Parents' Guide to Darksiders Genesis

Over the course of nine years and three games, the action series has introduced gamers to three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Death, and Fury. Now, Darksiders Genesis finally introduces fans to the fourth Horseman: Strife. But while the other Horsemen have made their presence known in epic adventures, Strife's debut is treated like he's the fifth wheel of the Four Horsemen. Heck, Strife doesn't even get to star in his own game solo, as players switch on the fly between Strife and the Horseman that started it all, War. And even though the previous Darksiders games have had a grand sense of scale, Darksiders Genesis tosses all of this aside in favor of a much more scaled down, low-key experience.

Darksiders Genesis isn't necessarily a bad game, but it's a game that always feels a bit off. For starters, ditching the up close third-person action in favor of an overhead arcade style doesn't really fit with the rest of the series. Also, the small scale of the game keeps players from ever feeling connected to the action. This view causes more than a few camera and control issues, with enemies, items, and available paths often hidden by the environment. And though the action is constant, it gets more than a bit repetitive at times. Meanwhile, the game's story feels like an afterthought, plugging in a few lines of dialogue here and there just to break up the monotony. Ultimately, Darksiders Genesis winds up feeling more like Darksiders Lite, with half the flavor, half the depth, and half the excitement of the original Darksiders series to date.