A lot of Vigil team working on it

Closing in on four months later, we can finally confirm the February leak of a Darksiders 2 remake. Nordic Games announced a 1080p remaster for PS4 and Xbox One. It's cheekily named Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition, which is something you can do ?when Death is your game's protagonist.

Gunfire Games is at the helm for this project, and it's said that the team is made up "almost entirely" of people who had already worked on the Darksiders franchise at Vigil Games. In a press release, it's said that because of this, they "easily and quickly had lots of ideas [they] wanted to realize for this specific ??edition."

Darksiders 2 Deathinitive Edition will feature the base game with all released add-ons. It will? also run at a native 1080p resolution, and have an impr?oved graphics rendering engine to boost lighting and shadows. Gunfire is also tweaking gameplay with regard to balancing and loot distribution.

But, the future of Darksiders doesn't necessarily only hold remasters. Nordic teased an upcoming Darksiders "large-scale project." It's fair to as??sume that's a hint at a third installment in the series. However, Nordic went on to say that right now, this definitive edition is the focus of everyone's attention.

The post Darksiders 2 remake confirmed, has a punny name appeared first on Destructoid.

'Definitive,' of course

Did you like the last generation of gaming on platforms of yesteryear? A lot of good stuff came out for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Legacy consoles are seemingly maint?aining their relevance by the sheer number of re-releases that make their way to the shiny, new machines.

The latest to take advantage of the fad is Nordic Games with Darksiders II. According to an Amazon listing, action RPG will hack and slash on over to PS4 at som?e point. The page has a release date of December 31, 2015, indicating that it's likely a placeh??older.

Expectedly, this $40 title is the "definitive edition," meaning that it'll likely come packaged with all content e?ver released for the game. It's also assumed that the visuals are gussied up a bit. That's as definitive as definitiv?e gets in the videogame world.

Darksiders II: Definitive Edition [Amazon]

The post Dark??siders II is just the latest in a long line of re-rele?ases appeared first on Destructoid.

No developers, no plans, and maybe not enough money

Nordic who? After announcing publisher Nordic Games gained rights to THQ's Darksiders and Red Faction, I saw many ask who Nordic Games is and what its plans are for these series. I'd reference you to Wikipedia for the first part. As for plans, it?? seems not even Nordic knows ?at this point.

In an interview with Game Informer, Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors made clear that the company has no intention to develop sequels. Rather, the company wishes to act as a middleman for these properties, licensing out and greenlighting projects for other developers to carry out, much like LucasArts' recent transition. Perhaps we shouldn't call off a Crytek USA Darksiders 3 just yet.

"I am a business man within the games industry. We are not the creative, talented developer that brings out new versions in house," Wingefors told Game Informer, which pointed out that Nordic Games may not have the funds to create Darksiders on the same scale of the last (DSII allegedly cost $25 million).

"I'm sure we can find a solution for at least one of the IPs, or a few of the IPs, this year. Potentially this summer," Wingefors said. "There will be a lot of discussions at E3, but it's hard to say. I'm very open minded and flexible. I trust a handshake. I just need to find?? the right people."

Certainly a candid response, but not one that inspires a great deal of confidence in the future of Darksiders or Red Faction. With limited funds and no set plans, there can be no guarantee that we'll see another Darksiders or Red Faction any ti?m??e soon, or that they'll resemble the scale and quality of previous entries if they do come about.

Nordic Games interview [Game Informer]

The post Future of Darksiders is uncertain in Nordic Games’ hands appeared first on Destructoid.

'The IP belongs in the hands of its creators'

Word on the street is, while Crytek has no current interest in Darksiders 3, Crytek USA wants the brand anyway. Considering the new company ??boasts ex-Vigil staff, and is indeed headed by the studio's former boss, it's hardly surprising t?he team wants its baby back. ;

"Going to bid on Darksiders IP," Tweeted boss-man David Adams. "Put 7 years of heart and soul in?to that franchise, and I think it belongs at home with its cre??ators."

I further confirmed Crytek's intention with Vigil co-founder Ryan Stefanelli, who told me the company intends to make a play for Darksiders at the next opportunity. 

"When the Darksiders IP goes up for auct?ion, Crytek will be bidding for it," he said. "Not much more to say since the rest is left up to courts and leg??al shenanigans, but we're all excited at the prospect."

My respect for the Darksiders series is no secret, and I found its demise in THQ's rubble to be one of the real lasting shames of the whole affair. I hope Crytek USA can get its hands on the license, and the people who clearly put their love into the Darksiders name get t??o at least regain control of it, even if they never get to make another game??. This series deserved way, way better.

The post Crytek USA plans to buy the Darksiders license appeared first on Destructoid.

The Destructoid Show gets super surrious 'bout bizness

Hey gang! Lots of crazy industry news today, whic??h is less fun than actual news about games.

Today we've got new BioShock Infinite and SimCity trailers to show off, good news on the THQ/Vigil Homefront, and sad news for Epic Mickey studio Junction Point. Also, Dead Space 3 is getting a bare-bones PC port, and Frostbite 2.0 is coming to Mac!

The post Disney shuts Junction Point & Crytek USA hires Vigil devs appeared first on Destructoid.

Are they making an MMO?

Crytek will move into Austin, Texas for development on? future titles, landing the in?ternational company in North America for the first time.

“Crytek has always enjoyed a sp?ecial relationship with gamers and business partners i?n North America, so establishing a permanent presence in the US was a natural step,” Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said, in a press release.

The stu?dio will be o?verlooked by Vigil Games co-founder David Adams and joined by 35 employees.

With Crysis 3, free-to-play shooter Warface, Kinect-enabled Ryse, and Homefront 2 in development across Crytek's nine studios, Crytek Austin could be working on anything. I speculate Crytek may be venturing into the MMO space, granted its flirtations with F2P in Warface and Austin's current development pool of laid off, MMO-?savy Vigil and Biow??are staff.

Or maybe, Crytek will buy the rights and take the reigns on Darksiders and Red Faction (which Jason Rubin said are yet to be auctioned.), and Crawler, the game Vigil was working on before closure.

Or, even more likely, Crytek is planning on world domination which would explain the opening of Crytek Is??tanbul a scant 10 days ago. Now is the time to get cyber-implementations and a bad ass crossbow, people.

The post Crytek opens fi?rst U.S. studio, headed? by ex-Vigil staff appeared first on Destructoid.

Vigil Games' art team whipped up this nifty Zelda homage

That the Darksiders games take more than a few cues from The Legend of Zelda -- and may possibly surpass it -- is a secret to nobody. What we were unaware of was that developer Vigil Games always had intentions of supplanting the legendary Nintendo franchise; it was when Darksiders II was released for the Wii U that ??Vigil began "Phase Two."

