Darksiders III arrived in November 2018 as the third entry in a series that had already killed off two Horsemen. This time Gunfire Games handed players Fury, a mage with a whip and a temper, and sent her after the Seven Deadly Sins across a ruined Earth. It is a smaller, meaner game than its predecessors, and that is both its best idea and its biggest problem.
Trailer, via IGN.
Fury Joins the Hunt for the Seven Deadly Sins
Fury is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, sister to War and Death. The Charred Council summons her and assigns a Watcher to make sure she finishes the job. The Sins have taken corporeal form and escaped imprisonment. Her task is to capture them.
The game runs parallel to the first Darksiders rather than after it. That structure gives the story room to move without undoing what came before.
A Whip, a Sword and Five Elemental Forms
Combat leans on whips, swords, flails, daggers and magic. Fury can take on elemental forms that grant new weapons, attacks and traversal abilities. Enemies hit harder than in earlier games but show up in smaller numbers, so fights feel personal instead of crowded.
The hit counter is gone. Gated combat is gone too. Gunfire wants the world to feel interconnected, closer to Dark Souls than to the brawler the series used to be.
Metroidvania Bones Under a Hack-and-Slash Skin
Darksiders III borrows its structure from Metroidvanias and Soulslikes. Fury collects souls from enemies and from objects in the environment, then spends them as currency or as a resource. Players upgrade her damage, health and arcane damage, and can attach Enhancements to her weapons for perks and damage boosts.
The world is continuous, and exploration matters. Fury moves back and forth between environments to uncover secrets and gather lurchers and materials.
| Element | Darksiders III | Earlier Darksiders games |
|---|---|---|
| Combat focus | Methodical, smaller enemy groups | Beat-em-up, large crowds |
| Hit counter | Removed | Present |
| Structure | Metroidvania and Soulslike | Straight action |
| Currency | Souls from enemies and objects | Varies by entry |
Haven, Ulthane and the Lord of the Hollows
Fury defeats Envy first and traps the Sin in a talisman. She reaches a sanctuary called Haven, where she meets Ulthane of the Maker race and human survivors of the Apocalypse. Ulthane asks her to send any humans she finds back to Haven.
Wrath mortally wounds her after she is distracted by the death of her horse, Rampage. A portal drops her to the Lord of the Hollows, who heals her, gives her the Fire Hollow, and tells her the Charred Council is manipulating her. He sends her after the demon Abraxis.
Abraxis warns of a coming dark lord called “The Destroyer.” Players choose whether to believe him or kill him.
Where Darksiders III Falls Short
The technical issues are the real story. Bugs hit both PC and console versions at launch. Combat and puzzles are too simple for the systems they imitate. A Soulslike needs precision, and Darksiders III does not always have it.
The elemental forms and the leveling system are the strongest additions. They give Fury a reason to fight beyond the next Sin.
The Verdict on Darksiders III
Darksiders III is a pivot that half works. The Metroidvania structure suits the series better than another crowd-brawler would have, and Fury carries the game with more personality than her brothers managed. But the bugs and the shallow combat hold it back from the standard it is chasing. It is worth playing for the world and the lore. It is not the Soulslike it wants to be.
Key Facts
– Release: November 2018 (PS4, Windows, Xbox One)
– Stadia and Nintendo Switch: September 2021
– Developer: Gunfire Games
– Publisher: THQ Nordic
– Platforms: PS4, PC, Xbox One, Stadia, Nintendo Switch
– Mode: Single player, third person
– Critic aggregate: 6.5/10
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