Darksiders 2 Message Board

The formerly THQ-owned Darksiders and Red Faction series are getting compilations on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC courtesy of new rights holder Nordic Games. The bundles are listed on the Austrian company's site, with a March 14 release date for the PC versions. Amazon UK backs up that due date, listing it for the Darksiders compilation across all platforms.

The Darksiders Collection, or Complete Collection as it's called on PC, includes War's hack-and-slash debut and Death's 2012 follow-up. According to Amazon UK, the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions include the Darksiders 2 season pass, granting access to the Abyssal Forge and Belial's Pass expansions. The PC version's box art says it includes "all the DLCs"

As for the Red Faction bundles, the Xbox 360 and PS3 Collection includes the original game along with Guerrilla and Armageddon, and the Path of War DLC for the last of those. The PC Complete Collection, however, goes one better by also chucking in Red Faction 2.

We've reached out to Nordic to clarify the details, such as which regions the collections are coming to; all of the ones listed on the site show classification ratings for Europe, while the Darksiders Xbox 360 and PS3 Collections are the only ones not rated for North America. There's no official word on prices, but Amazon UK has the Darksiders compilations going for £35, which could translate into a $50 tag stateside.

Nordic splashed $4.9 million last year to acquire a number of ex-THQ properties, including Darksiders and Red Faction. The company's yet to make any announcements on the futures of either series, but at Gamescom Nordic's Reinhard Pollice told Joystiq they're the highest priority of the THQ acquisitions. Perhaps these collections are the preludes to bigger news in the coming months.

Microsoft has announced a new 250GB Spring Value Bundle for the Xbox 360, available in "select major retail stores" and shipping out today for $300. In addition to the black Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive, the bundle includes a wireless controller, copies of Darksiders 2 and Batman: Arkham City (the latter in downloadable form), and a free month of Xbox Live.

That's a nice deal, though you may prefer to wait until after you've heard about the next Xbox, which is expected to be announced later this year.

Time to fight Darksiders II's final boss!

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As a mascot for what remains of THQ's 2012 lineup, there's no choice more awkward or more apt than Death. The stoic star of Darksiders 2, and one quarter of the world's scariest equine club, has become the de facto face for a troubled publisher. It's mean, clearly aligned with THQ's hardcore identity, and shows obvious signs of unkemptness and decay.

The company has resorted to drastic measures to stay in business and rebuild its pipeline, which was once packed with hastily assembled licensed fare and colorful games meant to enthuse a younger demographic. In shifting fully to hardcore products like Darksiders 2, THQ shirks the playfulness implied by its name - derived from "Toy Head-Quarters" - and gets down to serious business. If not irreversible, the situation has at least begun to reek, no thanks to the bodies sacrificed on an altar of second chances. The studio closures, layoffs, executive shuffles, and major cancellations (like Insane, a horror game conceptualized with film director Guillermo del Toro) are beginning to pile up.

We look to Darksiders 2 as a portent of THQ's recovery, though Death is not the single savior so much as an ironic proof of life. If the beleaguered corporation can effectively produce and market this important milestone - the kind of high-quality, traditional game that must sustain it from now on - it bodes well for the other THQ franchises that are on the cusp of widespread popularity. The "AAA" market is probably the worst place to make a last stand, considering the endangering expenditure required to make a big impact.

Hey everyone, it’s Death! You remember, Death, right? I could’ve sworn you two met at some point. Ah well, he’s really great. Here, here, both of you grab a drink and sit down. Now then, let me tell you about this guy. Oh, sure, he acts like a half-clothed embodiment of humanity’s inevitable end with the physique of a mountain (that has great abs) and a demeanor made of solid ice (that also has great abs), but really, he’s just a big old softy. I mean, he’s hacking through the armies of hell to prove that his poor lug of a brother, War, didn’t kick off the apocalypse. Isn’t that just the nicest thing you’ve ever heard? He has such a way with words, too. Watch as he strings together both horrifyingly vicious combos and sublimely melodious language after the break.

