Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (Switch) Review

The day of reckoning has come to Switch.

With Darksiders now being a trilogy – the most recent game in the series seeing Fury, a bad-ass, fiery red-head, taking on the Apocalypse aftermath, we see War return in the Warmastered Edition, now released on Nintendo Switch.

The mighty portable, which knows no boundaries when it comes to its gaming prowess and capabilities sees Darksiders explode with playability and visuals matched by it’s larger console and PC versions.

If you have recently picked up a Darksiders game, most likely it is the third one, Darksiders III. So, let’s go back to the beginning.

The day that the Apocalypse started. The day that War, the first of the Horsemen answered the call.

Right from the onset it is alluded to players that there is more to the story than just a lone horsemen wreaking havoc on a now destroyed Earth.

The battle of Demons vs. Angels is rife on the surface and skies of the now seemingly dehumanised planet. But something isn’t right.

War’s seal was not broken. So who called him, and why?

The Charred Council summon War back to face punishment for starting the Apocalypse early. War protests his innocence and makes a bargain with the Council. Allow him to go free, unpunished and he will go back to Earth and find out who was responsible for calling war in the first place and starting the end of times.

The Council agrees – but with conditions. Bound to War is a Watcher. A demon that the Charred Council use to keep tabs on War and make sure he is doing what he should.

In-game the Watcher will offer up advice on next objectives and highlights to the main story.

The Darksiders games have always been a third person action RPG.

As you progress through and find collectibles, including souls which are used for currency with the Demon Merchant; Vulgrim, you will be able to acquire shards and powerful combos and level upgrades.

The very first Darksiders title was a game that I had been eagerly awaiting for back in 2010 and did not disappoint at the time. 9 years on (omg… 9 years!!!) the game still holds up by today’s gameplay standards.

The Warmastered Edition which originally released in 2016 saw a graphical overhaul including 4K support. While the Switch currently does not have titles released for it in 4K, there is a rumour that this may change real soon.

Having played across the entire franchise (Darksiders III being my absolute favourite) it was refreshingly satisfying to re-take on the story’s beginning all over again, some aspects of it I had totally forgotten about and they retain relevance to the two predecessor titles; Darksiders II (featuring Death) and Darksiders III (featuring Fury).

As there are four Horsemen I am very much looking forward to the fourth title which should wrap it all up.

Darksiders, one of my favourite action game franchises next to Legacy of Kain / Blood Omen and Devil May Cry.

Now, you can wage War wherever you are.

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