Most video game press events feature a slick-looking “vertical slice” demonstration, an airing of a marketing-produced trailer, and maybe a short presentation from the creators. While Darksiders II showed off a decent chunk of gameplay and a new trailer, it was also preceded by a lecture about the various depictions of Death from Australian art historian Dane Munro. It was a bit odd to go from a normally serious lecture that touches upon topics such as the Etruscan portrayal of the Angel of death and the Danse Macabre, to a demo where Death jumps around shoots bad dudes with a pistol from mid-air.
Disparity between collegiate lecture and “Saturday Morning superhero cartoon video game” aside (Vigil Game general manager David Adams admitted that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were essentially modeled after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Darksiders II still looks like a damn solid game. The demo showed off a few more gameplay features and abilities, but overall, it still focused on how Death is a quick and agile badass compared to how his brother War was a hefty Horseman. During combat, Death rolls around, jumps repeatedly, and quickly switches between his scythe, some claws, a gun, and his Ghost Hand (the current name for the previously seen Ghost Hook, which allows him to either yank small enemies to him or yank him towards larger foes). When he wasn’t fighting, Death was wall-running and using his Ghost Hand as a grappling hook across numerous chasms, pillars, and passageways.
