HD remasters are all the rage right now and why not? Often, it’s a relatively easy cash grab by the studios to milk more money for old games on new systems. The practice is more commonplace on consoles, since the current gen systems are now capable of achieving the visual quality of last-gen PC games. Typically, when PC games get a remaster or rerelease it is for content reasons.
Thankfully Nordic Games has gone the extra mile with their newest remaster, Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition. Originally released in the summer of 2012, Darksiders II was easily one of my favorite games of that year – you can read our original review here. The game offered the perfect balance of action and adventure mixed with some nice roleplaying elements via the integrated skill tree and massive inventory system. Toss all that into an epic fantasy world rife with religious overtones and a quest to save the world and you have yourself a quest of at least 30-40 hours.
Nordic Games has built upon the solid foundation of the original reworking not only the graphics which now feature new lighting, shadows, and texture detail, all in native 1080p, but they even went into the game design and tweaked the loot distribution system – my one and only major complaint with the original. As an added bonus, the Deathinitive Edition comes loaded with all of the DLC adding even more items and quests, making this the best and most complete version of the game to date.
A few weeks ago we reviewed this game on the PS4, and while we were extremely impressed with the console version there were a few minor issues, mostly with the framerate. As long as you have a suitable PC you can muscle your way through those issues for a consistently smooth experience that looks fantastic and plays even better. Sure, there are more realistic looking games out there, but Darksiders makes the most of its signature art style that often looks like a storybook coming to life. The game is playable with mouse and keyboard, but clearly intended for controller. I did have some random issues with sticking to vine-covered walls that were annoying and even triggered a few deaths.
With so many other great games currently available and more coming every week it might be hard to recommend this game to those who already played it but there are some tempting loyalty incentives. If you already own the previous version of the game you’ll get an 80% discount, and if you own the Darksiders Franchise pack you get the new version for free. And if this title escaped your radar in 2012 you could do a whole lot worse than checking it out now. Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition is a fantastic remaster worth playing…and if you have a spare 30 hours…worth replaying.
