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Darksiders III is an Action role-playing game video game made by THQ Nordic. The game runs on the Unreal engine.[1]It was announced on May 3, 2017 by THQ Nordic and was developed by Gunfire Games. It was finally released on November 27, 2018. It is the parallel sequel to Darksiders II and is the third installment of the Darksiders series. It features Fury in a quest on the ruined Earth to hunt and destroy the Seven Deadly Sins. During the game she encounters Ulthane.

Darksiders III received two pieces of post-launch DLC titled "The Crucible" and "Keepers of the Void."[2]

Gameplay[]

Darksiders III is an Action role-playing hack and slash game. Players take control of Fury, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from a third-person perspective. Fury relies on whips and magic in combat. The third Darksiders game changes a lot from its combat to its progression in comparison to its predecessors.

The combat is no longer combo-focused with varied ground and aerial moves, rooms full of enemies and a hit counter. Opting instead for a slower, grounded and methodical combat focusing a lot on Fury's dodge and counters. Some enemies from previous games return, while other foes are new. Combat scenarios are not "gated" anymore, so the player can opt between eliminating or pass through enemies that are spread throughout the map.

Unlike the previous two games, puzzles are de-emphasized in Darksiders 3, appearing in a very small frequency compared to previous games and integrated in a more organic way to the areas in the game. The dungeons are also different from previous games, being more connected, no longer separated by central areas, and their length reduced due to few puzzles, giving the idea of an interconnected and organic world.

The leveling system and buffs are now a central part of the gameplay. Enemies drop Souls when killed, similar to the first Darksiders, but unlike the first game now the Souls drop every time the player dies. The Souls that are dropped off take a form of a glowing blue sphere, and placed by the game's system somewhere near where the player's last death was, the souls can be recovered by hitting this glowing sphere.

Souls are used as a form of currency, but also an integral part of the leveling system. Upon reaching a checkpoint the player can talk to Vulgrim, a certain amount o souls can be traded by a point to be spent in either health, damage, or arcane damage upgrades. There are also Runes that can be equipped to give perks to any weapon, runes can be upgraded upon talking to Ulthane provided the proper materials that can be collected by exploring different areas in the game.

The game's difficulty is scaled every time Fury defeats one of the Sins, all enemies in the game are buffed to match her level. [1]Unlike Darksiders 2, that also had RPG elements, in this game there are no Loot or different Weapons with different damage values to be equipped. All the new arsenal that is acquired by Fury is given to her upon progressing to a certain point in the game's story and defeating one of the 7 deadly sins. Being the Hollow powers given to her by the Lord of the Hollows.

Game style[]

Darksiders 3 is considered by many fans as one of the hardest games in the Darksiders series, and for many reasons. The first one is the combat, which is far slower comparing to the previous two entries in the series, leaving Fury open to some attacks. Another reason is that there is no invincibility frame when dodging, forcing the player to dodge with a perfect timing to do a counter attack. Checkpoints are also comparatively rare throughout the game, which is especially troublesome in the case with some boss fights, as Fury could restart from a very distant point in the game. Should they defeat her. In addition to that, the Player will lose all of the currency that they have acquired, forcing the Player to track from a large part of the area just to retain them, many enemies (not only bosses) are capable of taking Fury out in only a few hits, and are even able to combo her, especially in groups.

Plot[]

Darksiders III takes place 10 years after the prologue of Darksiders I and parallel to the events of the previous games in what is described as a dilapidated, war-torn planet Earth. It follows the protagonist Fury, a mage who is described as the most unpredictable and enigmatic of the Four Horsemen and the Rider of the Black Horse, and one of the last of the Nephilim, in her quest to hunt down and destroy the Seven Deadly Sins, as ordered by the Charred Council.[3][4]

Fury encounters the Lord of the Hollows, a powerful entity within the Hollows that helps Fury in her quest to destroy the Seven Deadly Sins. Wielding power enabling both weary Angels and Demons to complete release from the cycle of life, death and rebirth of the Well of Souls, the Hollow Lord aids Fury but his own goals remain unknown. The Hollow Lord attempts to inform Fury that she is being manipulated by the Charred Council for their machinations, going so far as to call her ignorant and blind to their plans and lies. Though Fury denies it, the Lord of the Hollows nonetheless aids her by giving her the powers of elemental hollows (to enhance her combat abilities) and instructs her to hunt down the demon Abraxis and return his soul to him.

