Death from Darksiders 2 is not at all the same that leads fear to a good part of the globe. It is in no way connected with a terrible story about the “fourth seal”, “go and look” and “killing with sword and hunger, and earth and earthly beasts” from the revelation of John the Theologian. The riders of the apocalypse according to Darksiders have nothing to do with biblical, and the invented eschatology is far from Christian. Local representation of death is more likely to resemble cartoon musicians from the Dethklok group (true, by the way, is the story: the protagonist of Darksiders 2 lit up in the episode of the MetalaPocalypse animated series on the MTV channel, and this is much worse for progressive humanity than the following New Testament death of blood pressure). The black-haired horseman is an unbearable patlate and looks like an absurd Death metallist with a cover of some canonical album.
Death and all-all-all
It just so happened that the Apocalypse came a little later than the appointed deadline, humanity was completely destroyed, and the Higher Forces unfairly accused the war, the hero of the first. Death does not agree with such a situation at all and decides to save his brother, and at the same time to resurrect humanity with a free hand.
Darksiders 2 proves that even death may die.
The genre pathetics obliges the horseman of the apocalypse to epic feats, but the hero’s journey is more like Sisyphus labor. The first third of the game, for example, passes the fulfillment of instructions of the powerful race of the creators (the guys created heaven, the underworld, several different worlds and, in fact, the universe). For some reason, all-powerful German-Scandinavian giants speak with a distinct Scottish accent and impressively punish death: “To save humanity, horseman, kill a dozen demons, and then pack the water supply and heating in our ancient forge”. The hero (actually Antherler, but okay), looking at his idol of Kratos, answers them with ulcerative remarks, although, strictly speaking, he is in the wrong position; In this situation, he is not at all the horseman of the Apocalypse, but rather the supplier – at the command of the big uncle dutifully jumps in picturesque expanses, explores ruins and searches for powerful artifacts.
Destination
Accents in the gameplay and stylistics have somewhat shifted. The first part in rare minutes resembled The Legend of Zelda , And all the rest of the time, the war greeted the angel -like creatures of the wings, filling the walls with blood – in a word, brutality went off scale for all conceivable and inconceivable limits. Oddly enough, more peaceful moods reign in Darksiders 2. The tone is set at the very beginning, when the hero riding on a pale ghostly horse looks through the blizzard at the ice cliffs and a distant fortress. Ahead of huge spaces filled with secrets, and in return for alleged death and destruction – beautiful landscapes.
Mask, dirty rags, an abundance of skulls and metal buckles-death is clearly mowing under a rock star.
The dungeons instead of endless corridors or a boring series of battles constantly offer the player to solve some riddle or perform a series of acrobatic sketches (death is much more mobile than his brother and, for example, knows how to run along the walls). The complexity of the tasks gradually increases with the advent of new gadgets. With their help, the hero closes himself, passes through the portals and grabs the surface with a special hook.
With the advent of new gadgets and abilities, navigation becomes unbearable. Comparing the characteristics of objects is far from as convenient as, for example, in Diablo 3.
There are no rectilinear quests like “find and use an artifact” in Darksiders 2, there are only dreary and multi -stage. A striking example: in the second act for the bone master, you need to find three dead lords. Each lord is in a separate dungeon, and one of them requires finding three souls (with them separate troubles) in return for consent to go with the hero. The scheme “Collect something of the three parts” can be repeated several quests in a row, which is why collect the keys and solve puzzles bore faster than that.
Death to them
When it comes to a fight, it turns out that death is not a supporter of a straightforward approach (although it would seem). Unlike the war, the new hero elegantly dodges blows, quickly beats with hand braids and connects attacks in simple combo, which can be diversified by using additional weapons. A whole arsenal is used – gloves with spikes and claws, colossal spears, huge axes and hammers. The developers did not bother with the balance, they have to choose between something slow and powerful or high-speed and weak. An important difference from the original game: gold, weapon and armor are now falling out of monsters and containers (“Death. Destroyer of the boxes, the enslavering of the VAZ "). Role elements do not end there. Killing monsters, the hero grows in levels, gradually learns by necromancy and especially dangerous attacks. Such a pile of gaming mechanics does not spare the user interface at all, and navigation on endless tabs and menu is capable of, sorry for the pun, tire to death. The worst of all things are in the PC version: in order to use active abilities, you have to pause the game, open the circular menu and carefully choose how to please the next enemy. The dynamics from this suffers in the most direct way.
