When I think back on why I wanted to start this site, the first entry is exactly the reason. See, I’m almost always thinking about games, be it work related, or part of my addiction hobby. I play a lot of games and I read a lot of reviews (mostly after finishing a game), and I find it especially interesting to see things get glossed over or things totally blown out of proportion… in fact, it can be downright frustrating. So, I finally decided to put pen to paper and say what I think. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have all the answers and my opinion is simply my opinion, but I DO have an opinion… and I guess that is really the point.

The original idea of this site was to give a unique, unbiased opinion on games that I play – for better or for worse. Maybe I thought a game was completely over-hyped, maybe there’s some cool strategies or insights to share, or maybe I thought a game got the wrong end of the stick… and in light of recent events, it ultimately leads me to the real topic of the inaugural post:

DARKSIDERS

This is not the game I thought I’d be posting about first. In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever even had a reason to talk about it. I had seen some development builds a couple years ago and quickly forgot about it only to be reminded a few months before release that it was coming out at the beginning of the year. As an addict hobbyist who buys pretty much anything, Darksiders was promptly reserved alongside Bayonetta (another topic in itself) as one of two ‘major’ releases for the new year. I had already played the Bayonetta import from start to finish on PS3 back in October, so when I brought both games home, I decided to get Darksiders “out of the way” before putting all of my time into Platinum/Kamiya’s latest.

As you can probably tell, I did not expect Darksiders to be much of anything. It had an interesting art style, an decent concept, and a brand new development studio (Vigil who?) fronted by Joe Madureira (Uncanny X-Men and Battle Chasers)… but admittedly, I wasn’t the first guy in line. I mean, I’m not what you would call a comic book fan, and it’s not like new studios tend to knock it out of the park on their first or second try (yes, Naughty Dog, I know about Keep the Thief, Rings of Power, and most famously, Way of the Warrior)… but as I said, I’ll try pretty much anything.

So I played the game, and after finishing (100%), I went to metacritic.com to check out the general consensus. It was truly a sight to behold. From the ridiculously over-the-top lavish-fest of PLAY Magazine, to more importantly, the absolutely inept reviews from established ‘names’ like IGN, 1UP, and GamePro, the scores were really all over the place. Mentions of “tired concepts” and “derivative gameplay” were abundant near the bottom of the barrel… yet these same sites/magazines showered praise upon games like Bayonetta and Shadow Complex (both of which I love).

Now, if there’s one thing I can say with certainty, and that is… if any game out there has bombarded us with “tired concepts”, it’s Bayonetta. As much as I love the game… as much as I praise the game… and as much as I fiend for DMC1 and DMC3’s brand of ludicrousness, Bayonetta is, at it’s heart, Devil May Cry EXTREME. The controls are the same. The over-the-top cinematics are the same. The magical barriers that lock you in a room are the same. Even the ranking method, mission select, and loading systems are similar (yes, loads… you know, those things from the 90’s that God of War got rid of). Sure, most of the elements are updated for 2010… but the concepts are basically identical.

What about the whole “orbs/souls/essence” concept which Devil May Cry and God of War still use to this day? It was ‘tired’ when Sony aped it from DMC (among other features that it so generously drew inspiration from). We’d seen the mechanic in all of the previous DMC’s, and before that, Capcom’s own Onimusha series… yet it’s apparently OK in that case. You know, it wasn’t even original there. Anyone remember Legacy of Kain… the game series that Darksiders really shares similarities with? Of course, it’s so much easier to make halfhearted comparisons when you don’t know your video game history or you simply think your readers are morons. The irony of using words and phrases like ‘tired concepts’ and ‘derivative’ in the same breath as comparing the game to Bayonetta, DMC, and God of War is hilarious in and of itself.