As Fury takes one sin after another, the Lord of Hollows continues to endow her with new hollows to aid in her mission. When she makes it to Abraxis' stronghold, Fury wants to know why the Lord of Hollows wants Abraxis dead. Abraxis tells Fury that a new dark lord is coming and he's only known as The Destroyer. The demon explains that the Lord of Hollows intend to hollow the mortal realm to install a new order. Since this is a choice in the story, if you choose to believe in Abraxis, the demon will thank you and welcome to his master's home anytime. Once you make it back to the Lord of Hollows, you'll still have the choice to face him in combat or choose to believe him. If you follow through for Abraxis, the Lord of Hollows will simply be killed. However, if you agree to believe the Lord of Hollows, he'll end his own life, but leave a Mysterious Stone Sigil for you in the future. If you choose to face Abraxis, you'll kill him and take his soul as the prize.

Ultimately, Pride will be the last two remaining sins left to face. After Fury defeats Pride, the sin reveals certain truths that've been kept from the horsemen for the longest time. Erstwhile Fury's Watcher who has been trailing her the whole time reveals herself to be the true final sin, Envy. Tricking Fury and the Charred Council into helping her absorb the rest of the sins so she can gain their powers, Envy took the talisman and wielded all the might of the seven deadly to combat her duplicitous handlers. Envy would make sport of Fury who had been disabled by Prides collapsing vigil, having absorbed her energy to weaken the Horsemen in her debilitated state. Envy reveals to her captive audience that the Council had been playing both the Seven and the Riders against each other intending for both to be destroyed in the ensuing battle. Envy, realizing their chicanery early, took the appearance of one of their Watchers to fool them both. All while their disposable enforcer gathered up the rest of her hated siblings as she guided Fury along her path to glory. With the other Sins out of the way, Envy intends to face the Charred Council with her enhanced powers and take the broken world the two had traversed for her own. Leaving the now weakened Fury to take a steep fall. Fury survives her fatal inception with the help of the Humans she saved, after realizing just how far off the path of a horsemen she'd gotten. Fury bemoans to the human Jones about how badly misguided she really was, with coaxing from the latter Fury finds herself in the main hall of the Makers Haven. With Ulthane's help she's able to get to the chamber of the Charred Council to face Envy. With new resolve, Fury sets out on her final task; to defeat Envy and admonish the traitorous court for all of their conniving. Envy meanwhile makes battle with the Council in their domain, boasting of how they've spent too long behind their table and lack the ability to fend for themselves. The council is irate that she would so brazenly attack their altar, but the sin merely scoffs it off. Saying those stone faced charlatans were asking for something like this to happen that they practically opened themselves to such karmic retribution. the Council bellowed she would pay dearly for her power hungry antics but Envy laughed at their statement, seeing as they were no better than Envy herself in that regard. Stating after she destroyed them, Envy would simply wait out the calamity that the council willfully overlooked and dispose of any left over factions remaining in the aftermath. Fury made her grand entrance proclaiming her would be manipulator and assassin had failed.

The council commanded Fury to depose of their opposition but they're ex-disciplinarian rebuked their orders. Now well aware that they no longer valued Fury or her brothers and intended to kill them all. After a grueling final battle, Fury finally defeats Envy and seals her within her own talisman. But the Charred Council confirms they're disavowing her and attempt to destroy their former charge. If you do not have the Sigil stone, Fury will simply take the Sin's amulet and toss it at them like a denotative charge before fleeing back to Earth through the Reflecting Pools gateway.

