Review for Darksiders: Warmastered Edition. Game for PC, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 22/11/2016 The version for PC came out on 29/11/2016 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 02/04/2019
Chaos reigned supreme, generated by a timeless war between Heaven and Hell: the battle was great and the forces at stake were immense. Order and peace were needed. The Arso Consiglio had no choice: it was necessary to call the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, supernatural entities at the service of Equilibrium capable of finally putting an end to the clashes. During the relegation of the factions at stake to their original plan of existence, Chaos gave birth to mankind, a people who would in fact become the balance and at the same time the fulcrum of the contest of good and evil. Three factions then became involved and, given the forced truce imposed on Heaven and Hell, human beings reigned on the pitch, at least until today. Today Demons and Angels seem to have been freed, and the clash takes on apocalyptic dimensions; the pact has been broken, the seals broken and the clash seems ready to rage, destroying everything and everyone. It's up to the Knights to put a stop again, or at least it's up to one of them: War.
These are the premises of the remastered of Darksiders: Warmastered Edition, which now arrives on Nintendo Switch after having arrived years ago on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC. Let's see if the title is able to remain valid years after its release.
"I only obey the Council, only the Balance, as the Knights have always done. " - War
Given the sumptuous premises of Darksiders: Warmastered Edition initial stepping into the shoes of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on Nintendo Switch is an exhilarating experience even years after the original publication of the title. In fact, the plot holds up well the weight of time and, even if we will never find twists that leave you stunned, the story accompanies the player all the time in a coherent and compelling way just enough to never get bored.
Guerra was recalled early, before the seventh seal was broken, which in fact should have avoided the ancestral conflict between good and evil. But this shouldn't have happened, and our knight can't explain why, at any moment, he finds himself facing Demons and Angels. After an opening that sees us juggle in an attempt to understand what is happening - and which serves as a basic tutorial - the forces at stake do not hesitate to blame us all, precisely because of this premature appearance of one of the vigilantes of universal law.
In an instant we find ourselves from executioner to victim, ready to be judged and condemned by the entities responsible for monitoring the balance between good and evil. Fortunately, the Arso Consiglio, in charge of preserving the balance, decides to give Guerra a way of explaining himself, and designates him to discover the truth under the watchful eye of the sentry. Significant in psychological terms rather than plot, it is this prison / jailer combination that provides depth to the plot and lashing jokes.
From here comes the story that will see us hunt demons, angels and monstrous creatures into a world where evil has won, led by the Destroyer, and mankind has been transformed into soulless zombies. Our task is to find the way, thanks to the help of the sentinel, of various NPCs and especially of Vulgrim - a demon who gets enough of souls - to find Samael, the ancient demon in charge of guarding the seals to make him lock up the Destroyer and then restore balance. But Samael has lost his powers after the clash that saw the destructive demonic entity prevail, and our task at the beginning will be to kill major demons to deprive them of hearts and powers to give them to Samael in the hope of making him recover the lost power .
Darksiders: Warmastered Edition offers excellent premises for a plot that turns out to be well constructed and convincing and that exudes intrigue, betrayal, subterfuge and many, many blows.
"Here's the welcome committee ... War, why don't you show up?" - The Sentinel
The gameplay of Darksiders: Warmastered Edition sees it devoted to frantic action, adventure and solving environmental puzzles. Initially equipped only with our sword, the DivoraCaos, we will have to make our way through spectacular battles in order to obtain souls. These last expenses from the Vulgrim demon will allow us to increase our offensive skills by increasing the characteristics of the weapon and implementing new ones. Various latent magical powers will also adorn our skill tree, making War capable of new moves and new abilities. Also from an aesthetic and defensive point of view, Gunfire Games and THQ Nordic have foreseen an increase in characteristics, even if only briefly mentioned.
In the role of War we will therefore have different weapons - from close contact or long distance - to be combined in chained attacks and devastating combos, and various skills such as the possibility of gliding or reaching inaccessible areas thanks to the grappling hook, which will be useful both in combat as much as in solving environmental puzzles that Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is deeply imbued with. Yes, because in the role of War we will not simply have to mow down enemies, but we will be forced to carry out complex tasks in order to reach areas and objects that are increasingly inaccessible but fundamental for the continuation of the adventure.