In Darksiders 2, it’s not scary to make a mistake with pumping at all – at any time you can buy a special potion and redistribute experience points.
At this point, you already had to have an opinion about the main genre inspirers Darksiders 2. Connoisseurs and aesthetes can lift their nose and say that the game is unprofitable, that we have already seen all this in caramel Kingdoms of Amalur or Prince of Persia , And the collection of Luta is clear from which game only adds fussy micro -study. The structure and puzzles are taken from The Legend of Zelda and almost literally repeat the original – we had to throw bombs aimed and travel in time more than once or twice. All this is more or less like that, the game is borrowed a lot from eminent series, but an amazing thing – the final result does not seem diverse. The first impression at the same time can be sharply negative: why do you need a team of a hodgepodge from several games? Why is it worth playing the Legend of Zelda with a character from Soul Reaver and at the same time engage in acrobatics a la Prince of Persia? After three or four hours, the impression changes: “Damn, but this is a dream game, there is everything here!»It is in the variety that the main charm of Darksiders 2 lies. This is an epic adventure, and a furious action, and role -playing game. The components are not perfect, but together make up a unique mix.
Vigil Games They added an inconceivable amount of different mechanics to their game, while any other modern developer would refuse such an adventure – it is too risky to make such a complex video game and spille on trifles. In this regard, the studio made a feat. It is important to understand the context here – today large publishers are only interested in guaranteed sales: Ubisoft complains to the 95%piracy level on PC and dreams of the transition to Free-to-Play, promotions EA And Activision Blizzard They fall, and and ThQ Not in the best shape now. Against the backdrop of obscurantism, going into the industry, the idea to borrow interesting concepts and unite them in one game looks like a real miracle and greetings from the past.
Reigracy:
Cool plot:
Originality:
Easy to master:
Gameplay:
8
Graphics:
8
Sound and music:
7
Interface and management:
7
Waited?
Despite the mixing of a dozen various mechanics, Darksiders 2 turned out to be surprisingly integral and fascinating game.
Mania rating: 8.0
"Great"
So the arrows of the poet's heart,
or how to fire a person for no good reason
Development Darksiders 2 not without scandals. Xander Davis, a user interface designer, suddenly fired a few months before the game without explanation. And when the release took place, it turned out that they did not indicate in Xander's credits. We contacted Davis, and he personally told us about the conflict of interests, the problems of young developers and the betrayal of colleagues.
[[Bullet]] Xander Davis.
“When I was an interview to the post of senior designer of the user interface, I immediately noticed that ThQ, in fact, was looking for a developer who could lead people. And so it happened. I had to deal not only an interface, but also to lead a team of eight people. It was required to put everything in order shortly before the release. The description of my position did not indicate that I would have to hang around in the office until two in the morning, but I knew that this was my mission, my calling. We organized the process in such a way that the team completed the task in a record time, while managing to coordinate work with other departments. Within thirty days, we processed 27 elements. We got a verified and harmonious interface. The most important here is logic and intuitiveness, if UI does not have these qualities, then, no matter how beautiful it is, players will not appreciate. The main task of the designer, in my opinion, is that the user does not notice the interface elements so that they do not distract him from the game. ".
I was ready and even wanted to overcome all the difficulties and complete the work on the interface for the game that I like. I have achieved the goal. Then it turned out that the team of designers and developers UI want to fire. Without waiting for the abbreviations, I began to communicate with the recruiters, and I was accepted into another project, but most of my friends soon left without work.
What is the irony that, despite the touching and in every sense, the sad story of Xander Davis, the user interface in Darksiders 2, to put it mildly Betti sister sites, is not very.
