At Gamescom 2011, Jay Fitzhoff from THQ gave a demonstration of the upcoming Darksiders 2.<\/p>\n
Darksiders 2 will feature a new protagonist, Death, another of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.<\/p>\n
His story will run concurrently with the events of Darksiders 1, in which War set off to clear his name, having been accused of unleashing the apocalypse and renewing the war between the realms of heaven and hell.<\/p>\n
Death starts off on a journey to investigate War’s wrongful accusation, and he will be investigating behind the scenes in the underworld while the apocalypse unfolds in the Earth realm. In the demonstration Death is seeking the council of the Lord of Bones, a privilege for which he must prove his worth, by bringing the head of an underworld champion.<\/p>\n
In this quest arc we were shown that Darksiders 2, as was its predecessor, is built on the four pillars of the 3rd-person action adventure: traversal; platforming; puzzles; and combat. The demonstration was however combat heavy.<\/p>\n
Death is brandishing two scythe’s, which transform depending on his attack move. He was also seen using a new device called the Ghost Hook, which is essentially a grapple device. The Ghost Hook can pull smaller enemies toward Death, and pull Death toward larger ones. Death’s combat style leans more toward an agile rougish style, where he prefers to dodge and outmanoeuvre his opponents.<\/p>\n
In contrast, War could be seen as a more brutish melee tank who engages directly with powerful attacks and strong blocks.<\/p>\n
Along the route to his underworld champion target, Death meets a number of impressive mini-boss creatures, such as a scarab-like behemoth using a swift, swooping, dash attack. The champion himself is a multistage battle in which the champion transforms from a subterranean worm creature which must be grappled from the earth and damaged, into a demonic juggernaut which must be out- manoeuvred and defeated with well-timed attack and weapon combos.<\/p>\n
We were also given a glimpse of Death’s super-move, which has yet to be named by the developers.<\/p>\n
Much like War, who transformed into a demon form, Death will transform in a large Death form.<\/p>\n
Visually the game seems to have adopted a darker tone than that of its predecessor, but it still retains the distinctive art styling of Joe Madureira.<\/p>\n
Darksiders 2 will feature more options for those who like to adventure, with plenty of side-quests to complete in order to round out Death’s arsenal and experience. There will be towns filled with NPC’s to issue these quests, and the story will unfold in a more freeform manner, unlike the rather linear Darksiders 1.<\/p>\n
Players will be able to equip death with a variety of items, weapons and armour they will acquire during his journey, and at some point, decisions will have to be made as to which are worth keeping and focussing on. Skills and abilities gained through levelling up will also have to be picked carefully, as Fitzhoff explained that players will not be able to completely max out Death’s skill tree in a single playthrough.<\/p>\n
Fitzhoff explained that the game will not be using pre-rendered cutscenes, as the number of equipment options will mean that visual continuity will be broken. All cutscenes will be rendered in-engine and will feature the player with their current loadout as they progress.<\/p>\n
Darksiders 2 is slated for release in June 2012 on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and later on the WiiU.<\/p>\n
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