Parents' Guide to Darksiders III

It's not as slick as other action games from larger studios with bigger budgets, but this adventure delivers enough old-school fun for players looking for a challenge. Darksiders III's telling of the lone female Horseman's tale progresses the series' mythology nicely. It gives more information about the now-ruined balance between the forces of Heaven and Hell while introducing some memorable new villains in the form of the Seven Deadly Sins. Fury starts off on the unlikeable side, but she becomes more reflective and sympathetic as the game progresses. And while the world she explores may not be up to the graphical standards of its peers -- not much imagination has been put into details such as posters, cars, and architecture -- the ruins and rubble successfully convey a sense of desolation and post-human emptiness.

On the subject of peers, avid gamers will likely notice plenty of similarities shared with other popular action series, including God of War and Dark Souls. The designers clearly aren't afraid to let their influences show. That said, the combat's still fun and satisfying, mostly because it requires a good deal of skill, even on the easiest difficulty setting. There are also more original mechanics and elements, like Fury's ability to switch Hollows. This changes the color of her glowing hair and gives her new powers both in battle and in how she moves around the world. These powers mesh well with those that have been borrowed from other games. Boss battles can perhaps be a little too unforgiving at times, and environment-based traversal puzzles provide so few clues that it's easy to get stuck wondering how to proceed for lengthy periods of time, but players looking for a little challenge and a subtly retro vibe will probably have plenty of fun -- especially if they've played the first two entries in the series and want to see how everything ends. Darksiders III doesn't push any boundaries, but it's fun, and sometimes that's all a game needs to be.