Title: Darksiders

From: THQ

For: Xbox 360 (R18)

War – the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse stands accused of inciting a war between Heaven and Hell. Dishonoured and stripped of his powers, War must return to Earth in search of vengeance and vindication.

In this hack-n-slash RPG you take on the guise of War as you battle your way through seemingly never ending hoards of demons – many of them small, but ranging in size up to gigantic and ferocious beasts the size of a city block. With every kill you harvest souls which can then be used to purchase new attacks, weapons and upgrades.

The gameplay is much the same as the God of War series but with that added RPG element. Fight some minions, then some mid-level enemies followed by a boss. There’s plenty of puzzle elements along the way and the boss fights require you to figure out what hurts them and what doesn’t. This isn’t helped by the lack of a health bar on bosses, so there can be a lot of trial and error involved.

The game looks fantastic and plays remarkably well. I’ve barely been able to put it down over the holidays, which speaks volumes when I’ve got bigger titles needing to be played.

Score 90%