I can not go into details, but information about the number of dismissed is in the public domain. As far as I know, this is about 60-70% of staff. From Texas, I moved to another studio, and then from the former employees I learned that the atmosphere in Vigil became a nightmare. Many decided to sabotage the workflow and went to three -hour dinners. People fled from the studio, like rats from a sinking ship ".
“After my team thoroughly remade the interface and provided a working prototype, the producers demanded a new reduction. I directly said that they demand to turn the mountains and make the impossible for an insignificant period. In response, I was immediately fired and hired a new person, a funny man who walked all the time in a cowboy hat, “symbolizing respect” for something (according to him).
A heap of duties was immediately put on Herba Elwood. This to some extent reveals the curious tactics of the publishers: to dismiss an adequate person who corrected a bunch of predecessors' mistakes, and hire a person instead of him, who, as they say, promised an excursion to the moon in the rocket without fuel. Herb is perhaps a wonderful designer, but for me the situation looked extremely gloomy. I could not imagine why it was necessary to change something in almost ready UI.
What was my surprise when I saw the first gameplay videos from the game. The user interface was not new or converted. He was mine. But I did not find my name in the final credits. I lingered in the office until two in the morning, suffered inconvenience and worked, and now Vigil Games uses my work and does not even want to admit it. The reason for my dismissal is "inefficiency". Someone performed my duties better before or after dismissal? No. I was professional and diplomatic even in conditions of constant stress and deadline. The development of the entire game was three to four years old, but I organized an interface in 30 days. Few will be able to do work within such a period, but I succeeded. Such ineffectiveness, friends ".
“Imagine a college graduate. He has $ 75,000 debts for training, and he passion he wants to work in the industry. This is his dream! He has been preparing for this all his life, studied, passed all the exams with honors, he has all the skills to get the desired position. You know how a large studio will do with him? Will wipe him with an enthusiastic face Paul. At one time I was even homeless. After Transformers: War for Cybertron went to gold, I was immediately fired. A huge amount of effort was invested in the game. A bright orange sticker on the box reads "9/10 from IGN". Fans of the Universe are delighted. And I'm homeless.
You give up 1000%, do your favorite business and achieve unimaginable results with a record speed, and then you are thrown to the side of the road. Neither compensation nor friends – no support. Involuntarily you begin to think about the meaning of life. I worked on a multimillion -dollar blockbuster, and the year he slept on an inflatable mattress and changed rental housing for a month after a month. I, as in the book of Palanika, were surrounded by disposable friends and disposable things. You learn to be lonely. Work on video games resembles a conclusion in a concentration camp. Forget about your family or buying a house. Your second half will go crazy. If you bind your life, then only with video games.
Former colleagues tried more than once and are trying to discredit me. I even suspect that a special social action was launched in order to humiliate me. On the other hand, many developers supported me, they thanked me for not being afraid to talk about the dark sides of our industry. I am glad that I was able to draw attention to the fact that many specialists who worked on Darksiders 2 were intentionally thrown out of the credits.
The desire to speak out, of course, caused me a lot of harm, but also gave the necessary mental strength. I am still bitter and insulting that they treated me like that, but I try not to think about it. ".
Partyvet
Artem Komoletov
Author of "Gambling"
After the first Darksiders release, I could not understand for a long time why the whole world of world gaming journalism would so carefully turn his nose away from her. The main claim of the critics was that Vigil Games put all kinds of charms from other games, sewed all this to their extravagant vision of the biblical apocalypse, did not come up with anything, folded their pens and began to wait for applause. I, I admit, was not at all a shame to applaud Vigil Games: in my opinion, in order to copy other people's ideas and force them to work together in a completely different game, you need considerable talent.
Those who scold the sequel for the relapse of cheating, I would like to remind something. The Portal series does not have a monopoly on puzzles with portals. U God of War – on huge bosses and overwhelming brutality. Legend of Zelda-on horses and large levels-heads. Prince of Persia has in dashing acrobatics. Therefore, if Vigil Games creatively rethinks other people's achievements and organically embeds into his game, contemptuously clatter the tongue and point a finger at it – at least stupid.