Over on Facebook, Vigil's art team shared a couple of art pieces in which Link and Fi have been removed from the Skyward Sword cover, replaced by Death and War respectively. If left unchecked, the entire Zelda univers?e would have fallen u??nder the might of the Horsemen!

Seriously though, these are pretty badass. Even as we lament Vigil's shuttering, i?t's nice to see that the boys are still actively engaging the fan community. Very classy.

[via Darksiders Dungeon] (Thanks for the tip, Mases!)

The post Darksiders IS Zelda, and here’s the proof appeared first on Destructoid.

Posted farewell letter on NeoGAF

THQ has cleared its plate and sold off all its assets... well... not all of them. For some reason, not one company placed a bid for Darksiders developer Vigil Games, dooming the young studio.

Vigil's lead combat designer Ben Cureton decided to pen his own farewell letter (posted below) and share it on gaming forum NeoGAF. But whereas the THQ company le?tter ends on a hopeful note, Ben's is far more heart??-wrenching, coming as it is from one of the talents getting tossed on the street.

He knows his stuff, so there's no doubt Ben and crew will go on to bigger and better thi??????????????????????????ngs. For now, let him express himself.

(Thank you for the notice, Squishy3)

My n??ame is Ben Cureton, and I was the Lead Combat D??esigner at Vigil Games. I'm sitting at my desk among... what appears to be a warzone. The walls look bare. It's quiet.

The seats are empty.

We've all been on edge for the past couple months... and more so, the last couple weeks. I mean, I'm sure you can imagine what it's like to wonder if you will have a job tomorrow. Most of us here joked about it just to keep the mood ligh??t, ??but we all knew what could happen. Now I look around and I realize... it did happen.

Am I sad? Well yea. I've be?en in this industry for 20 years. Seriously. Two decades. I've been laid off more than once. It sucks every time. But am I sad I don't have a job? Not really... I'm sure I'll get another one eventually. I'm sad because it won't be THIS job. It won't be at Vigil. That's why I'm sad. The people I waged war with are no longer together. The people that I bled with, vented with, argued with (often times LOUDLY), and kicked back with... these people will never be together again in the same combination.

Not that it was perfect. But what is perfect? Did I like coming to work? Yes. Was I proud of the work that I did? Yes. More importantly, was I proud of the work that WE did? Absolutely. I knew, without a shadow of the doubt, that the project we were working on (Codenamed: Crawler) was going to blow people away. In fact, it DID blow people away. We did, in TWO months, what many companies haven't done in a year. The pride of knowing?? that no one was doing anything like us was so satisfying, it kept us coming to work and giving 100% every single day, even through the dark times.

... so maybe you can imagine what it feels like when you read the ?list of who bought what only to discover your name is not on the list. Why? Did we do something wrong? Were we not good enough? Were we not worth 'anything?' Imagine that.

Vigil was filled with people that I? would put up against the best in the industry. People that made my work better, people that made me a better designer, and people that made me a better person. And now they are ??gone.

Their seats are empty.

It's OK, though. I guess this post makes it sound a bit melodramatic. Seriously... if you work in the video game industry you have to be resilient. Doin?g what you love often comes with a price - anyone who has been around for a while can tell you that. Today, that price has been paid. That being said, I'd still never dissuade anyone from following their dreams if their dream is to make video games. While it's not as romantic as it sounds, it's sure a hell of a lot of fun.

So don't cry for the people at Vigil. We made games for game playe??rs. I have no Horror stories from working here... only Honor stories. Through both praise and critiques alike, o?ur goal was always to make a product as if we, ourselves, were the end-user. We may have gotten pushed and pulled in certain directions by forces out of our control, we were always in it to make games for game players. And that's what we did.

I can only hope that those spared from the other companies remain employed long into the future. There is not much worse than false hope, and these people deserve to continue making great games. You may not know their names, but they exist, and they bleed, sweat, and cry for your? entertainment. I mean that honestly, with no negativity. Th??ey do it... no, WE do it... because we want you to have a good time.

In closing, I can only say thank you to the fans of Vigil games. Your support means more than you can imagine. Your feedback (both positive an??d negative) gave us long-lasting insight that we will all take with us, wherever we may go. You are the reason we made Darksiders 1 &2... and you are the reason we will continue to make games.

And with that... my seat is empty.

Ben Cureton
Lead Combat Designer
Vigil Games

P.S. This is no place for a horse.

The post Vigil Games’ lead combat designer says his goodbyes appeared first on Destructoid.

:(

Sad news today as THQ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing, which is available for you to read, included several unannounced projects by v?arious THQ studios. N??ote that these are more than likely internal names:

• Vigil Games - Crawler
• Turtle Rock Studios - Evolve
• THQ Montreal - 1666
• Relic Entertainment - Atlas

The filing features some projected sales figures and development costs for all the upcoming THQ titles, which gives us an overall idea of the intended release dates for the various games. It should also be noted that Patrice Désilets of Assassin's Creed fame is attached to 1666. Also, Atlas may be a free-t??o-play title as ?it has projected net sales, but lacks unit sales.

As for the known games, THQ is predicting big numbers for Homefront 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and especially Saints Row 4. Here's to hoping that THQ survives this entire ordeal so we can actually see these g?ames come out.

The post Four upcoming THQ games revealed amidst ban?kruptcy woes appeared first on Destructoid.

I want this a lot!

It seems the Darksiders series is fated to not get the recognition it deserves, but at le?ast THQ still believes in it enough to pimp ou??t some cool merchandise -- like this newly revealed "Death & Despair" statue from SOTA Toys. 

Featuring the Pale Ride astride his ghostly horse, the statue lights up, as did the War & Ruin statue released for the last game. It'll set dedicated fans back $249.99, and is currently up for pre-order. In case you're curious, it's made of resin,?? is powered via USB or power outlet, uses high-powered LEDs, and stands at 12" tall. 

Now ... whose hair do I hav?e to smell to get someone to give this to me?

The post This Darksiders II ‘Death & Despair’ statue is turbo-boss appeared first on Destructoid.

Don't get mad

Joe Madureira, better known as "Joe Mad", creative director of the Darksiders franchise (among many other bodies of work), announced via Twitter last night that he's leaving Vigil Games. Joe goes into a bit more detail on his Facebook page, and explains, "After 7 long years and 2 hit games ( Darksiders BABY! ) I'm afraid?? the time has co?me for me to move on to new adventures."

