Like a lot of games of a few years ago, this one is super cheap right now so I picked it up for $5 or so. I'm a big fan of the prior THQ games in this series and sometimes appreciate a top-down, Diablo-type experience. I figured if it was a "ho hum" experience it was only $5, so who cares right?
Describing it as a Diablo clone is just my take on it, there are a lot of games like this that feature shoot-em-up action and gradual leveling up that makes the levels easier to get past. In a lot of ways it actually isn't like Diablo because you aren't encountering a crap load of random drops as you work through the levels.
I actually prefer not finding equipment all over the place because even though a lot of people love that aspect of Diablo, I found it annoying and the inventory management got on my nerves after a while.
In Darksiders: Genesis you stick with your original weapons for the most part, and gradually find powerups as you go along. You are controlling 2 characters simultaneously named "War" and "Strife." One of them has a ranged pistol attack and the other has a much stronger, but much more susceptible to getting damaged, melee attack.
You only control one at a time or are forced to changed to the other when one dies. I think i speak for almost everyone that plays this game when I say you will be using "Strife" 90% of the time in order to stay at a safe distance from enemies.
The graphics are good, the sound is great, the cutsenes are skippable for the most part and gameplay is kept relatively simplistic but still challenging at parts. So why is this game just kind of average? Well, for one thing it gets monotonous pretty quickly. The puzzles are all pretty much the same and after a while you get a bit bored of just "pew pew" ing your way through the levels.
I get it, this is the entire idea behind hack and slash top-down games, but I guess because of my personal background with the Darksiders story, I was hoping for a bit more.
I have not played multiplayer, but honestly, I can't really imagine that changing the situation very much especially since one of the two players appears to be forced to use "War" and unless I am missing something crucial about the gameplay, this will result in close proximity and therefore much more frequent death of the close combat comrade.
The bosses are tough, but not too tough. I appreciate this aspect of the game
One good aspect is that you are not forced to be on the same screen during the map unless there are certain segments that require both players to simultaneously activate some sort of switches to open a gate.
I suppose it is a good timesink for online play and could be great for more casual gamers - which I actually am one of. However, overall the 1-player mode is a bit boring after just a few hours and I can't really see myself staying interested long enough to finish the entire campaign, especially when re-running previously completed levels becomes necessary and since there are very few aspects of metroid-vania involved, new areas are not unlocked by a repeat and you are also forced to rewatch animations even thought most of them can be skipped.
Darksiders: Genesis is available on all consoles and PC, and I suppose it could be a decent title for more casual players that don't mind that a game isn't going to have a great deal of depth.