A prime example is the GamePro review in which Tae K. Kim spends what seems like the entire article talking about how derivative Darksiders is awarding it a 7.0 (3.5 stars), after giving both Bayonetta and Shadow Complex a 9.0 (4.5 stars). In regards to the latter, he actually says “While ‘Shadow Complex’ does a good job of mimicking the formula, it doesn’t contain the same level of depth or complexity, especially in terms of story.” … and then proceeds to give it the aforementioned 9.0.

Wait… WHAT?

It’s apparently OK for Bayonetta to be DMC EXTREME and Shadow Complex to crib the Metroid (and SOTN) formula to a T, but when the new guy on the block does something even remotely similar, it’s derivative. Let me inform you if a little-known secret: most games these days are derivative.

Honestly, just stop reviewing games.

Interestingly enough, not all of the poorly written reviews were actually negative. For an example of going too far in the opposite direction, I suggest looking no further than the PLAY Magazine review. If there is anyone that tried to oversell Darksiders, for reasons completely unbeknownst to me, it’s in that review. On one hand, you have a reviewers that are completely unable or unwilling to give Vigil credit for creating an amazing product their first time out, but on the other hand, you have reviews that are so chock full of ass-kissing that it actually puts people off. After reading the PLAY article, a friend of mine was talking about NOT picking up the game solely because of how embarrassing of a hug-fest it was. Judging from my friends’ reaction, that initial “10/10” review was potentially the impetus for retribution in the way of negative counter-reviews… but hey, that’s only speculation.

Of course, most of us that have been around awhile don’t put much faith into reviews. Aggregate sites like metacritic.com and gamerankings.com provide a decent jump-off for an “at a glance” impression, but there are always places that skew the rating in either direction. People seem to think that if they go against the grain, their review will be taken more seriously. It won’t. In fact, it will just reinforce the notion that you have no idea what you are talking about and ultimately reflect poorly on your magazine or website. Remember when GamePro used to be a well-respected magazine back in the Slasher Quan / Dr. Dave days? Most people don’t… as that era has long since passed.

So enough about the ineptitude of paid critics . If any concept is tired, it’s bagging on authority and/or saying a reviewer has no idea what they are talking about (yes, I’m well aware of the irony here). If I were reading this article, I’d assume that the I, the writer, was eventually going to bestow mountains of superfluous praise (and other large words) based solely on the fact that, up to this point, the article was based around how terrible and unjust certain reviews were.

That isn’t the case. There are actually a few legitimate problems with Darksiders. With a little bit of effort, you can actually make a believable case against giving the game a 90 (or even a high 80), but that would take… you know, effort. Here, let me show you how to do it:

First of all, the jumping feels unresponsive during platforming sequences because there’s no room for error. In a lot of games, if you walk off a ledge, there is a buffer that still allows you to do your first jump even though you are falling. This prevents those frustrating moments where you think you jumped at the lip only to be instantly put into a falling state. It’s especially annoying in Darksiders because when you are put into a falling state, you cannot double jump out, which ultimately means you cannot pull your wings out and float. Walk off a ledge on accident, there’s no double jump back to the edge or float to safety. Bad.

The dash attacks could also use some refinement. With Chaoseater/Armageddon Blade, if you try to do the Harpoon Tackle (RB+direction+X) there is a very clear “dead zone” that you cannot attack from. You can attack right at the start of the dash, and right at the end of the dash to get the Harpoon Tackle, but if you press X in the “dead zone”, you will come out of the dash with a buffered basic X strike. This really makes no sense. Even worse, if you are using the Scythe and you attempt the equivalent (Reaper’s Revenge, RB+direction+Y), you cannot even perform it at the end of the dash. There is a clear lack of consistency here which leads to a less precise feeling of control.

Speaking of the dash, if Vigil was looking to mimic / pay homage to / or even compete with the free-flow combat of DMC, GOW, and now Bayonetta, they should have allowed you to cancel it with other techniques or even basic attacks. Dash into special attack such as Sword Uppercut (hold X then release) or Demon Edge (back+X) opens a myriad of combo possibilities and really frees up the system. Even just allowing you to cancel into a jump or block (which also means Devil’s Cross counter) would make the system feel even more versatile.