I for one loved Joe's contribution to the Darksiders series, and I'm sad to see him go. Not only did he do a great job with Vigil's flagship series itself, but it would have been interesting to see Vigil, with his direction, potentially shift to other IPs one day (Soul Reaver, perhaps?).

Hopefully we'll get some updated news on the possibility of Darksiders III and IV soon -- they can't leave me hanging like this!

So long @Vigilgames [@JoeMadx on Twitter]

The post Joe Mad leaves Vigil Games appeared first on Destructoid.

More Darksiders II? I've hardly scratched the surface of this deceptively huge title! Vigil Games will be releasing Argul's Tomb as paid downloadable content on Tuesday, September 25 for Xbox 360??, PC, and PlayStation 3 in North America, followed by a E?uropean PlayStation Network launch a day later.

For $6.99 (560 Microsoft Points), the add-on includes two new dungeons, additional enemies, and unique legendary loot. In terms of difficulty, this area is intended for players who have completed the game's first three zones, according to ??the developers.

If you happened to have purchased the limited edition of Darksiders II, there should be a redeemable code for Argul's Tomb in the box. Unless you threw it away or something. Why would you do that? This content will be included on-disc in the eventual Wii U version.

The post Darksiders II ‘Argul’s Tomb’ DLC detailed, dated appeared first on Destructoid.

Humble start for Vigil Games' superb sequel

Darksiders II managed to sell 247,000 copies in North America during its launch week, despite being pretty decently marketed and damn fantastic. Analyst Michael?? Pachter has esti??mated global sales at around a million. 

This humble number was still enough to have Darksiders II place first in the NPD's software sales for the month of August, with sa?les overall dropping 20% since last year. 

"I think that the sales are below what they had hoped for. I presume it sold around 500,000 globally in the first two weeks (the NPD cutoff was Aug 25), so it's probably over 1 million now, but my understanding is that breakeven is greater than 2 million units, so it's not likely to get much higher than that," said Pachter to GI.biz. "We should probably give it another month and see if it's tracking b??etter."

The game deserves to be a success, and I said it'd be a crime if it didn't. I stand by?? that. If it performs poorly enough to kill the series, then we ALL must report to the nearest jail and accept our punishment.

The post Darksiders II?? sells 247,000 in North America at laun?ch appeared first on Destructoid.

Sleeping Dogs and Dark Souls PC also attacked

[Update 3: A Russian speaking friend of mine went through the site and believes it to be a highly detailed troll. The cult is dedicated to keeping alive the memory of an old Soviet actor from the 5?0s, who they openl??y acknowledge as "scum." They also make music and write lengthy diatribes about breaking the law.

Update 2: According to discussions had between Dtoid users and Biboran, they seem to blame the Fukushima reactor disaster on Sony, and that's part of why they're waging a "two-y??ear war" against the company.

Update: According to the chat section of the Biboran site, people are mad about the quality of the PS3 port. Reaver dug up a little more on Ansha Abdul -- a Russian video revie?wer who might be legitimately crazy and managed to organize his fans in?to a "religious" cult called Biboran. That said, the reviews may just be this one guy using bots.] 

We've done this dance many times before: a new game comes out, gamers get pissed about something, and exact revenge by organizing a mass of negative user reviews on Metacritic. It's happened to the likes of Portal 2 and Call of Duty, but in the case of Darksiders II, it's a little different. 

The PS3 version of the game has an overwhelming 1,071 negative scores compared to? nine positive, making for an average score of 0.8. What makes this unique is the fact that most of the reviews are in Russian text, and make frequent reference to Bib??oran and Ansha-Abdul.

Looking around, I found a Youtube video from "AntiAbdoluv" boasting of a record low for Darksiders II's user review scores. ??It's all in Russian and is over twenty minutes long. Translating some of the comments, they mostly seem to be arguing about money.

There are similar videos for Sleeping Dogs and Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, both of which were also subjected to the review drubbing. In the case of the ?console games, the PS3 versions were exclusively hit. There is a website called biboran.org that seems to be connected, but it's kind of scary and I won't directly link it. View at your own discretion. It's got Satan-type stuff on it. 

I'm sure there's some obvious "thing" goin??g on?? that everybody but me understands. 

[Thanks, Colin]

Here are some of the English reviews (the last one is from the Sleeping Dogs page):

"The game is totally disgusting. Even Stalin wouldn't play this joke of a game. Story line is for children garden, gameplay seen in GoW-like games 1000 times. Style is made by handicapped cretin. Only power of Biboran can save us from sony-blyadey! Ansha Abdul"

"Ansha-Abdul! Biboran, brother?s! A most anticipated ame of century gone **** Who`s wrong? SONYBLYAD`s. And now u know what to do. Read Biboran! Ansha-Abdul! Kara Ve4na9!"

"PS3 **** **** pi??ssing game, read the holy God-Sota Biboran Abdulov and you will be happy. Adept Abdul-belief. Church of Hell Abdulov. Anshan Abdul siblings."

"It is not game! This was done by idiots for idiots. The technical level of the single player game for 2001. Do not play ?that **** do not feed Krivorukov developers. The existence of a PS3 that year does not develop a normal game for the PC. Ansha Abdul. Biboran."

"Read the Biboran, Anscha Abdul brothers! Game is PedoStation **** for Japans **** i dont respect that worst GTA clone, because it look dumb and fight system doesnt work correctly."

The post Weird Me???tacritic user reviews tear Darksiders II to bits appeared first on Destructoid.

_{Last week, a Darksiders II developer posted comments on Twitter about being le?ft out of the credits despite working on the game. Some joined his side, some ridiculed his outburst, but most ignored the issue altogether. Does the troubling topic not warrant our attention? Who better to answer that question than Andy Modrovich: industry veteran, ex-Vigil Games employee, and the latest victim of the increasingly common industry practice of leaving staff out of game credits. This is his story.}

One thing more than anything else struck me when I first read the discussion over the Darksiders II credits: the feeling that we've been here before.&nbs??p;

The feeling that an uncomfortable truth about the industry, commonly known and accepted in game development circles as Just The Way Things Are, had been revealed to a surprised outside world. It was the same way I felt after the EA Spouse letter went viral, in which the fiancee of an EA game developer detailed the abusive culture of overtime at the company. I remember being inundated by emails and phone calls from family and fri??ends who had read the letter, wanting to know if that kind of thing really went on, and had I ever experienced anything like that, and ho??w could people do that to other people?  Of course; yes; and I don't know, I answered again and again. 

I was surprised that they were surprised; somehow I thought these things were common knowledge.  But then, why would they be when so few are wi??lling to discuss them publicly?

