Publisher: THQ Nordic
Developer: Gunfire Games
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Action Adventure
Release Date: November 27, 2018
Though the future of the franchise may have looked to be in doubt (at the very least) a few years ago, THQ Nordic are continuing to bring back to life known properties of the now defunct publisher THQ.
As such the beloved action adventure-cum RPG franchise Darksiders is returning for its third instalment.
Development
Plans for Darksiders 3 had been set into motion at now-defunct Vigil Games, the original developers of the Darksiders games, back in 2012, after the launch of Darksiders 2. After financial troubles at the developer and parent company THQ, though, these plans were offset. Both Vigil Games and THQ closed their doors soon after, and for a time it looked like that was that for the series. However, THQ auctioned off some of its remaining IPs in 2013, and among these was to be Darksiders. Though interest was shown in the game by the likes of Platinum Games and Crytek, it was THQ Nordic who went on to acquire rights to the property.
Development of the game is being handled by Gunfire Games, a team that was formed by THQ Nordic for the purposes of carrying on the Darksiders franchise. Much of the team is comprised of ex-Vigil Games staff members who worked primarily on both previous Darksiders games, so as to have a sense of continuity and retained identity in future instalments of the game. The game was announced in April of 2017 officially, preceded very shortly by a leaked listing on Amazon.com. A release date of November 27, 2018 was announced for the game not long after.
Story
Darksiders 3 will continue the series’ tradition of having a different protagonist, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in each game. War was the protagonist in the first game, while Death was the protagonist in Darksiders 2, and in Darksiders 3, players are going to take control of Fury. Fury, one of the last of the Nephilim, the sister Horseman of the Apocalypse, has been described as unpredictable and enigmatic by Gunfire Games, who also claim she is the most powerful of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She is primarily a mage, but other than her magic, she also uses her whips, daggers, flails, and swords in combat.
The story of Darksiders 3 will run parallel to that of Darksiders 2. Once again, it will take place in a destroyed and half-ruined Earth that is crumbling under the weight of ongoing global war. Fury will be tasked with hunting down the Seven Deadly Sins, a mission given to her by The Charred Council. It has also been confirmed that Ulthane, one of the three who are responsible for the premature triggering of the apocalypse, will be included in the game and will be encountered by Fury. Ulthane has been an important figure in the series’ narrative, so this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Gameplay
Darksiders 3 will retain the gameplay style of its predecessors, that being a blend of action combat and Zelda-inspired exploration and puzzle solving. Unlike Darksiders’ War and Darksiders 2’s Death, who were primarily equipped with a two-handed sword and dual scythes respectively, Fury’s primary weapon is going to be a fiery whip. In combat, in addition to her whip, she will also be using daggers, flails, swords, as well as her magical abilities, while her whip will also be used for puzzle solving and platforming sections.
Fury also has the ability to take on multiple elemental forms. These elemental forms will enhance her abilities and attacks, giving her new moves for the purposes of combat as well as traversal. Of these these elemental forms, so far only her Flame form has been revealed, thanks to which, as the name suggests, she attains fire-induced special attacks and moves. For instance, Fury will use her Flame form to destroy obstructions in her path. Darksiders 3 will also feature environmental puzzle solving similar to the previous two games. In combat, traversal, and puzzle solving, Gunfire Games have promised there will be plenty of new mechanics, however there will also be several returning ones that fans of the series will be familiar with.
Combat in the game will also be a mix of old and new. Many of the enemies players will will be new and designed from scratch, but some enemy types from the previous two games will be returning as well. Combat will also be harder than in the previous games, but at the same time, in any given scenario, players will be coming up against a considerably less amount of enemies than they used to in the first two games. The idea is, of course, to make the combat more personal. It’s also been announced that combat will not be gated, and that instead the levels of the enemies will be scaled as per Fury’s own level. Every time Fury kills one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the levels of all the enemies in the game will be scaled to her current abilities.
Darksiders 3 will also take place in an open world setting. One of the main aims of the development team for this game has been to create a coherent world where different environments are interconnected and organically blend into each other, and to make it seem less “game-y”, for the lack of a better word. Another focus has been to build the world and the game’s mechanics around the series’ lore and story. As such, contextualization of the world and its environments has been a major focus during the game’s development, in order to make it seem more consistent with the story. The world has been described by the developers as a single continuous dungeon, with less demarcation between separate areas and each of them being more integrated and linked to each other. Exploration of the world will be a vital part of the gameplay.
Unlike Darksiders 2, which was developed using the Phoenix Engine, Darksiders 3 is made on Unreal Engine 4. The game will also have a levelling system similar to previous entries, while there is also going to be a crafting system for players to play around with. Fury will also collect souls from her enemies and from objects in the environment, which she can then use as a currency and as an expendable resource. This, of course, is similar to Darksiders’ War, though Darksiders 2’s Death did not have such a mechanic attached to him.
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.
Share Your Thoughts Below (Always follow our comments policy!)