Darksiders II: Death Comes to Wii U

Third party games coming to Wii U at launch face a series of critical tests if they're to be considered viable, particularly considering many of them are being ported to Nintendo's platform weeks if not months after their counterparts. They need to be feature complete, possibly even exceeding what we've seen before. They also need to embrace the dual, touch-screen experiment, attempting to offer a different, potentially better experience than what gamers have seen elsewhere. In many respects Darksiders II for Wii U meets these criteria, but in some ways this port also stands as proof that developers will need some time before they find the proper ways to innovate on Nintendo's unique console.

On the surface, Darksiders II on Wii U is packed with content. There's nothing here that isn't offered in some fashion elsewhere, but it aggregates everything that's been available through a myriad of retail pre-order and community downloads. Effectively there was little way to acquire all of this material save for purchasing several versions of the game - until now.

That means the Angel of Death weaponry (a Best Buy offer) or the Deadly Despair speed boost for your horse (an Amazon offer) will now be available to you on Wii U, free of charge. The Maker's Armor, Shadow of Death Armor, Crucible Mode and a variety of community content will be added as well. Vigil is also building the first wave of downloadable content - Argul's Tomb - into this port, adding another 2-3 hours of content into an already gigantic game. The developer also plans to continue DLC support for the Wii U version down the road.

Visually Darksiders II seems to be on track to meet the bar set by its counterparts. The area of the game we played was still in development, and therefore featured more bugs and frame rate issues than would be typical. Still, on the whole, the Wii U version seemed to match our established expectations - no more, no less. Smaller details, including using the GamePad's set of speakers to isolate some sounds, attempting to create a depth effect, were reasonably effective albeit not overwhelmingly necessary.

So in terms of content and general fidelity, Nintendo fans should rest easy. Darksiders II on Wii U will match up with any other version. The final hurdle that remains, then, is this - does this port, which arrives months after its counterparts, find a way to innovate or create an experience that can't be replicated? Can Nintendo's GamePad change the way we play an action-adventure game full of weapons, loot, vast dungeons and an upgradeable hero? The answer is yes - but it's easy to see how more can be done.

By far the most intriguing element of this Wii U port is what portions of the game are displayed on the GamePad's second screen - and how you can interact with them. By default, the GamePad's screen displays a real-time map that indicates Death's location and movement - no pausing necessary. Objectives can also be called up with a simple touch. For a game that frequently challenges players with twisted labyrinths, this is a huge, huge addition, streamlining an experience that can often start and stop all too often.

Vigil doesn't just stop with an in-game map. By touching an icon on the second screen, players can access inventory and weaponry. In a strange choice, however, players must press a physical button - down on the D-Pad - to access powers and abilities. These commands can be executed on the fly in battle, but all previous button shortcuts (pressing LB and an assigned button, for example) are still applicable. This port of the game doesn't eliminate options, it adds them. Some of the user interface specifics are a little cumbersome (particularly that D-Pad input), but after a bit of time we were used to it.

Not all touch-enabled options are done without pausing. Players will be able to upgrade Death's skills, and access other options through the GamePad, but in-game action will halt so players can focus on more time-intensive operations.

Far less significant, Vigil has also implemented gyroscope-based dodge controls into this Wii U port. They do not replace button commands, and for that we are thankful - attempting to shake a GamePad to evade attacks is probably one of the more clumsy things we've encountered on the new system. Again, it's optional, and here's hoping developers don't think of this new controller as an elaborate Wii remote. It isn't, and shouldn't be treated like one.

By and large what a small, 15-member team in Montreal is doing for the Wii U version of Darksiders II is commendable. Coming a few months after the other iterations of the game, this port not only features every last bit of content available to consumers previously, it also features extremely useful in-game displays that will allow players to seamlessly interact with inventory, skills, abilities and maps, often without pausing anything. These enhancements sounds small, yet they shift the experience in a fairly critical way. Furthermore, the team intends to allow the game to be pulled entirely to the GamePad, though that functionality wasn't available in the build we played.

It's rare to see a game as deep or complex as Darksiders II arrive at a system launch. For those looking for that kind of grand adventure, who haven't touched any of the previous versions, this could be well worth your time. And it's also clear that there is plenty more potential in what a dual-screen console can bring to this genre - even if it's a port.

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com and the leader of IGN's Nintendo team. He also watches over all things WWE, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and much more. Follow him on Twitter, if you dare!