And now here we are?? again, only this time the issue is the game industry's crediting practices. Seeing the heated reaction to Xander Davis' story convinced me it's not that no one cares about this issue, it's simply that few outside the industry really know much about it. Consider this my smal?l attempt to help change that.

I started in the industry as an entry-level programmer in 2000, straight out of college. Since then I've worked for several different studios and shipped a number of games. After a couple of cross-country moves, I eventually settled in Austin, Texas in the summer of 2005. I joined Vigil Games partway through development on the original Darksiders and ended up working there as a senior gameplay programmer for about three years. After helping ship Darksiders, I went on to work on Darksiders II for about 14 months before I left the company for a different studio. My time did not overlap with Xander's, and therefore I cannot speak to any of his allegations. In any case, I believe all the drama surrounding his account of his time there, and what did or did not happen, is a distraction. It only serves to obscure the larger issue, one where the facts are beyond dispute: that quite a lot of people worked for quite a long time on a game and were not credited. I am one of them.

For what it's worth, this is hardly a problem that's unique to Vigil; in fact, it's depressingly common. The issue of crediting (or the lack thereof) is almost as old as the game industry itself. It was, famously, Atari's refusal to credit its developers that drove the creator of the landmark Atari 2600 game Adventure to write the first-ever video game Easter egg in 1979 -- a hidden room with "Created by Warren Robinett" displayed in the middle. Well, I guess that's one way to solve the problem: write your own credits. I wish I could say we've come a long way in the past 30 years, but it was just last year that some former members of Team Bondi felt strongly enough about their lack of proper crediting on L.A. Noire that they launch??ed a website with their own version of the game's credits. Warren would be proud.

After 12 years in the game industry, I've come to believe there are almost as many policies toward crediting as there are game studios. Since we have no trade union like Hollywood does, there are literally no rules whatsoever about who ends up in a credits file and who doesn't. Some companies have very liberal policies, where anyone who works on the project for even one day gets at least a special thanks.  At others, you do not make it into the credits at all unless you are there on the day the game ships, regardless of how long you worked on the game. Vigil's policy was more case-by-case.  From what I saw on Darksiders 1, if you left und?er unpleasant circumstances, you would likely be dropped from the credits, while if you parted on amicable terms, you might still be kept in. In what I consider to be the most disturbing part of his public statement, David Adams implies that it's perfectly okay to leave out anyone who left the company for any reason besides a mass layoff. I don't know how many rank-and-file game developers would agree with that.

These types of policies, together with the growing tendency to include a huge number of people who had (at best) a tangential role in the making of the game, lead to situations where (and I'm not exaggerating here) the accountants, PR people, lawyers, and sales staff at the c??orporate office end up in the credits while key production employees do not. 

I witnessed a situation at one company where one of our top artists was cut out of the credits for a game, despite hav??ing worked on it from the very beginning all the way to the end. After we had locked our content in preparation for submission (meaning the artists were literally forbidden from making any further changes to their work) he announced he was leaving the studio for another opportunity.  The day after his announcement, his title was stripped and his name was moved all the way to the Special Thanks section at the very end of the c??redits file. After the endless parade of corporate brand managers and marketing executives, after the HR people at the outsourcing studios, after the voice-over talent for the French localization. He did what you're supposed to do: he did quality work and saw the game through to completion. Yet because he left before the game discs were actually pressed, he was essentially erased from the credits.

So what's behind all this? Why does a st??udio remove someone from a gam?e's credits, and why do developers put up with it? Most importantly, why do credits matter?

I don't have a good answer to the first question, considering it costs the studio nothing -- literally nothing -- to keep a name in the credits file. In light of the ad-hoc nature of so many companies' crediting policies, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that many of them simply haven't thought very hard about the why. Among those that can give a coherent explanation, I imagine they'd say that keeping departed employees in the credits isn't fair to the devs that stuck it out all the way through the (typically nightmarish) end of the project, with all its attendant late nights and stress. This might be ?a valid argument for crediting those employees differently (e.g., "Additional Design" instead of just "Design"), but not for removing them entirely. 

Another reason, which studios are less likely to vocalize, is that de-crediting people the min?ute they leave provides a good incentive for them to stay through to the very end of the project. However, I suspect that at too many places, the real answer comes down to a simple desire to punish. It's really the only legal way studio executives have to get back at an employee they feel has "wronged" them or put the project in a tough spot by leaving early. Yes, it's petty and unprofessional, but human nature is what it is??.

As for why we all just suck it up and accept these minor injustices, to some extent it's the same reason we accept the major injustices of perpetual crunch and exploitative working conditions: fear of r?etaliation. No one wants to be branded a troublemaker or a malcontent. People are scared of losing their jobs.  They have children and mortgages. ?Even in the very best of times, the tremendous volatility of the game industry means that nobody's job is truly "safe" for any length of time. And brother, it ain't the best of times. So why risk complaining?

Nor, it must be said, is it the case that all developers actually care about credits. There's a fair chunk of the workforce that doesn't see how it matters who makes it into the credits for a given game. After all, there are no residuals or ?royalties or copyrights tied to them as there are in other industries. They know they worked on that game, their friends and family know they worked on it, and most impo??rtantly, everybody else in the industry knows they worked on it. Or at least, can easily verify that they did. We all know that when it's time to look for another job, the recruiter we end up talking to is going to be able to call up a friend of a friend who worked with us at Defunct Company X and find out everything they need to know. The industry is small like that, a byproduct of the continual churn of hirings and layoffs and cross-country moves and re-hirings. When no one in the industry is more than two degrees of Kevin Bacon away from anyone else, who needs a credits file?

But the fact is that credits do matter. Because while a game is still relatively recent, it may be easy to find somebody who remembers that you worked on it. But when the game becomes 10, 20, 30 years old? The studio itself may be long since dead and its records lost, and finding people who can reliably confirm your contribution may become difficult or impossible. And the converse situation may be even worse.  If there's no definitive way to tell if someone worked on a particular game,?? what's to stop an unscrupulous person from padding their resume with old games they never so much as touched? Modern game studios, especially the ones that produce AAA games, employ dozens or even hundreds of people. That plus the constant trickle of arrivals and departures means that before long, no one's memory will be reliable. Hell, I can't even remember the names of people I worked with just a few years ago. In a very real way, our history as game developers is slowly disappearing, one game at a time.

