The Epic Games Store was a bounty of free games throughout the holidays, offering free games like Celeste, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and even Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. The store is currently back to giving away free games every week. However, it’s starting 2020 off with a bang by offering three free games till January 9th.

These titles include Darksiders: Warmastered Edition, Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition and Steep. The first two games are remasters of Vigil Games’ classics offering exploration, hack and slash combat and puzzle-solving. If either game interests you, then it might be worth checking out Darksiders 3 or Darksiders Genesis.

Ubisoft’s Steep is fairly different from the company’s usual offerings. It’s an extreme sports title with activities like wingsuit flying and snowboarding. Various challenges and disciplines along with different playable characters and multiplayer offer some decent competitive action. Check out our initial review of the game here.

The Nintendo Switch has seen decent support from THQ Nordic so far, who have already brought over Darksiders: Warmastered Edition to the hybrid platform. But that might not be it as far as Darksiders on Switch is concerned.

A listing for Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition has popped up for the Switch on Canadian retailer EB Games’ website, mentioning an August 30th release date (which might most likely be a placeholder date). But there’s more- it looks like one of THQ Nordic’s upcoming games – rather than re-releases of older ones – might also come to the Switch. That’s because a listing for Biomutant has popped up as well on EB Games. This listing, too, mentions what is most likely a placeholder release date (March 30, 2020).

In the absence of any official announcements, it’s best to take this with a grain of salt, even if retailer listings can often tend to be accurate. Darksiders 2 coming to the hybrid Nintendo platforms certainly looks feasible, if nothing else. Either way, until such time THQ Nordic makes an official announcement, chalk this up as a rumour.

Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Biomutant, meanwhile, is due out on those same platforms some time this year.

While Darksiders, both the older games as well as the more recent Darksiders 3, are available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, Nintendo’s Switch sadly remains a Darksiders-free zone. Sadly, because the games, which are Zelda-like in structure, and which were on Wii U and did reasonably well there (as well as any game could on Wii U, anyway), would probably go down well with the Switch audience.

Apparently, publisher THQ Nordic might agree with that sentiment. Today on Twitter, THQ Nordic and the official Darksiders account engaged in a little skit in response to a fan suggestion that the game might come to the Switch, implying that the series may in fact be headed to Nintendo’s hardware.

It’s just a tease, and not even an explicit one, and assuming there is any substance to it, we don’t even know what to expect—just the first game? The first two games? Just the third game? All three games? For now, this is just speculation, but I guess keep your eye out for a Darksiders on Switch announcement in the coming months.

Perhaps.

— Darksiders (@darksiders) January 18, 2019

We did not start the Apocalypse early, nor did we prematurely talk about an upcoming game!

— Darksiders (@darksiders) January 18, 2019

Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition is out now for PS4 and Xbox One and it’s a surprisingly strong remaster of the three year old action adventure title. One question remained though – given the technology on hand, why didn’t developer Gunfire Games go with 60 FPS? The original game ran at 30 FPS and there’s clearly enough power on the current gen to handle a higher frame rate.

GamingBolt spoke to design director John Pearl about the same and he noted that, “When we started out, we looked at what it would take to achieve 60 FPS but we knew it would be a very challenging undertaking. It sounds easy especially as other games have achieved it but it really depends on how the game was built and how versatile the engine is on console. In the end we would have had to re-do some levels from scratch to achieve 60 FPS. Some areas in the game currently run well over 60fps while others run at 30fps. Running the game unlocked allowing the max frame rate would end up resulting in a lot screen tearing and an overall poor experience for the players.”

It was also dependent on the original engine the game was running at. “Additionally, to get an engine running at a solid 60fps on consoles it has to be a goal when creating the engine and the assets or at least a lot of serious work has to be put into it to get it running at 60fps. The engine that both of the Darksiders games run on were not optimized to run at 60fps on console nor was the data optimized for that. There would have had to have been major overhauls to the way things were rendered at the core of the engine and some major changes to some of the visuals. There are technical cheats out there that would allow the game to run at 60 fps at the cost of a variable resolution. We decided a locked 1080p at 30fps was more important to us than the 60fps with major drops in resolution.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a developer for this – it’s just that we’re so used to most remasters trying to hit 60 FPS and 1080p resolution. Regardless, what do you think about the decision to stay at 30 FPS for Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition? Let us know in the comments.