To tell the truth, this part of the game is the one that is worst digested by the passage of time: many of the environmental puzzles require you to go back and forth through the scheme faced, in a dance that can lead to boredom, also given the low difficulty of the game. enigma itself.
In practice, it is a question of going through the entire scheme, arriving at a point to acquire the power up on duty and then retracing your steps in search of where to use it correctly: this opens the way to face the boss. All the patterns follow this process, and in the long run this becomes a bit repetitive: luckily, to dissolve the boredom, we find patterns that are never the same, ranging from cities, forests, cemeteries, swamps, sewers, and much more. This variation allows the player to easily overcome boredom and to complete the adventure, also stimulating the curiosity to retrace schemes already faced in order to find new accessible sectors with the skills acquired and previously unattainable.
Then we find a fun weapons compartment and special abilities able to animate the clashes. Thanks to swords, boomerangs, pistols, scythes and war gloves, each battle takes on always new and exciting characteristics. We can also rely on our ability to release the power locked up in us that will see us take the form of a huge demon, capable for a short period of devastating everything and everyone. Other powers are relegated to pure and simple combat: whether they are offensive or defensive, they prove to be a valuable aid in the course of the numerous battles we will have to face.
"I'll judge you, here and now!" - Uriel
From the technical side Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is not particularly affected by the passing of time nor by the porting on Nintendo Switch. The first was very lenient with the title which is still extremely fun and exciting today, 4 years after the remastered release on the other consoles. Apart from some sporadic annoyance with the camera, which occurs in particular on environmental puzzles that exploit the verticality of the scheme, the whole adventure is fluid and enjoyable. The part of the game experience that sees us able to recall Ruin, our infernal steed that in addition to offering a fast mount able to travel long distances, will increase our fleet of moves and our attack power is priceless.
Fighting titanic worms of the sand, in a glimpse of the desert - shooting the worms with our fire-breathing from the back of our steed, with the camera anchored to the target that revolves around us - amazes today as then, rejuvenating the title in a masterly way.
Even without stopping to rattle off technical data on fps and resolution, both of a high level even if not always perfectly stable, the development team has come up with a brilliant idea. It is the possibility to decide, from the settings menu, whether to prefer greater graphic detail or improved fluidity of movements. Although it would have been nice to enjoy both, the massive hunt for 4K with 60 FPS granite continues on any title, and because of this focus on detail, the devs have decided to leave the choice in the hands of the player: after several attempts on the small and on the big screen we have settled on higher quality on the small screen and improved fluidity on the big, but it must be said that this is a moot choice. In any case you can rest assured, you will enjoy the War adventure in Darksiders: Warmastered Edition whatever option you decide to choose.
The soundtrack has remained unchanged pleasant and the dubbing is well made in most of the story. Finally, we reiterate, more and more often lately, how the portability of Nintendo Switch always manages to enhance the positive characteristics of the titles, giving that added value even to a dated game.
"It's not death you should fear!" - War
The sore points of Darksiders: Warmastered Edition are very few and completely negligible, according to the writer, of course. We are talking about some defects on the camera in particular situations, perhaps a bit bare landscapes, and some slight moments of boredom and frustration in the solution of some environmental puzzles that turn out to be difficult in practice only for a mere programming problem rather than a plot. .
By passing over these shortcomings, which we mention more than anything else for the record, we can ensure that the gaming experience and general enjoyment are not compromised in the least.
Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is another successful product landed on Nintendo Switch and which is enhanced by it once again. Gunfire Games and THQ Nordic then created a product of great value with the Warmastered Edition and today they have managed to exploit its features to the full, obtaining a great result. By containing the price just enough to be palatable, you find yourself with a properly packaged product and with a lot of fun still to offer. An absolutely recommended purchase.
► Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is an Action-Adventure game developed by THQ Nordic Gunfire Games and published by THQ Nordic for PC, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 22/11/2016 The version for PC came out on 29/11/2016 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 02/04/2019