But beyond any of the practical concerns, or the high-minded talk of posterity, the best reason to insist on proper crediting is simple human decency, respect, and love of the truth. There's been a lot of back-and-forth about what kind of a guy Xander Davis is and how good his work was, and whether he therefore "deserves" to be credited for Darksiders II. This debate? misses the point entirely. Because it doesn't matter whether you're a nice guy or a jerk, or whether your work is good or bad, or whether you quit or got laid off or were fired for ca?use. You put in work on a game, you belong in the credits, period.  The credits file is not a record of who's a Swell Dude, or whose contributions were super awesome. It is a record of who worked on the game, and the management of a studio should not be in the business of deciding whether anyone's contribution was "good enough" to merit their inclusion, or whether they left the company for an "acceptable" reason.

So where do we go from here? How do we make things better? Again, I wish I had a good answer for that. The only thing that will fix the crediting issue once and for all is unionization, b?ut for reasons I don't fully understand a lot of folks in the game industry are hostile to the idea. Failing that, we may simply have to do our best to foster a consensus -- within the industry and without -- that arbitrarily denying people their recognition is unacceptable. Public awareness and social pressure can work wonders; just ask the employees now receiving overtime pay as a result of the EA Spouse incident.

Whatever we decide to do and however we go about it, we ??owe it to ourselves not to let th??is issue get stuffed back in the closet with the other game industry skeletons. The Way Things Are is wrong, and the time for quietly accepting it is over.

If you'd like to reach Andy, you can send him an email at andym7884@gmail.com 

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The post Giving credit where credit is due: A developer’s plea appeared first on Destructoid.

Last night, curiosity got the better of me and I nabbed Darksiders II on Steam. How is the PC version? Well, it ran, and I was able to change t?he resolution -- but that's about it, frankly. Sadly, it sounds like some players haven't even managed to get that far. There are no feel-good extras to be found here, which is disappointing though not entirely unexpected.

As spotted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, THQ community manager Mathew Everett has responded to upset users on the Darksiders forums. ??"During the Comm??unity Summit both Jay Fitzloff and I were under the impression that full .config files and final keyboard/mouse and controller hookups were going to work as promised when the PC version of the game launched."

"That was the plan at the time from a specifications persp?ective," writes Everett. "Unfortunately, especially at the end of the development cycle, sometimes things ??change at the last minute, and this was one of them. Since it was always the intention to implement these features, as I type this, the development team is checking to see what items can get added into the game."

He continues: "While I can’t promise what can be done,? I can promise we are working with the ?proper teams and have expressed the importance of including them in a patch." We'll be waiting.

The post Mi??ssing features might?? be added to Darksiders II on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

The popular Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse will feature a crossover collaboration with Death from Darksiders II this coming Friday. Now that's totally #darksiders2.

The spot will air during the Metalocalypse marathon this Friday night, between the hours of 11pm and 1am. It's been animated by Titmouse, the cartoon's creator. It is probably going to be ??ridiculous. 

#Darksiders2

Death Meet?s Dethklok as Adult Swim Runs a 'Darksiders'/'Metalocalypse' Promo Friday [MTV]

The post ??????????????????????????Darksiders II crossing over with Metalocalypse on Friday appeared first on Destructoid.

[Update: In addition to a response from Vigil Games' gen??eral manager, I received an email from an ex-Vigil employee who worked on game for 2+ years but did not receive credit. He says he's not the only one. Updates are after the jump.]

After being unexpectedly fired by Vigil Games and having his life in shambles due to relocating, Darksiders II UI designer Xander Davis took to Twitter when he found out t??hat his name didn't make the credits of the game tha??t caused him so much misery.

"What's crazy is most aspiring game developers have no idea yet how shitty it is to work in triple-A. My life has been a nightmare for 3 yrs," Davis tweeted last night. He said this is common in the industry and he isn't the only one complaining about not being credited by THQ a?nd Vigil.

UPDATE 2: Here's an email I received from a game designer who worked at Vigil on Darksiders 1 & 2. He req??uested his name not ??be posted for the time being.

My name's pretty obvious by my email - it's [redacted]. I am one of the uncredited folks (of which there are a lot) from Vigil Games that worked on Darksiders 2. In fact, you can find me in the credits of Darksiders 1. I worked on the sequel for over two years, and yes, it is disheartening to not be included in something that we worked so hard on. While Xander is rightfully upset, his anger is misguided. I worked directly with Herb on several occasions, and he's a great guy that would never have screwed over a fellow developer by swooping in & stealing someone's job. This is a small industry, and lets not taint the reputation of the individual because someone felt the need to lash out in anger. He was on contract by choice, a?nd I dont' know what the circumstances are that led to him receiving the title & position that he did in the end - I left Vigil on my own accord in late November.  I just want to point out that singling out a fellow employee is wrong under any circumstances, especially when it was so obviously the work of the head of the studio (David Adams). I would appreciate not being named in any publications on this matter unless someone sends a list of all those affected by this decision. That person won't be me since I don't want to drag my friends into this mess unwittingly. There are things that needed to be cleared up though.

UPDATE 1: We got in touch with Vigil ??Games general manager David Adams. Here's what he had to say about Xander Davis and his allegations [full email at bottom of post]:

When we were forced to reduce staff due to the cancellation of a project, we worked hard to ensure every single person effected by the layoff received their credit in the game.  We did not include individuals whose employment terminated for any other reaso?n, for example, being let go for documented poor pe??rformance.

To reiterate, Vigil’s primary concern while doing Darksiders II credits was that we credited team members that were affected by the recent downs??izing.   We were not focused on the issue of employees that voluntarily left or were fired from the company.  We find it alarming that a former employee would personally attack and lie about other team members while falsely inflating his contribution to the game.

ORIGINAL STORY: "If I hadn't said anything, nobody would've even noticed.  Who reads credits anyway? No one. I know it probably doesn't even matter. But you know, what? I read them. It matters," Davis said. "After the hell that I went throu??gh, after giving Vigil everything and more, like?? so many others, after doing my job and doing it well and leading with no support, in record time... once I saw the credits, I simply couldn't stand to let that pass."

After a couple years doing UI design for High Moon Studios' Transformers: War for Cybertron and working on Xaviant's Lichdom, Davis finally found a promising gig in Austin.

"In October, I intervi?ewed at Vigil. They wanted to get someone out there as fast as possible because their UI was in a state of emergency," Davis said. "I thought? this was great! 'They really like me!' But no, they were just desperate to solve their problem and anyone would do."

Before Davis started work, the Darksiders II's UI was led by one person who was barely managed by the studio, he said. The job lasted a lot shorter than he expected: four months. The hours were a lot longer too. Though he was working for a studio he respected with Joe Madureira, a comic book artist he admired, ?Davis was not thrilled.