Cloud assisted gaming seems like it will garner steam when Microsoft launches Crackdown 3, a game that uses the cloud to enhance physics and destruction effects. GamingBolt recently spoke with Reinhard Pollice who is the Business & Product Development Director, Nordic Games and asked him whether hypothetically, the next Darksiders could use something like that given that the scale in the previous games have been nothing short of impressive. It must be noted that Nordic Games have not yet confirmed a Darksiders 3.

Talking about Crackdown 3, Pollice stated that he has seen the demo and he is looking forward to how it shapes up. “Yes, I have seen something about that but first they need to ship with that. I am very much looking forward to it. Great physics/destruction effects were also possible with the last generation – just look at our title “Red Faction Guerrilla”.”

“I am not sure if cloud based processing is the future. After all, games should work forever and I am sure that in 10 years from the original launch most providers will have shut down their services – just look into the past – even very cheap services have been shut down already.”

Pollice is possibly referring to OnLive, a cloud based service that went defunct in April of this year. However Microsoft’s cloud service is an all together different beast. It’s not a service as Microsoft won’t be charging its users for the same. It’s not going to stream games like PlayStation Now but will instead only focus on making the visuals better.

Only time will tell whether Microsoft’s cloud service is successful but in my personal opinion, it will only grow as more multiplayer/online only games adopt it to deliver fantastic visuals.

Darksiders 2: Deathinitve Edition is out now and has signaled the return of Vigil Games’ action adventure for the current generation of consoles. It’s even more interesting how Gunfire Games, the team that handled the porting process, is composed of several former Vigil staff members with publisher Nordic Games also offering its support.

GamingBolt actually spoke to Nordic’s Reinhard Pollice, business and product development director, on the development of Darksiders 2 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Given that the game was optimized fairly well for PS3 and Xbox 360, did the team face any hurdles in bringing it to PS4 and Xbox One?

“Both of them are great platforms to work with. Working on the PS4 was a bit more straightforward than on the Xbox One. On Xbox One we had to learn just a lot of things as they were completely changed from the previous generation. However the more we became familiar with it the more it made sense and the more we liked it. Sony and Microsoft are really competing on a very high level but I hope that some things like patching and certification processes become even less strict.

As for the Xbox One and how its power compares to the PS4, we asked Reinhard how both consoles would fare in the long run especially as PC hardware becomes more advanced.

“The main factor for home consoles is still the price compared to beefy gaming PCs. In the next years consoles will be still a big factor and probably even beyond that if a console manufacturer finds the right formula for price, power, service quality and content offering. Xbox One has just recently announced some great things like backwards compatibility. So I expect them to close the gap.”

Have you played Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition and not been scarred by the game’s obsession with threes of everything? Let us know in the comments.

With Darksiders 2, Vigil Games wanted to change up the aesthetics from the first game for a more animated dark fantasy style of game. This also marked Vigil’s modular approach to level building, offering a unique look to each environment while cutting down on the time spent creating them. The approach facilitated Vigil’s desire to have a more open world littered with secrets, enemies and hidden bosses. Darksiders 2 also marked the first time that the series would rely on cut scenes using in-game assets as opposed to pre-recorded FMV scenes.

The Deathinitive Edition essentially saw Gunfire Games rewriting its renderer in order to implement physically based rendering. Gunfire then went about reworking each texture and surface in the game. How significant are all these changes and how does it compare to the original game?

As it stands, Darksiders 2 maintains its detailed art design. Whatever many would have thought about the “cartoonish” art style, it actually works very well for the entire game. Considering how intricate the art already was, it’s amazing that Gunfire actually went back to completely replace assets or simply make pre-existing assets stand out better with improved texture filtering. While the texture work hasn’t seen a massive overhaul (this isn’t Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on the Xbox One by a long shot), you’ll still notice a number of subtle improvements over the original. These are apparent in the environments, NPCs and characters, particularly during scripted sequences and cut scenes.

Head to head comparison between the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions of Darksiders 2. Select 1080p and 60fps option for best possible playback quality.

Even with its brighter and more colourful art style, Darksiders 2 was fairly gritty. So it’s interesting to see the remaster opt for a cleaner look. If you compare the Deathinitive Edition with the original game, the lack of the dark and grimy feel seems even more obvious. Whether Gunfire simply opted for a different colour palette or decided to take a more refined route with the visuals, the difference is certainly there.

There isn’t too much to say about the shadow quality but the engine in the base game has also been revamped to have more detailed shadows. If you go back to areas in the original and compare them with the Deathinitive Edition, you’ll find shadows filling up previously empty spaces. Again, it’s a nice touch and certainly showcases Gunfire’s passion and familiarity with the game.