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#darksiders Every corner of the Darksiders world is laced with art. There's art on art, more art than you can shake a stick at. That makes sense, given the fact that Vigil, the studio behind Darksiders and this August's Darksiders II, is headed up by well-known comic artist Joe Madureira. More »

Consolidation news now, as THQ has announced it plans to close its Phoenix, Arizona QA facility. "Montreal is a prime location for industry talent, has favorable economics, and is a big part of our future game development plans. With those considerations in mind, we have made the business decision to consolidate our two Quality Assurance operations into one location at THQ Montreal," a THQ statement issued to Game Informer reads.

A total of 57 employees will be affected in Phoenix, some being outright dismissed while the others will be offered the chance to move to Montreal. "The transition will occur gradually throughout the remainder of 2012 while we continue to manage QA for our FY'13 release slate." The statement goes on to say that the decision was "driven by industry, market and economic trends."

It's a smart move to consolidate to Montreal, which THQ's newly appointed president Jason Rubin told us is important to the future of the company. And with THQ needing all the help it can get right now, the tax breaks must be a godsend.

Darksiders 2's Death is apparently not good at the maths. A man runs at 10MPH. A horse can trot at 30MPH. A colossus lumbers along faster than both. Don't kill the colossus, Death! Put out a picnic near the back of one of its shoulders and casually relax to your destination.

Darksiders 2, which was recently delayed to August, has a collection of premium Avatar gear for the Xbox 360. We're not sure if "adorable" is a word we'd ever use to describe Death, but for 400 MSP ($5) the "Reaper Armor" is just about the cutest outfit (demonstrating demonic power) your Avatar could slip into.

Prices on the items and props range from 80 to 400 MSP ($1-$5), but there's also a free T-shirt designed by Joe Madureira available if you "like" the Darksiders 2 page. The shirts are limited by codes, so if you're jonesing for some Avatar swag better click on through to the other side.

THQ announced this morning that Darksiders 2 has been officially delayed until August 2012.

[developing]

THQ's conviction that Darksiders 2's June 26 launch date will stick is lacking in a recent interview and in our follow-up with the publisher. In an interview between RipTen and THQ EVP Danny Bilson, a PR rep interrupts the interview following a question about the game's launch window to say the company "honestly" can't confirm the release date.

Pushed further, Bilson responds, "We haven't announced anything... but the team is working really, really hard. We're not going to ship it before it's done."

Attempting to clarify the statement, we got in contact with THQ, which told us: "No new announcements have been made at this time."

Financially troubled publisher THQ revealed on Valentine's Day that Darksiders 2 would launch on June 26.

I took to the role of Death with great aplomb when I played Darksiders II recently and later that same day I had the chance to speak with game director Marvin Donald. Although we didn’t question the nature of Death in an existential fashion, we did discuss how he feels about his game being compared to The Legend of Zelda, the stranger worlds through which Death walks, whether this will be a four game series and how much we both like collecting loot.

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I didn’t play Darksiders until its PC release, which meant I’d already heard a million people compare it to Zelda and God of War. What a pleasant surprise to play the game and find that it had character of its own and kept rewarding me with new toys throughout its substantial and entertainingly silly story. Sitting down to play the sequel I thought it would just be more of the same. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

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You know that newly announced Collector's Edition for Darksiders 2? Well, aside from your input of money, THQ is also looking for fans to help decide what will be on the cover of the thing. Death? That's our guess.

If you want to vote, you'll have to head over to Facebook. One cover features the main character, Death, and two more feature, well ... they also feature Death. He's kind of the star of the game, you guys.

Fans are eligible to vote every day. Three lucky Facebook users will win a signed Collector's Edition of Darksiders 2.

Don't be fooled by the fancy-dancy nomenclature, when THQ says "Limited Edition," what it's actually saying is "pre-order bonus." All existing and future pre-orders for Darksiders 2 will be automatically upgraded to the Limited Edition version, which is just the standard version and a packed in DLC voucher.

THQ's press release describes the DLC in question, "Argul's Tomb," as "the game's first single-player downloadable content pack." It also states that the Limited Edition voucher can be used "once [the DLC] becomes available," implying that it may not be released on day-one.