Darksiders II Review

Darksiders II represents the latest offering from developer Vigil Games, a direct follow-up to the 2010 original. Much like its predecessor, Darksiders II provides some solid action, albeit nestled amid a somewhat flawed experience. It’s also possibly the most derivative game ever made - borrowing adventure and puzzle elements from The Legend of Zelda, action from God of War, platforming from Prince of Persia, and tone from some hellfire version of Lord of the Rings. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - an amalgamation of such incredible franchises could have resulted in the game to end all games. The thing is, if you’re going to so blatantly derive material from such well-known properties, you better nail it. While Darksiders II provides a lengthy and entertaining experience for action adventure fans to sink their teeth into, in the end it never comes close to reaching the heights of the various franchises it so freely borrows from.

Darksiders II further fleshes out the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse introduced in the first title - this time with War’s brother, Death, at the helm. Death believes that War has been wrongfully convicted of destroying mankind, and seeks to restore humanity to clear his brother’s name. The narrative is pretty entertaining, if not severely overdramatic. Though it should please anyone solely in the market for ‘epic,’ it lacks any trace of subtlety and often comes off as sophomoric. Given that the end result of any plot advancement is inevitably that Death needs to gather three of something and thrash some skeletons, hearing the characters go on about the old ways and soul judgement just feels a bit silly. However, if a healthy dose of ridiculous doesn’t faze you, the contrived reasons for Death’s various escapades through heaven, hell and everywhere in between do provide an amusing backdrop for his quest.

The majority of the adventure comprises rather standard action fare - Death wields both a fast primary weapon and a slow but powerful secondary weapon, and you chain together moves to slash your way through the various enemies.  There are also a few special abilities you gain along the way - like the ability to summon demon lords to do your bidding or to split your soul in two to solve dungeon puzzles. The game plays fine with a mouse and keyboard, but it’s best if you have a controller - this is clearly how the game was meant to be played, and in any case tracking down the menu to remap keys is a huge pain. The game also doesn’t allow for hot-swapping between controller and keyboard/mouse controls, so you’ll have to reboot if you want to switch.

The action segments are enjoyable enough - inasmuch as it’s hard to make slicing up undead baddies unenjoyable. Still, it’s disappointing that most of the enemies require next to no strategy to overcome. When you do come across an enemy that requires strategy to best, the joy of slaying it is truly satisfying - but these occurrences are few and far between. Most of the time, the answer is just to wait for the enemy to make their move, dodge, then attack. It’s still fun, because dodging and attacking are fun things to do in an action game, but it does get irritatingly repetitive after several hours of the same old song and dance.

One of the touted selling points of Darksiders II is that it’s far bigger than its predecessor - with a map that’s more than twice as big and a campaign that’s about three times longer than the original adventure. Unfortunately, in this case, bigger definitely isn’t better. The freedom Darksiders II offers is something to behold - you’re able to journey around huge areas as you please, slashing enemies and seeking out treasure and loot drops to your heart’s content. But the bloated environments are simply too barren and often devoid of anything interesting to do or see. Since so little is done to vary up the gameplay, the pacing drags and the length of the adventure feels more like a chore than a bonus.

The main problem is that the bulk of the adventure is repetitive. While it’s completely possible to reuse game mechanics throughout a campaign and still keep it feeling fresh, Darksiders II doesn’t achieve this. You’ll find yourself climbing wooden ledges and pegs, setting off bombs, and rolling balls over and over again in exactly same way, instilling a gnawing sense of deja vu. If these mechanics were employed in varied and clever ways, that would be one thing - but they’re not. I found myself rarely challenged by any puzzle I came across, and was often astonished that I was once again expected to repeat the same menial task I had just completed in the previous dungeon, or even in the previous room.

This is no place for a horse.

On the bright side, Darksiders II does offer up some truly epic boss fights to vary up the repetition, ones that will put your skills to the test and are truly exciting to overcome. You’ll fight all kinds of epic demons - ones that can regenerate, ones that are about 100 times your size, and ones that are just plain brutal in their assault patterns. The bosses are one of the highlights of the experience, offering a glimpse of what Darksiders II could have been had the entire quest been as varied and balanced as these memorable battles. 