When Darksiders 2 released for PCs, the variety of options felt a bit barebones. Nonetheless, it was well optimized and ran very well across different configurations. It also didn’t demand a whole lot of resources to run smoothly. For the sake of comparison, we pitted the PS4 and Xbox One versions against the PC version since it could ran at higher resolutions and at 60 frames per second.

The PS4 and Xbox One versions feature a 1080p resolution and marginally unlocked frame rate. Frame rate performance is slightly better on the PS4 but both games have very little by way of performance issues, save for the odd judder here and there.

The Deathinitive Edition also features anisotropic filtering in both versions, which results in detailed surfaces even over long distance. A custom SSAO solution brings ambient occlusion and softer shadows to the mix and draw distance shows significant improvements. Oddly enough, the foliage looks exactly the same as the base game. Not that we’re complaining or anything but it was fairly odd.

We’re somewhat disappointed that the game doesn’t run at a 60 FPS frame rate, especially considering its age but as it stands, Gunfire Games worked hard to ensure that Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition wasn’t a simple port, resold for the sake of raking in a bit of extra cash. Despite the criticisms against the gameplay and puzzles, Darksiders 2 has an art style and large open levels that we rarely see in games these days. It’s an interesting mesh of gameplay styles from other games that managed to break from the derivate identity of its predecessor and establish the series as its own entity.

And that makes it especially tougher to judge Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition. Perhaps the success of this remastered title will result in Darksiders 3. We still stand firm on the lack of 60 FPS being a major issue, especially because the 30 FPS frame rate is unlocked and a few drops can be seen every now and again. As it stands, a game as action packed and movement-oriented as Darksiders 2 would have benefited greatly from 60 FPS.

Nonetheless, Gunfire Games has proven its worth when it comes to developing Darksiders for the Xbox One and PS4. If Darksiders 3 does eventually arrive, we can’t wait to see what it brings to the current generation of consoles.

Vigil Games’ Darksiders 2 is now available for free on the Xbox 360 to Xbox Live Gold members via the Games With Gold initiative. You can download it here.

Darksiders 2 sort of follows up on the original. It’s actually a prequel to the first game and sees you playing as another Horseman of the Apocalypse – Death. You’ll be working to clear War’s name, navigating an enormous open world and bashing enemies left and right while earning sweet loot. Though it didn’t live up to its initial budget, Darksiders 2 is still one of the more compelling action adventure games one can play.

Interestingly, it seems that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is still available to download for free on the Xbox 360. We’ll see how long this lasts but overall, you can currently download two big-name AAA titles for free. That’s a good deal if ever we’ve seen one. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.

Vigil Games’ Darksiders 2 was an interesting follow-up to the original – it didn’t have the same mechanics and actually emphasized puzzle-solving and reflexive combat over the original’s action adventure approach. It wasn’t a success sadly and Nordic Games CEO Lars Wingefors, who now owns the IP, reveals why.

Speaking to MCV, he stated that, “Darksiders is a top product. THQ spent $50 million making Darksiders 2. We can produce a product of the same quality but for a lower cost. $50 million is ridiculous. I can’t afford that.”

So unless Darksiders 2 was an exceptional product, there was no way it was going to recoup all of that money.

Regardless, Wingefors believes picking up the IP and several others from THQ was a good idea. “The THQ deal was the best I ever made. I spent $5 million from my own bank account. It was a lot of money for me, but we got the money back very quickly.”

Darksiders may return in the near future with Gunfire Games, composed of several ex-Vigil Games members, exploring the possibility.

Before THQ went bankrupt, one of its many big franchises included Vigil Games’ Darksiders. The series never achieved the financial success it was supposed to, especially with Darksiders 2, but it always had a great niche appeal to it. Now that the IP belongs to Nordic Games, one would think we’d never see a new Darksiders title.

However, series designer Joe Madureira indicated differently. Posting on Facebook, Madureira told fans that, “Darksiders– DS is not dead! The new owner, Nordic seems very committed to continuing the series. As far as my involvement, I can’t say at this point. Hopefully we will all have exciting news about the franchise soon!”

We know that the Darksiders franchise will see the original two games released as part of a collection pack with the DLC included. But Darksiders 3? We’ll really have to wait for more details on that. Would you like to see a third game happen though? Let us know in the comments.