An action adventure title that boasts the best elements of God of War, Heavenly Sword, Prince of Persia and Zelda.

From my hands on time with Darksiders, Wrath of War, I could tell that this wasn’t the ordinary platforming 3rd person adventure title. There are plenty of things that set it apart from the pack, many of which were astounding to witness at E3.

First of which is the graphical quality of the title. Set for release in early 2009, the game still in beta looks phenomenal. It takes the 3rd person genre of gaming and makes it appear cinematic at every turn. From my time playing, it was clear that while still a little buggy, the game is smooth and pretty. Special effects such as haze from heat or water and dust are all very visible and vivid.

So far what I’ve seen of Darksiders was a few main points. This game has many puzzles to solve, most of which revolve around finding key items and properly using them. Such puzzles may include finding the right path to take, properly placing said item and utilizing it.

The puzzle I witnessed was using a boomerang-like weapon to activate different switches to raise and lower platforms over a lava pit for the player to reach the top. Said item was one of the switches, which when found and placed where it belonged and used, opened the next area. However, the puzzle is both in finding the item (both in knowing that it is an item to take and in the actual search) and getting to the point where the item can be used.

The puzzle I saw was a brief glimpse at what is planned. I’m not sure if the puzzles in Darksiders will be as dedicated as those in the God of War franchise, but if they are even close, it would make the game that much better.

However, puzzles are only a portion of the game, perhaps a fourth. The majority is based around combat, which takes place using either a giant sword that War, the protagonist wields, a gun of some sort, the previously mentioned boomerang or another old-school weapon. Magic attacks are also available.

What the combat system has to offer is a robust combo system, which collaborates all weapons and movements to make hundreds of different attacks. Jumping in the air while attacking with the sword will usually have a different swing than when on the ground. But swinging, grabbing the enemy and throwing them to the ground and finally landing a finishing blow is just one of the many quick combinations that can be made. Many more are left to be explored.

Remember the boomerang mentioned? It’s a very potent weapon, one which can be used with or without aiming. Aiming has its benefits, targeting multiple enemies at once for the boomerang to hit each one and anything in its flight path. Another weapon we saw used was the chaingun, which acts just as you’d expect it to.