He was tasked with recreating the UI system in 30 days, which he did. He led a team of three people, redesigned 27 screens, and made a new HUD. This was all done in 30 days, after which the game had 30 days to ship (before delays). So the developer changed the focus to adding new features, according to Davis. He wasn't pleased w??ith this decision. ["It's like -- how the fuck are you going to QA that & ensure it's good!?"]

"Let's say it'd be pretty crazy with 30 days left to ship to revamp gameplay UI with a team of three people. That'd be crazy at any studio. Despite completely revamping the UI, that wasn't good enough," Davis said. "Vigil kept pushing har??der."

Davis worked until 2 AM every night in January. He w??as the only person left in the building. One night he fell asleep at his desk, woke up, and worked another 14-hour day on the weekend. Davis was fired. The UI work wa?s passed to another guy who threatened to quit, until it eventually landed in the hands of a developer whose contract was going to expire in a month, Davis said. He expected this person to overhaul everything he did since he took Davis' title of UI lead.

"Vigil had mass layoffs in March. Entire UI team was laid off. Credible source says they kept one on via retainer who was chummy w/ owners," Davis posted on Twitter. "I was let go a month after DMO changed, they merged the other UI team, & Herb Ellwood swooped in &a??mp; stole my job. After all my hard work. Herb Ellwood only had a contract with THQ. He used the team merging (which we needed to make ship) to secure a salary. Mine."

Upon seeing the retail product, Davis said that the UI is 90% derivative of his work. Yet, h??e has no title in the credits at all.

"It's no surprise to anyone, especially people that wo??rk at Vigil. They'll tell you a lot of craziness went down," Davis said. "It's sometimes a nightma??re. It's common that this happens a lot in the game industry." He added that the layoffs at Vigil continued as he looked for a job within and outside Austin.

In response, Davis is focusing his efforts on building his own game studio, Astrogun, while he does UI work on End of Nations. He is using his newfound freedom? to create a soon-to-be-announced Ouya title.

"Triple-A studios have put me through some very? dark times and I'm wondering why does triple-A talent have to put up with it now with UDK, Unity, and more platforms than ever. Why does anyone need to work in triple-A anymore?" Davis said. "I think as we go forward into the next generation, game dev talent will get sick of getting screwed over and being relocated from state ??to state. Why? When you can go do it yourself."

Davis said several of his friends and ex-Vigil employees have posted on Facebook about not being in the credits as well. I have reached out to Vigil and THQ for response. If you too have worked on Darksiders II and have? not received a credit, le?ave your story below or contact me at allistair@jbsgame.com.

Here's Vigil Games General Manager David Adams' response i??n its e??ntirety:

After ending yesterday with the successful launch of Darksiders II, we at Vigil Games woke up to get word of a former employee’s statements regarding how his contributions were not being accounted for in the credits of the game.  What was most disheartening about the statements was how misleading they were, and how they fly in the face of how Vigil, culturally, feels about and treats our t??eams.

While employment and privacy laws preclude us from discussing the circumstances surrounding the departur?e of any individual no longer with the company, we can confirm that the employee in question worked for us a total of 90 days, whereas Darksiders II was more than 2 ½ years in development. 

When we were forced to reduce staff due to the cancellation of ??a project, we worked hard to ensure every single person effected by the layoff received their credit in the game.  We did not includ?e individuals whose employment terminated for any other reason, for example, being let go for documented poor performance.

We believe we treat both current and former positive contributors to our studio like family, and any statements otherwise are highly inaccurate and can be verified as same.  We would ask any p??ress who wish to report on this former employee's statements to check the accuracy of these erroneous claims, before pri?nting them as factual.

To reiterate, Vigil&rsquo??;s primary concern while doing Darksiders II credits was that we credited team members that were affected by the recent downsizing.   We were not focused on the issue of employees that voluntarily left or were fired from the company.  We find it alarming that a forme??r employee would personally attack and lie about other team members while falsely inflating his contribution to the game.

W??e thank, once again, all tho??se who positively contributed to Darksiders II.

The post Darksiders devs speak out on not being credited (??Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

With gamescom kicking off its onslaught of news, the Destructoid frontpage has been?? aligh?t with posts today. In fact, it's been so busy that you might have managed to miss three pretty big reviews.

We reviewed Sleeping Dogs, Darksiders II, and The Last Story -- all of them launched in America today, and? we've got some words to say about them. Che??ck 'em out, maybe!

• Sleeping Dogs (9.0)
• Darksiders II (9.0)
• The Last Story (4.0)

If you're not tuckered out from reading all that, you can also check out our full rundown of gamescom coverage too. Have you got?? anything better to do??? No. No you don't.

The post We r?eviewed Darksiders II, Sleeping ??Dogs, and Last Story! appeared first on Destructoid.

a great example of a sequel done absolutely right

Every now and then, a game comes along that seems to have the right stuff -- it's got an unforgettable visual style, a quality studio, a respectable market??ing budget, and the kind of gameplay that should go over damn well with a crowd. Every now and then, a game can ha??ve all that and just be unlucky.

Darksiders was one such game. One of my favorites of 2010, Vigil Games' appealing (yet ridiculous) action title took the core of The Legend of Zelda and wrapped it in some highly original (and violent) clothes. It should have been a hit. It's criminal that it was?n't.

And if Darksiders II ?goes the same way, criminal won't even be the word for it.

Darksiders II (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [reviewed], Wii U)
Developer: Vigil Games
Publisher: THQ
Released: August 14, 2012 (PC, PS3, 360) / Late 2012 (Wii U)
MSRP: $59.99

Darksiders II puts players in the bony boots of Death, a Horseman of the Apocalypse on an ironic quest to bring the slain back to life. His journey starts just after War has been tricked into obliterating mankind, and Death believes that if he can resurrect humanity, he'll clear his brother's name. Along the way, he encounters Corruption, a malevolent force intent on obliterating all existence, and thus finds himself with m?ore urgent matters than his own brother's fate -- not that he cares.

Though Death is no less grim than his brother, he is an altogether more enjoyable protagonist, possessed as he is of a caustic wit and an affable disregard for anybody who isn't a member of his family. As always, the weird and wonderful world of Darksiders is brought to life with a host of eccentric and overzealous characters, a fantastical set of locations, and some gorgeous designs courtesy of artist Joe Madureira. Much of Darksiders II will be familiar to fans of War's bloody journey, but make no mistake, ?this is quite a different experience.

While Darksiders was an action game with heavy Zelda influences, its sequel comes close to being a full-blown action role-playing game along the lines of Diablo or Torchlight. There are still many Zelda influences -- items that open up new paths, dungeons with tiered levels, key chests, and hidden maps -- but the package is altogether?? less shameless this time around,?? with a greater focus placed on environmental challenges and puzzles that make heavy use of acrobatics, levers, and even a little time travel.