Just in case: I passed Darksiders 2 in thirty and a little hours. Theoretically, it can be run much faster, but I wanted to give it all along and down – to collect all the possible tokens, cut all the optional bosses, open all the vaults of the vulgrim, and so on. And you know what? I do not regret a single second spent on Darksiders 2 time.
Dmitry Yezhov
Author of "Gambling"
The superiority of Darksiders 2 above the original is noticeable already in the first half an hour after the entry. The game of 2010 was a competent generic-sleher, where the Bugai, who were chained in steel, were carried to the devils New York, and the main character only did that he was throwing a taxi and opening his mouth in a fierce scream. The sequel, on the way, immerses the player into his rich mythology: a minimum of animal madness, a sparkling fairy -tale world and a lot of chatter with its inhabitants (again, by the way, serious Bugans).
Soon, however, it begins not to give the first part: under the hero named death, the faithful horse materializes, and the hero jumps on it somewhere in the catacombs, where it beats monsters and plays scenes that make you remember about Oddworld. Like two years ago, the biblical motives crawl to the side, you just have to appear on the screen of a brutal landscape of incredible proportions: in the first part, the gigantic desert was struck, in Darksiders 2, in turn, you forget to breathe at the sight of icy expanses; There is immediately the idea that the intelligible story of Darksiders is simply useless, because you have a huge world for research.
But this is not so. Of the silent travels on the map, physical puzzles and fights of a normal adventure did not work – the density of events is too low. To play, although it is nice (technically Darksiders 2 is much better than the original), but the feeling of some kind of ideological void does not leave constantly. In general, emotions are just like a failure and already forgotten by many Too Human. For nothing that with estimates in the world press Darksiders 2 was much more lucky.
Ilya Yanovich
Gamberry editor
The first part of Darksiders was a very bold game for two reasons. The first reason is the first, understandable and pleasant: it looks like all the generation slasers at once, copying design elements, techniques, levels, enemies, animation and the overall pace of famous hits. So almost everyone works, with permission, products of pop culture, and there is nothing to be ashamed of here. Although such a porridge reminded me of the Dilogy of Batman from Rocksteady, which I also perceive not without difficulty: everything seems to be professionally, beautiful and even, but where to look and what exactly to enjoy – I am not very clear.
The second reason is completely unforgivable: in the structure of Darksiders, for some reason, they rammed the rather sluggish parody on The Legend of Zelda, and so brazenly and thoughtlessly, without understanding the essence, no one has yet copied Zelda. All these puzzles and dungeons are made, of course, without a company Nintendo-focus, they are reduced to the level of routine from some third-rate German RPG. All the rest of the time, painted murple in the satanic hoodies depicts Kratos, and this also turns out not particularly convincing.
Actually with Darksiders 2, my conversation was short: I turned on, looked that nothing changed, heard from friends about "even more dungeons and junk" and turned off. I will not turn on it anymore.
Alexander Pushkar
The editor -in -chief of "Gambling.ru "
I guess I am not at all spoiled by good squires, because Darksiders 2 went through. The main character here is an extremely charming Hamlo, who even allies are afraid of. Through the hordes of enemies, death breaks easily and relaxedly – in contrast, say, from the crath -overwhelmed by masculinity, which is already rings from tension with each action. And it looks solid – not an alleged whip, like Dante, but a broad -shouldered bugi, a kind of Schwarzenegger’s life -fantasy mummy with a terrible mask hiding his face. Observe how he jumps from a column to a column or drives interlocutors in dialogues into a light panic – a pleasure.
In addition, the game is by no means limited to only fights and acrobatics. Role -playing system, inventory, side quests, searching for secrets … The developers filled Darksiders 2 with everything that could, turning from ordinary slasher into an almost role -playing game with a huge world, which is interesting to explore.
I really liked it.
