After nine years, four main games, and two remasters (or warmasters), the set is finally complete. With the release of Darksiders Genesis, a fourth game in the series, you can finally play as Strife! Darksiders Genesis is the latest instalment of the Darksiders series that was released less than two weeks ago. It adds so many things to the series, from the fresh gameplay, cooperative mode, to expansion of the story and the lore of Darksiders. Let's take a look at it!

Darksiders Genesis is a fresh perspective on the series

Darksiders Genesis is a prequel to the other Darksiders games published by THQ Nordic and developed by Airship Syndicate. It is a top-down hack and slash action RPG featuring two out of four of horsemen of the apocalypse – Strife and War. While playing you can switch between Strife, a gunslinger with a knack for showmanship, and his brother War, wielding a massive sword called Chaos Eater. You can choose to blast angels, demons, and everything else with Mercy and Redemption while playing as Strife, or slash through anything standing in your way with Chaos Eater while playing as War. Or you can partner up with a friend and play cooperatively, each one of you taking on the role of one horseman.

The Horseman powers combined

You'll be grateful for the fact that there are two horsemen on this assignment, as it is a particularly challenging one. This time the Council sent them on a mission to take down a demon king. Not just any two-bit demon king though. It's the very deceptive and quite enigmatic demon king Lucifer. Taking him on won't be as simple as „kill everything that moves“ this time.

In order to make it to him alive and in mostly one piece you'll have to master the new combat that comes with the top-down hack and slash perspective. You'll have to choose your loadout of preferred abilities that suit you best for any given situation. Not to mention master the timing when switching from Strife to War and back again in the middle of chaos. There are also plenty of items you can discover and collect on your journey. Each one of them has the power to give you an edge in the combat and allow you to customise your playstyle. The weapons can also be upgraded to give them a little extra juice. Some of the more flashy options include an additional attack at the end of every chain, minor earthquake after an aerial attack, and summoning a clone of yourself after evading an enemy.

Many of the enemies will also drop cores on their death (or you will brutally pull them out, the result stays the same) which you can use to grow your powers in any way you choose. There is plenty of it out there to collect and to customise to your liking. Just remember to coordinate if playing with a friend. You wouldn't want to cause war between yourselves, there is plenty of him in the game.

It is still very much a Darksiders game

There was some concern about how can the trademark Darksiders gameplay be transferred into top-down mode in Darksiders Genesis. But now that it's out and there were opportunities to play it let me assure you that Darksiders Genesis is a game that remains true to the series.

Let's take War and compare him to the first game. His attacks (and not to mention personality) are the same like in the first Darksiders game. They are strong, brutal, and send small enemies flying. War's attacks feel as they have some real weight behind them and as such carry a high impact.

Then there is the newcomer horseman Strife. His attacks are more agile than those of War and he focuses more on evasion and keeping his distance. What else would you expect from a guy with guns? Strife also has access to seven different ammo types that let him choose his approach and multiple dashes allowing him to reposition himself in the blink of an eye. That fast-paced and hard-hitting combat style translates perfectly to the isometric setting.

And let's not forget the exploration and environmental puzzles. The developers sure didn't. Just like in the previous games you'll want to go back to previously visited areas and explore them further after you've unlocked additional abilities. You'll often find rewards in the shape of new abilities or items that will let you grow even stronger. All of that is interspersed with platormer-esque progression between different areas and levels that will provide a nice change of pace from the frantic combat.

Darksiders Genesis is definitely one of the better games in the series and I would wholeheartedly recommend you to give it a try. You can get it right HERE at 2game and start playing right away.