While none of these puzzles are especially fresh to the action genre -- we've all spent time standing on pressure pads to open gates -- the inventive level design helps them be among the best examples you could hope to see. There are some ingenious puzzles that make use of Death's growing array of gadgets, whether he's throwing bombs at crystallized rock, creating duplicates of himself, or jumping into Aperture Scienc?e-inspired portals. None of the mechanics are new, but the implementations are wholly refined. Dungeons are set out with a keen sense of logic, and the challenges within are taxing without ever coming off as contrived.

Likewise, Death's movement around the world is full of the same wall-running, ledge clambering, hook-grappling acrobatics we've seen in titles like Uncharted or Prince of Persia, but the elegance and speed with which the Horseman navigates his surroundings creates a fluidity quite unlike that seen with other clambering heroes -- all while demanding quick wit on the part of the player. At times, this fluidity is a little overbearing, as Death's animations feel too "floaty" and unpredictable to cope with some of the more demanding, time-limited areas. A number of times, Death needs to move through a series of environmental o?bstacles at a pace too quick for his often laggy responses, as Vigil placed too much emphasis on animation over utility. However, these irregular occasi??ons are more than made up for by the many moments the system works successfully -- and looks gorgeous doing so.

Combat is where most similarities with the original Darksiders can be found, though Death's respective litheness makes him feel less meaty and far more agile than War ever was. Button-mashing combos, a heavy emphasis on dodging, and a range of increasingly brutal special skills make for a combat system that balances grace and brutality in equal measure. Death's weapon of choice is a pair of scythes, which will always serve as his primary armaments, though he can equip a secondary?? weapon from a range that includes maces, hammers, glaives, claws, and more. Scythes and secondary weapons can be used in conjunction to create more effective combos, and Death possesses a power gauge that, when full, allows him to assume the spectral form of the Grim Reaper himself, cutting into foes with deadly strength and enhanced resistance.

As Death gains experience and rises in level, he can unlock and upgrade abilities from two skill trees. Such abilities include the power to close distances with a teleporting sl?ash, summon demonic minions, or send a murder of crows to steal health. Each power starts off relatively weak, but adding and strengthening each one with subsequent skill points can lead to possession of some utterly vicious playthings. If one ever grows bored of them, the demonic merchant Vulgrim is on hand to reset your points and allow you to start over.

Darksiders II's combat system works best in smaller engagements against a moderate selection of foes. Since it's based on counterattacks, being able to concentrate on opponents is paramount, but it has to be said that Vigil sometimes relies too much on undermining this to create a sense of challenge. A fair number of fights, particularly toward the latter portions of the game, swamp the screen with monsters, many of which can power through your attacks in order to break combos. Some of?? the best battles are one-on-one engagements where timing is of the essence, so these larger, chaotic fights really aren't needed and can be a little infuriating at times.

Things are kept interesting with the all-new loot system. Enemies now dispense vast quantities of gold, as well as pauldrons, greaves, vambraces, and weapons. Darksiders II does a solid job of providing more powerful gear at the right intervals, offe?ring enough incentive ?to keep one hunting for fresh loot. There are also a whole bunch of extra statistics alongside the regular damage/defense boosts, allowing Death to improve his special attacks, increase the chance to perform execution kills, and enjoy a health regen. Possessed weapons are manually upgraded by "feeding" other loot items to them, and each level gained provides a variety of upgrade choices, allowing for tailor-made and significantly powerful armaments. Naturally, merchants are peppered throughout the world, happy to sell new items and buy your unwanted trash.

While not strictly open-world, the four realms that Death gradually uncovers can be freely traveled and are vast enough to provide secrets, hidden items, and side quests. Death traverses the game's realms by summoning his ethereal horse, Despair, though there are enough fast travel points to get around the map without much equestrian help. A number of the optional missions rely too heavily on tiresome collection quests, but there are some satisfyingly challenging tasks involving full-fledged dungeons and powerful boss creatures. All told, the main game should take around 20 hours to beat, with plenty of content left unfinished. There's also a "new game plus" mode, a survival-based challenge called the Crucible, and an unlockable "Nightmare" mode that features permanent death. For the hardcore Darksiders fan, there is a?? ton of stuff to uncover, ranging from the banal to the engrossing.

The sheer wealth of content on offer makes the original Darksiders look like an appetizer -- still i??ncredibly enjoyable in its own way, but a morsel in comparison to the mai??n entree. Some of the optional quests feel like time wasters, but the main meat of the game features very little fluff -- even if the "perform three tasks to unlock the real objective" formula is played a few times too many. While predictably structured, the adventure is never boring, and as Death slices his way through progressively more aggressive and bizarre creatures, there's a tremendous sense of build. Sadly, the actual ending is a bit brief and unsatisfying, but it's a fantastic ride to that point.

For a vast majority of the time, Darksiders II is a fantastic experience -- highly polished, tightly scripted, and boasting enough moments of exhilaration to make up for the frustrating points. While mostly a high quality experience, an entire section that takes place on apocalyptic Earth seems quite glitchy, with sounds not playing and dialog skipping. It's a comparatively small section of the game and will likely be patched, but it's worth noting that right now the Earth section is a little busted. Still, the rest of the experience is remarkably well put together, with none of the screen-tearing found in the previous game and n??o other bugs encountered during my playthrough.

I wouldn't want to say that Darksiders II is better than Darksiders. Both games are different beasts and provide separate experiences. It's rare to see a sequel retain so much flavor while totally restructuring itself, but Vigil Games knocked it out of the park with aplomb. Neither game is superior, both are enjoyable in different ways, and together they weave one fantastic tale. Those new to the series certainly don't need to know too much to get into it, but existing fans will be able to enjoy the universe in a whole new perspective. As far as I'm concerned, Darksiders II is a g??reat example of a sequel done absolutely right.

There are certainly complaints to be had with the title. The latter half feels like it's over a bit too quickly, I'd have loved to have seen more exploration of Death as a protagonist, and I feel that the series' trademark macabre characters needed more of a spotlight. However, with a game that already provides so much, these things feel more like desired garnish rather than missing components. This is one of those games that you can really sink your teeth into, a game that feels full, making you want more without feeling like you need more.

Darksiders II takes the best elements from many games and blends them into a seaml?ess, wholly satisfying package. With a unique protagonist, killer art style, savvy level desi??gn, and ferocious combat, there's little left for an action fan to want, while the role-playing elements have been enhanced to such a degree that the overall experience feels deeper and more compelling than before. If this game is not a success, then truly the world doesn't know what's good for it.

