the year, and it’s not even the greatest title of the franchise, but there is nothing objectively wrong about it.


So dramatic

Now, onto the actual experience. I loaded Darksiders III and let out a little yelp when the loading screen popped up. Jumping straight into the cinematic, we are plunged into the rich lore of the game, talking about the inter-celestial conflict that ensues, and the cosmic scale on which the game rests. The story is set during the same timeline as the first two games, just from the perspective of Fury, and tasks us with eliminating the Seven Deadly Sins.

When moving towards a lava and stone setting, the brightness and fluidity of the molten rock really shows how far Gunfire Games has pushed the Unreal Engine 4.

True to Darksiders was the art style. Most don’t agree that a 2018 game should look like this, but then what does that say about all other games with an alternative art style that isn’t realistic? Moving on, the art style is heavily influenced by comic-book culture, and that is because the games, and the franchise, are based on a series of comic books, and it translates well into the game. The stunning expansive sections of the map with bright, vivid colouring, shows us similar scenery to the first game, but with better lighting and detail. When moving towards a lava and stone setting, the brightness and fluidity of the molten rock really shows how far Gunfire Games has pushed the Unreal Engine 4.


Where do I hand my X-Men application in?

Creature animations, especially the bosses, are wonderfully smooth and extremely fast-paced. The detailing on one particular enemy, which you often encounter in the fiery pits, is just absolutely incredible. The interaction of the world around you has also been fantastically implemented, especially when Fury walks under water in her fiery state.

I will be the first to admit that Darskiders has always held a special place in their fans hearts’, although it isn’t the greatest narrative journey written. In this case, Darksiders III gives us more of the same structure from the previous titles, in that you are given a task and you must now crawl through countless caves and dungeons, and solve so many puzzles, all while the true story unfolds before you, and your objectives shift. Darksiders III felt more reminiscent of the first title in the way it told its story, and I actually appreciate this more, as Darksiders II was too zig-zag.


Oh god, not another Horseman

There is a revised combat system, which I will get to in a short while, and a new mechanic for different weapons. Each weapon is tied to a Hollow; a magical ability state that affords you various abilities depending on the challenge at hand. There are four types of Hollows you can acquire, namely Fire, Storm, Force, and Stasis. As I said, not only will each hollow afford a new weapon, but a new set of abilities as well. For example, the Fire hollow allows you to cut down spider-webs blocking paths, jump extra high, and wade through lava unharmed, and the Storm hollows provides electrical attacks as well as a gliding ability. These are actually pretty integral to the game because they are needed to reach certain areas or navigate places that would otherwise kill you, and the weapon integration into that was a great way of spicing up a rather boring way of getting new equipment.

The new combat system is flawed; built for one-on-one combat, you suffer when facing hordes of enemies, no matter the level.

Gunfire Games has opted for a revised soul mechanic as well. Long-time fans will know of the in-game currency, the souls of your fallen enemies, which has previously been used to buy new moves and inventory items. In Darksiders III, souls are fed to Vulgrim in order to level up, giving you an attribute point each time. Attribute points are then used to increase Health, Strength, or Arcane damage. It’s a familiar, yet innovative, system that Gunfire Games has introduced, and I really enjoyed it.


Fury? I think you mean Fashion

Sadly, this is where the game starts to slip up. The new combat system is flawed; built for one-on-one combat, you suffer when facing hordes of enemies, no matter the level. While the combat is fun and engaging, I only really enjoyed it when I was facing individual and isolated enemies, because any time there was more than three, it became overwhelming and stunted. If you are swarmed by a group of minions, you’re better off running away, or trying to pick them off one by one, because the enhanced dodge-counter system that has been used leaves you vulnerable for one annoying beasty to attack you, to which all their mates follow suit.

However, once face-to-face with an enemy, no matter how powerful they are, you should always come out on top, thanks to the emphasis on dodging and counter-attacking. The combat can be stilted if all you do is this, but if you mix things up, you can whip out some intense moves to take your opponents down.

Boss fights, when set to the higher difficulty, was where the game really shines. The battles are ferocious, intense, fast-paced, and unrelenting, but it was the best challenge in the game. I never used the targeting system that much to begin with, but once I got familiar with it, it made the world of difference, and opened up some incredible animations on screen.


This Horsemen's on fireeeee!

There will probably be those wondering if it is like Dark Souls, as this game has been compared to it so many times already. Simply, yes, it is similar to Dark Souls but its not an inherently difficult game designed to frustrate you. It is meant to challenge you and add an element of strategy into your otherwise hack-and-slash combat. Does it need refinement? Yes, absolutely, especially with enemy scaling because, as I said, the combat system is not designed with more than three enemies in mind. If you can put up with that annoyance, then I would definitely suggest a harder playthrough, purely for the epic boss battles.

Tying into this, I felt that the difficulty setting significantly altered your experience, in that the harder modes gave a satisfying and climatic boss battle each time, but on the lowered difficulty, the generic enemies had more bite than the bosses.


Sloth couldn't be bothered to stand and gree... Oh, right

There were performance issues at launch, but Gunfire Games has released a patch since then on console and PC, fixing a lot of technical bugs that plagued the game before, so I will not fault it in that regard. Textures and rendering times have also been improved, giving a consistent gaming experience, and while the enemy scaling has been somewhat improved, it still feels slightly lopsided.

#Fury get's put out and re-ignites in @darksiders III Big props to @gunfire_games for this little detail #DarksidersIII pic.twitter.com/IJ9Mvqddqp

— Nexus Hub (@Nexus_AWX) December 11, 2018

Overall, I decided that Darskiders III deserves a 7/10, purely because, in essence, its not a bad game. It is still enjoyable but the problems with enemy scaling and some world design flaws really hindered my experience. Otherwise, it is a classic Darksiders title, with a beautiful world, unique art style, and a superb narrative. The game has room for improvement, and once Gunfire Games polishes it a little but more, we are going to re-look at Fury’s journey.