Thank you Nordic Games for sending us a review code!

Darksiders II was original released on PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 in 2012 and was given fair reviews despite its many bugs.  The remastered Deathinitive Edition now runs on current generation consoles at 1080P and includes much of the previously released DLC along with some bug fixes and tweaked visuals.  PC owners of the original version were given an option for a free or discounted upgrade.

I’m new to the Darksiders series, but I can definitely see the parallels to the recent 3D Zelda games.  In this sequel you play as the second of the four horseman of the apocalypse, Death, whose voice acting is superb by the way.   The first Darksiders revolved around War, who prematurely ended the world after being deceived by forces of evil.  In Darksiders II, Death is trying to redeem his brother’s name and resurrect humanity.

Death has the ability to move across the beautifully landscaped worlds on horseback and is guided by a crow that alerts him of treasure locations and mission objectives.  Exploration is encouraged and often rewarded with nice loot that can enhance Death’s offensive and defensive attributes, or can be sold for money which can be used to buy better weapons, armor, or training.  Pages of a missing book can be located throughout the levels and returned to its owner for generous rewards as well.

While there are many treasure chests, they are rarely easy to get to.  Death will have to swim, climb walls, jump, and swing across various platforms to get to the loot.  The map and treasures are often guarded by various monsters which don’t take much effort to take down, especially with the scythe or other powerful melee weapons Death can wield.  The boss battles on the other hand, will take some more effort and result in a lot of bloodshed.  Health potions come in handy during these battles, but I have found them hard to come by.   

I was able to find some health potions by breaking various jars in dungeons.  Fortunately, when you die in the game you are brought back to your last checkpoint with full health.  The number of checkpoints in this game is generous.  If you miscalculate a jump, you are brought back to where you were last with slightly less health.   

Attacking enemies will accumulate wrath, which enables you activate special attacks and skills.  When you level up, you can spend skill points on skills like necromancy that lets you summon ghouls to fight alongside you temporarily.  Various religious references are woven together in this game; you have the four horsemen from the Bible, Norse forge masters, Heaven, Hell, and a tree of life.  It’s an interesting combination for sure!  

While the Norse females are well armored, other harpy like creatures are not as conservative in their wardrobe choices.  As I mentioned earlier in this review, the battles are very violent and blood is spilled by the gallons.  The Mature rating is fitting for this title.

If you like action RPGs with over-the-top violence and some puzzles thrown in for good measure, Darksiders II will not disappoint.  The visuals don’t seem a lot different in comparison to the previous release and even for a 2012 game, they still look great!  If you have already played Darksiders II, there is little reason to buy the Deathinitive Edition.  If you have yet to play the sequel, the Deathinitive Edition is the one to get,  provided you’re not bothered by excessive bloodshed, necromancy, cleavage and blending of religions, of course!