The post Review: Darksiders II appeared first on Destructoid.

No sooner had I put the finishing touches on the upcoming review for Darksiders II than this ... thing arrived. I would like you all to serve as witnesses in the event of my disappearance, because I?? am fairly certain this can be classed as a threat of som??e kind. 

So yeah, that's a gravestone, made out of proper stone n' stuff. I do have to say, it's probably the classiest bit of swag that's swept this way in a whil?e. If I'm going to get accused of being "paid off," it might as well be for a miniature chunk of ro??ck with my death printed on it.

Anyway, Destructo?id's review (and the game) goes live on August 14.

The post THQ sends literal death threat to celebrate?? Darksiders II appeared first on Destructoid.

THQ has released the last gameplay trailer for Darksiders II before its launch next week. The video, titled "Know Death," is narrated by the skull-masked misery-guts himself, as Death provides his perspective on the latest Darksiders adventure. 

One thing I've really liked in my time playing Darksiders II is Death's character. While h??e's got the typical brooding darkness thing going on, he's also got a deadpan wit on him and displays an enjoyable disregard for the living. His voice is fantastic too, gravell??y and gritty, but with a certain eloquence to it. 

Our review will be available on Au??gust 14. As will the game.

The post Final Darksiders II trailer gets to know Death appeared first on Destructoid.

Vigil Games is keen on keeping you playing Darksiders II beyond the main game, and has two tricks up its sleeve to extend your investment. Beating the game unlocks a New Game + mode, which allows you to carry over Death's equipment, levels, and skills. Such modes have served titles like Dead Space very well, so this is pretty awesome. 

The action is also bolstered by the Crucible, a ??survival mode with 100 waves of enemy aggressors. Players will be offered rewards at certain levels of combat -- if they take the reward, they have to end their progress, but if they push too far and die, they leave with nothing. I've played a little? bit of it and it provides quite a challenge. Should give the ambitious plenty to go on. 

These announcements combine two of my favorite ancillary additions to videogames -- New Game + and wave-based survival. As sick as I am of games boasting the same feature sets, if ev?ery videogame had these two items, I don't think I could complain. 

You can c??heck out what Crucible looks like in the attached gallery of image??s.

The post Darksiders II has New Game Plus, survival mode appeared first on Destructoid.

THQ cobbled together an extra Darksiders II Collector's Edition from bits and pieces of the dead, allowing Destructoid to show you what it looks like a little?? bit. I unbox it with a ??really inconvenient camera angle because that is the kind of thing you do on the Internet. 

I'm playing the game right now and the review ?will up on Au??gust 14. I think. Somewhere near there, anyway. In the meantime, watch my gammon hands play with some bullshit for your Sunday fun!

The post Darksiders II Collector’s Edition Unboxing appeared first on Destructoid.

The top YouTube comment for this video says, "Man, that girl from Dead Island ends up on all the worst vacations." That got me. The newest CG trailer for Darksiders II isn't exactly pulling a Dead Island, bu??t its similarities are kind of funny with the whole little girl appearance and moody atmosphere. Beside?s that, it's just all about Death being super badass as usual.

Darksiders II will finally be upon us in a week from this Tuesday. Personally, I'm just glad it's finally coming out, because it feels like we've been talking about this game forever. Anyone excited to finally get their han??ds on this one?

The post Latest Darksiders II trailer is all emotional and?? stuff appeared first on Destructoid.

After ten billion years of pre-rendered videos and developer diaries, Darksiders II gets its? first all-gameplay trailer featuring nothing but footage from the software itself. It only took until less than a month before launch!

Looks solid, at any rate. I'm pretty excited for the game, both because I enjoyed the original and I could really do with something to ?break the summer drought. So? yeah, THQ, any time you want to mail this bad boy over, I'm waiting!

The post Darksi??ders II gets its first full gameplay trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm a sucker for loot. Who doesn't like loot? Bad people don't like loot. The addition of boundless gear in Darksiders II is one of the aspects I'?m most excited about, and I love that Vigil's committed to putting a lot more roleplaying elements in this sequel. 

In the above video, the studio discusses loot, magic and skill trees. T??he typical "RPG-lite" elements that make any action game look deeper than it actually is. It may partly be an illusion, but it's one that I find very effecti??ve. Can't wait to see how much they enhance the full game.

The post ??Vigil discusses th??e near-limitless loot of Darksiders II appeared first on Destructoid.

Darksiders II: Death's Door is now available to purchase exclusively from Dark Horse's digital store. The first issu?e will set you back $0.99, and can be obtained for both iOS and Android devices. 

"Death’s mission to slay a rogue demon is just starting out, but first he must acquire a replacement for his scythe, which he is forbidden to use on Earth without permission," reads the spiel. "In a?n underworld black market he strikes a deal—a leviathan’s tongue for a new weapon!"

I may just pick this up. As I discussed on Podtoid, I've been slowly gettin?g into the ol' digital comic lark, and I do like Darksiders. Win/Win. 

Anybody else interested?

The post Darksiders II: Death’s Door digital comic now on sale appeared first on Destructoid.

After being turned away from the booth of a publisher that shall remain unnamed, I bumped into a cadre of developers from Vigil Studios who were more than happy to shelter me for an hour. After making my way to THQ's super secret fortress in the offices of the convention center, I finally sat down and played me some Darksiders II. 

As readers will know, I am a big fan of the last game, so I am pleased to report the core of the game remains intact. Once again, combat feels meaty as muscular entities slug it out with ridiculously huge weapons. As Death scales surfaces, ?runs on walls, and leaps from pillars, I can note that the fast-paced environmental exploration is just as convenient??ly gratifying as ever. The fundamentals are all in place, and unchanged. 

The added depth that comes from the enhanced roleplaying elements, however, really adds a new level. Now armed with a full-on loot system, Darksiders II isn't s?hy about showering players with new greaves, gloves, and immense secondary weapons. A box of stat changes for each bit of new gear appears as Death stands near it, and you can pick it up or equip it at the touch of the button. The new equipment will also appear on Death's body as soon as it's worn, which is always an important flourish. The convenience of the system is great -- the loot hoarding of a dungeon-crawler, without the need to delve into menus and fiddle with statistics. A dungeon crawler for the gamer on the go.

Visually, the game is looking a little rough around the edges, with some scree?n tearing and jagged edges. Hopefully that's the drawback of an early build, because the art direction is as solid as ever and deserves to be presented well. In any case, I got a great first Jimpression from the game and can't wait for more!

[Check out our full E3 preview here!]

The post E3: Jimpressions of Darksiders II appeared first on Destructoid.