As for gamers who don’t like fetch quests - this game is not for you. Seriously, the entire game is a fetch quest. All you do is run from area to area, fetching three of these, then three of these, then two of these, then three more of these with combat in between. As someone who honestly doesn’t mind a healthy dose of fetching in their games, Darksiders II still pushed my limits. You end up fetching so much and for so long that the majority of the game feels pretty pointless by the end. Can’t anyone in these various realms do their own errands, for crying out loud?

In truth, the game would have benefitted from being a skosh smaller and a lot more focused. In this way, the original game beats its sequel, as a more linear adventure that keeps the action coming befits this franchise’s intense style of gameplay. After all, there is a limit to how long you can run through similar environments and solve similar puzzles in order to appease your bloodlust for smashing things with cool weapons.

One of the game’s stronger elements is its art design and voice direction. It’s incredible that you can grow so fond of a main character who literally never emotes, as he’s wearing a skull mask for the entirety of the adventure. Death’s awesome voicework doesn't hurt either - hearing him growl at the Makers or deliver lines like, “This is no place for a Horse,” or “You find something for a change,” is inexplicably enjoyable. Even though he’s pretty impossible to relate to - being the embodiment of death and all - his design and presentation still do a great job of making him someone you want to see to his journey’s end.

While too many of the environments in Darksiders II are shockingly similar, some of them are well thought out and epic to behold, as are many of the characters and enemies found within. The visual presentation in this version of Darksiders II also fares better than its console counterparts, though the graphics options are bare minimum compared to other PC games. They get the job done, but don’t allow for the minor tweaks and alterations that PC gamers love. The good news is that the game runs much smoother as a result - gone are the framerate issues of the other versions, replaced by a silky smooth experience. The downside is that while the graphics are good, they’re not great. Things could look crisper, and there are still some shockingly bad textures underscoring the inspired art design. Considering the lack of customization and clumsy menus, this PC version comes off as a somewhat lazy port - but hey, at least it’s far less choppy.

I bet his shoulders are freezing.

A frustrating detractor to Darksiders II is the sheer amount of random glitches you’ll encounter along the way - ones that can’t be accounted for and appear and disappear for seemingly no reason at all. Seeing Death floating above the ground or over thin air is not uncommon, nor is pressing B to perform an action command only for nothing to happen until a few button presses later. Other random glitches I encountered include the inability to discard boots, ally AI that just stands in the corner staring at the wall, a Primary Quest icon that leads you in the wrong direction (then shift positions when you check the in-menu map), and an absence of music and sound effects until the game was reset - and that’s just to name a few. Most of these glitches only last for a short while, then disappear never to surface again. Others, like a targeting system that rarely seems to target the closest enemy or a camera that is often pointing in an inopportune direction, are quite persistent. Sadly, they’re things you’ll just have to learn to cope with if you hope to see Death’s journey to its conclusion. 

The funny thing is, despite its lengthy list of flaws and failures, Darksiders II still manages to offer an enjoyable experience. Despite its lack of variety, the combat is still satisfying to engage in, especially when you run across a behemoth of a boss. And even though there’s not enough to do in them, running around such huge environments is still incredible. Certain abilities you amass along the way - like the Deathgrip or the summoning ability - are terribly fun to play with, and make for some really cool dungeon moments (like dashing across a wall and Deathgripping at the last moment to reach the other side). It’s also worth noting that the game picks up considerably towards the end, finally finding its stride for the last few dungeons. The puzzles get more creative, the enemies and environments more varied - it’s just a shame it takes about 30 or so hours to get to this point.

Possibly the best part of the adventure, something that all action RPG games could learn from, is its implementation of RPG elements such as equipment and customization. Weapons found on the field can be instantly equipped or sent to your inventory with a single button press. Furthermore, each piece of equipment’s stats are displayed when you walk near it, as well as how it will raise or lower your own stats should you equip it. This makes fast decision making a breeze, and greatly increases the joy of seeking out the best armor to equip Death with. Every weapon or bit of armor you equip also changes Death’s appearance, which is a cool touch in making character customization feel more personal. The concept of cursed artillery, which you can ‘feed’ other items to, is also a great way to make the underpowered loot you come across feel like less of a waste. The way equipment is handled in Darksiders II is a true revolution in RPG gameplay, and one of the most solid parts of the experience.

Calling on Death’s bird, Dust, to show you the general direction you should go, and the deeply engrained Fast Travel system (which lets you instantly warp back to certain areas on the fly) are also great innovations for the genre. It’s a true shame the game’s impressive contributions are so severely undermined by its sheer amount of flaws and glitches.