Darksiders II - Discussion Thread

Why is this? It’s simple: The PC version of the game is the best version of the game, hands-down. “The game looks better on the PC”, said Jay Fitzloff.

In the development build we played, the keyboard and mouse controls were not implemented yet, although I was reassured on multiple occasions by both Fitzloff and Cureton that the keyboard and mouse controls for PC are being tweaked specifically for PC gamers and are not tacked-on console controls.

On the question of graphics options, I was told by both Fitzloff and Everett that the PC version will have a fully tweakable config file as well as the standard in-game graphics options for various resolutions, settings, and options. However, if you want to get really deep, the config file will be there.

I never played God of War. I found Heavenly Sword boring and repetitive. I do admit to a sincere fondness for Legend of Zelda (a game that Darksiders II has been compared to a few times, to the annoyance of the developers), but I didn’t think I’d really love Darksiders II. I figured I’d like it. Well, I’ll go on the record as saying I love it. I want it on day one. I’ve got a solid 10 hours sunk into this game now and I’m hooked.

To make things even more interesting, there is a massive amount of content. On the scale of the game, the developers estimated that there will be 40-50 hours of gameplay in here. After playing through about 10 of that and not even feeling like I had started the game proper, I can believe that. The world map is massive and we only got to see a tiny part of it. The developers estimate that, even a Vigil employee doing a speed run would take about 20 hours to complete the game. “In a world filled with free-to-play games, we wanted to make sure that if you spend $60 on a game, you’re getting a $60 game.” said Fitzloff.

The game is shockingly deep. It’s far more than just a timing-based button-masher. There is a solid RPG element with character leveling, almost unlimited, procedurally-generated weapons (akin to Borderlands), armor, and other items. You can customize your build to a great degree. There are two major talent trees that open up a lot of character customization and playstyle preference options. The puzzling element is Zelda-quality (and when we compare Darksiders II to Legend of Zelda, that’s a compliment, guys!), the dungeons are massive, the environments are insanely huge (and gorgeous!), and the voice acting is really good.

The thing that struck me, a non fighter-gamer, the most however was this—the fighting is totally ****ing awesome. I noticed right away how chunky and visceral the weapon hits are. I learned to love the dodges, strafes, jumps, and blocks. I found myself saying things that fighting gamers say: “Yeah! Take it! Unnnhh! You like that? Bam!”

While most of the game is straightforward (start at quest hub, go out into the world, fight mobs for loot and XP, go to some place, do a thing, figure out puzzles, fight mini-bosses and then a big dungeon boss, get stuff, etc.), there is another element I haven’t mentioned yet: the “puzzle-fights”.Remember the game “Shadow of the Colossus”? Remember how many people said a sequel with modern graphics would be amazing? This is that sequel. There are bosses that are hundreds of times bigger than Death. You have to figure out how to scale them, find their weak points, do things, climb, jump, use your abilities and special weapons, and use the environment in the right combination to take them down. Taking down a massive behemoth that’s half a mile tall is tremendously satisfying.
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A bloody brilliant article this one - Darksiders II and the triumphant return of PC gaming: Icrontic

That's it! I think I am going to ask my boss for a day off next week probably on a Saturday.

Vigil
 
The game releases next week and we have no idea about the system requirements yet! At least the hard drive space? May be about 16~18 GB?
 

Applied for a leave on Friday. If it gets approved (which it should), I'll have that and the whole weekend for Death to unleash his rage. :D
 
Just started the game but then power cut :annoyed:

Power backup. Back to the game.
PS: I am not sure if anyone will agree with me but graphics of the game look a tad outdated. I felt the same thing with Darksiders 1
 
sharktale1212 said:
Just started the game but then power cut :annoyed:

Power backup. Back to the game.
PS: I am not sure if anyone will agree with me but graphics of the game look a tad outdated. I felt the same thing with Darksiders 1
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What! How you have got the game?
It is not released til yet.:scared14:
 
Woot company's net policy has gone bonkers! YouTube is streaming!