If the player does have the Sigil, Fury uses it to block the Charred Council's attack, who do so out of fear its power. Although she doesn't know the functionality of the relic, she can see the council abhors it realizing the item has greater import than she knew of. Ultimately, Fury resists when they demand she relinquish it to them and then throws the Talisman of Sin that held the Seven Deadly at their faces instead. Causing it too explode, beating the Charred Council before escaping back to Earth. Upon Fury's return to Haven, where the Makers are guarding the last humans. She now realizes this war was motivated by the celestial's fear of humanity. With hell's forces heading towards their location, the portal created to enter the Council Chamber is used as an exit strategy to save what remains of humanity. As the Makers and Jones make a final stand against the Destroyers armies, Fury vows to protect whats left of humanity and prepares to depart. As she watches the fight, she realizes the human helping the Makers fend off the hellions is actually Strife. The remains of humanity are now safe and hidden away in another realm. Elsewhere, the grand architect behind everything knows what Fury has done, but still intends to carry out his plans of destruction.[5]

Editions[]

DS3 Packshots SE
  • A retail copy of Darksiders III
  • Exclusive pre-order armor

  • A digital copy of Darksiders III
  • Official soundtrack
  • Two DLCs (The Crucible & Keepers of the Void)

  • DS3 CollectorEdition
    • A retail copy of Darksiders III
    • Steelbook Case
    • Fury Figurine 11" Tall
    • Official Soundtrack
    • Art Book
    • Premium Box
    • Fury Exclusive Armor DLC

    DS3 ApocalypseED
    • A retail copy of Darksiders III
    • Steelbook Case
    • Fury Figurine 11" Tall
    • War Figurine 10" Tall
    • Death Figurine 10" Tall
    • Vulgrim Figurine 10" Tall
    • Amulet
    • Darksiders III Wall Scroll (30" X 40")
    • Official Soundtrack
    • Art Book
    • Premium Box
    • Fury Exclusive Armor DLC

    Reception[]

    Darksiders III received mixed reviews by critics and fans alike. While fan reviews highly praised it for its crafting system, combat, writing, story, characters and voice acting, others highly criticized its higher difficulty, poor checkpoint systems, mediocre bosses, very clunky/glitchy dodge mechanic, terrible camera, bad frame-rate issues and glitches (both of which have been patched in a recent update), very long loading screens, the rather poor pacing in the gameplay and tedious backtracking. Despite this, many fans consider Darksiders III to be better then Darksiders II,  though not nearly as good as the first game in the series, Darksiders. There are fans who considered Darksiders III to be the best game in the series.

    Darksiders III received "mixed or average" reviews on Metacritic getting a metascore of 70/100 on PC,[6] 64/100 on PS4,[7] and 69/100 on Xbox One.[8]

    Sequel[]

    The developers have stated that if this game sells over 100,000 copies, they will be promoting the creation of a sequel.

    Gallery[]

    References[]

    1. 1.0 1.1 Pearce, Alanah (July 13, 2018) Darksiders 3 Hands-On: What We Learned After Playing 2 Hours – IGN First. IGN
    2. Wales, Matt (October 12, 2018) THQ Nordic details Darksiders 3's post-launch DLC plans. EuroGamer
    3. Pearce, Alanah (May 2, 2017). Darksiders 3 Announced - IGN First. IGN
    4. "THQ Nordic Announces Darksiders® III". THQ Nordic. May 2, 2017.
    5. Darksiders III
    6. Metascore for Darksiders III on PC, Metacritic, Retrieved May 5, 2020
    7. Metascore for Darksiders III on PS4, Metacritic, Retrieved May 5, 2020
    8. Metascore for Darksiders III on Xbox One, Metacritic, Retrieved May 5, 2020

    Trivia[]

    • Darksiders III is the second game in the series to have a female antagonist, that being Envy. The first being Tiamat in Darksiders.
    • Darksiders III is the first and (so far) only game in the Darksiders series to not have gameplay that revolves around a horse, as Rampage gets defeated off-screen by an Angel weapon when Fury tries to summon him.
    • While Avarice, Sloth, Angelic Champion, Lust, and Gluttony are fought as the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh bosses in that respective order, they can actually be fought in any order the Player wishes.
    • The gameplay for Darksiders III is quite similar to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, in which the protagonist has a whip for combat and has combos much like Gabriel Belmont from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. It is also similar to the Souls series due to its higher difficulty, combat that relies heavily on dodge mechanics, and that if the Player is defeated, all the unspent currency the Player has collected to that point is placed in the same area the Player was defeated.
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