Combat options in the air leave much to be desired. If you use Shadowflight, your in-air options are immediately reduced to 3 things: keep flying, fall, or use one of your tools (Abyssal Chain, Earthcaller, Crossblade, Mercy). You can’t even basic attack! If you want to basic attack, you have to do it out of a normal or double jump. Also, if you use a basic attack during a single jump, you can no longer access your double jump. Is there really a problem with launching, attacking, and then double jumping to continue your offense? Again, this is just another are where the system could be freed up to create more player options.

Maybe Vigil wasn’t trying to directly compete with GOW/DMC/Bayo. Keeping the system more contained and simplified makes the game easier to grasp for newcomers. I DO know that they hired Eric Williams (lead combat designer of GOW 1 and 2) to do a little consulting, which would lead me to believe that they wanted an everyone-friendly system… and even if they didn’t, I’m sure Eric told them that they actually DID.

So back to the issues. The zoom (LT) needs work. If you adjust the camera to look in one direction, but War is facing in another, when the LT is pulled, the camera aligns back to where the character is facing instead of turning War to face where the camera is already looking. It’s a very abrupt change. Now, when an enemy is present, the camera ALWAYS turns to face them, but War’s facing still doesn’t change. It doesn’t matter if the enemy is even onscreen… they will be once you press the button. I see what they were going for here, but if the enemy isn’t even in view, and you are trying to zoom in on something else, and the zoom ends up whipping the camera around 180 degrees to an enemy that is close by, many times you are getting a result you didn’t want.

What about the D-PAD quick-select? So you have your two alternate weapons on DOWN, but they didn’t allow you to configure two of your tools to any other direction? There are 3 other directions and 6 “tools”. Why not allow the player to bind 2 tools to each direction. Put the Earthcaller and the Abyssal Chain on UP, and when you actually want to use either, just cycle between them like you do with your secondary weapons. This would immediately circumvent the need to go back to the START menu any time you need to select an infrequently used tool. Come on, this isn’t rocket science.

Finally… where is the NEWGAME+ option? So I’ve accumulated all of these abilities, I’ve maxed them out, I’m ready to go destroy… yet all I can do is carry over the Abyssal Armor? Come on… really? Even if you only allow full item/ability carry-over on the same difficulty (totally understandable) at least give us the option. I would LOVE to play through the game again on Apocalyptic (which I selected the first time through) with all my gear or at least all of my moves, but it’s not possible. How much more fun would all of those initial dungeons be with a complete moveset?

Even if you didn’t carry over the tools (Cross Blade, Abyssal Chain, Earthcaller, etc), let us start with our 3 weapons at whatever level they were currently maxed out on and all of our combat moves. If that’s a problem due to sequence breaking (due to having the Tremor Gauntlet early) how about giving us all of our combat moves right off the bat and make us regain the weapons? Once you regain the weapon, you have all of the moves purchased from the previous play.

… see how easy that was?

It’s easy to find REAL things to call out in Darksiders… but basically saying “this game is too much like other amazing games that I love” is not the way to get a point across. Even if you feel that Darksiders isn’t THE most original game ever (it’s not), it is polished, refreshing, familiar, easy to get into, and most of all, an impressive debut. The game is not perfect – it isn’t a 10 – but it’s as close to a 9 that I’ve ever seen. It’s a mid to high 8, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8.7 to 8.9… which is coincidentally the user rating on metacritic.com after near 60 reviews. It’s so close, but there are definitely a few nagging issues that keep it from debuting in the promise land of reviews (9.0 or higher) such as the aforementioned gripes and the blatant screen tearing. However, it is a very VERY good game. It is one of the MOST impressive first-attempts from a new studio in a long time.

Professional critic or not, if you can’t acknowledge the merit, then you have no merit at all.

Oh, and this time… when the sequel is released… I WILL be the first guy in line.