Anyways, let's not forget it's Jesper Kyd doing the sound compositions for the game. :p

One of those epic tracks from AC II:

 
^ I am not really sure if we can talk publicly about the sourcing of the game :p

Played for 3hrs or so. Certain things I observed:
1. I hate my flatscreen CRT. :p Cant read a damn thing on the screen. All the dialogues are gibberish.
2. Combat is really fluid. Though dodging is a bit dodgy. You can get whacked even while doing it. Specially if the enemy is off-screen.
3. Other than Zelda, hack and slash, it now has AC touch to it. The whole travelling from one to place to another on a horse thing.
4. Core game remains the same.
 
sharktale1212 said:
^ I am not really sure if we can talk publicly about the sourcing of the game :p
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Errr...You do realize there are legitimate copies available before their release dates too.

Any-hoo, looks like this game's install size on the PC is almost half the size of it's predecessor. Steam pre-loaders say it's around 6.5GB. I hope they haven't compromised on the visual aspect of the game. :(
 
Crap only that much? That's way too less! :(

I was expecting about 14~16GB. Compressed textures warning alright.
 
Gannu said:
Crap only that much? That's way too less! :(

I was expecting about 14~16GB. Compressed textures warning alright.
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Me too. Unless, they have found a way of compressing AND retaining the quality of the game.

This is a quote taken from an Interview with Producer Jay Fitzloff on an Australian gaming website:

Atomic: So it’s got DX11 and all that sort of stuff?

Jay: I’m not super up on… pretty much, though. You would assume, obviously, you want to make it for different hardware support so everybody can play it. But if you’re running top of the line, it looks pretty amazing. I’m running it on an Alienware laptop, I don’t think it’s on DX11, but everything is just what you’d expect. I mean, graphically it’s a lot smoother and, to tell you the truth, even here I’m glad people are telling me it looks great on 360. But I usually play it on my PC, because that’s what you do: it’s easy to do, it’s easy to update and you get constant iterations. So to me, it looks great on Xbox, don’t get me wrong, but it looks great on PC.

Atomic: With the original game as well, because that art design is quite different, quite unique, that it would lend itself to being shown off on PC because that’s where it’s going to look beautifully rounded and stuff like that.

Jay: Exactly. You know, because the textures are smoother, and even stuff like the lava in that level, just flows nicer, so yeah, the effects are nicer on the PC, for sure.
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Source: Atomicmpc

Also, this is what the website said about it from the PC preview:

While we were playing Darksiders II on an Xbox 360 build of the game, Jay was all too eager to let me have a look at the PC version that he was carrying around with him on his Alienware laptop. He only showed me a couple of minutes of gameplay, but the art design—one of the most notable components of the series—was particularly lush on PC. Best of all, Jay told me that the PC was their lead platform for Darksiders II. In fact, he admitted that the PC was also the platform they started with for the original Darksiders, even though the PC version of the first game was released some eight months after the consoles got it.
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Source: Atomicmpc

I really hope the wait is justified. Look at Sleeping Dogs. That game really went one step ahead and prepared a trailer for what features to expect on the PC version.
 
I am a bit worried about the DLCs. We all know about THQs love for DLCs. There are already four DLCs incoming, one each after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Preordering from Steam will give access to the first DLC when it launches, while preordering from THQ directly will get you a season pass for all the DLCs. I can't see anywhere what will preordering from Flipkart get us.
 
jc36lect3r said:
I am a bit worried about the DLCs. We all know about THQs love for DLCs. There are already four DLCs incoming, one each after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Preordering from Steam will give access to the first DLC when it launches, while preordering from THQ directly will get you a season pass for all the DLCs. I can't see anywhere what will preordering from Flipkart get us.
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No love for non-digital downloaders. Talk about getting shortchanged. If this is the case I think I will cancel my pre-order from flipkart.com and wait for the GOLD Edition OR GOTY Edition of the game to release next year.

Though I digress, almost all RPG's have to come with DLC's it is the natural course of such things. Bethesda started it and SKYRIM already has one. Not like the OBLIVION days though, installing, un-installing. Repackaging, patching and then installing, then praying and hoping that the 7 stars of destiny have aligned and the game works without a hitch. 48 hours of your life gone watching agonizing installation sequences and subsequent failures.

P.S. -- Do you think in the STEAM Winter Sale 2012 the prices will crash sufficiently for the DLC's OR THQ will avoid the sale thanks to its ailing ledger-books?
 
I'm sure all these DLCs will merely be weapon and armour based additions. The Xbox 360 version has already got around 15 of these already.
 
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