Furthermore, a $99 pre-order-only Collector's Edition of the game has also been announced, which includes a DLC voucher, life-sized Death Mask with stand, exclusive in-game armor and scythe set with "enhanced stats," a "digital version" of the soundtrack, and a hardcover art book. We can't wait; this is exactly what we need to finish our Casey Jones costume.

THQ is doing all it can to keep Death away from its door, so it's hoping you'll welcome him into your home on June 26. The official Darksiders Twitter account recently revealed Darksiders 2's launch date. The company had previously only forewarned of the Grim Reaper approaching in June.

When you're looking at trailers for Darksiders 2 or you see character art of skull-faced Death riding his zombie horse, wielding an enormous transforming scythe to murder countless monsters, do you ever think "I wonder what's going on in his head? How does Death feel about all this?"

You'll find out in May, when Del Rey Books releases Darksiders: The Abomination Vault, a novel by Ari Marmell. Set long before the games, it follows Death and War as they attempt to foil a plot to "resurrect ancient weapons of unimaginable power."

As part of this deal, The "Random House Worlds" IP development group will handle the official IP "bible" for the Darksiders universe. We could have sworn there was already a bible about these guys.

Fun fact: as this Darksiders 2 trailer reveals, Death has been around for quite some time. All right, you probably knew that, but we bet you didn't know about his hobby as an artist's model.

Have you ever wondered what Death, the dude, is really like? Who hasn't? Thankfully, the Darksiders 2 devs at Vigil Games prepared this intro video for us, full of sincere remarks about a mythical horsemen of the apocalypse and how he acts in their upcoming game.

There's a possibility that the Darksiders 2 tease above is actually referencing Skeletor and/or Glenn Danzig, but we're pretty sure it's that other horseman of the apocalypse, Death. Either way, we're gonna go listen to the Misfits and watch Masters of the Universe for a bit. Just in case.

#fineart Thought I'd try something a little different with today's Fine Art. Instead of showing the art of a video game, I thought I'd show off some of the art of video game artists. More »

Death, the second horseman (and hoarse man) of the Apocalypse is locked in battle with an enormous beetle. Deftly rolling out of the way of its charge attack with an agility never showcased by War in the first game, Death promptly delivers a series of all-business, blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em slashes with his scythe. And what should come tumbling out from the beetle? Viscous, nightshade-coloured ichor? No. Numbers. For Darksiders 2, Vigil are taking the first game’s paltry handful of RPG elements and pushing them as hard as they can.(more…)

So you have a pretty popular game, starring an interesting and original rendition of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It sells well. In fact, it sells well enough that it gives a distraught publisher a much-needed influx of revenue and then, when the time comes to make the sequel, you decide to completely replace the protagonist everyone knows, and bring in a brand new character that wasn't ever seen in the first game.

That's what comic book artist-turned Vigil Games founder Joe Madureira did, and though Darksiders 2 definitely looks like it's turning out well, even he says he had doubts. "I still wonder if it's a smart thing," he told me at Comic-Con this week, "because usually when you're building a franchise around a character, you really try and keep the same character." Well, yeah.

"But it was a momentary apprehension. As soon as we concepted him and we had him running in the game, it was a cooler character." He says that THQ didn't have a problem with the change either: "They were like, yeah, this is a cool idea."

Look, we can suspend our disbelief with the best of them, but one thing irks us about this extended version of the Darksiders 2 announcement trailer: how can Death speak without a mouth? Last time we checked, you needed lips and a tongue to talk.

We were never goth kids -- though if we were, we imagine that we would've hung this Darksiders 2 concept art all over our lockers.

If your appreciation for Darksiders 2 extends beyond paintings of creepy cliffs and thrones of stone, hit up Game Informer for a spirited interview with Vigil Games art director Han Randhawa. Of course, creative director and comic artist Joe Madureira chimes in a bit about the overall style of the Darksiders series, too.

He may be named "Death," and the last Darksiders game may have starred "War," but the first combat gameplay from Darksiders 2 certainly reminds us of another mythological god of war. Watch as Death wields his "dual scythes," juggling opponents and pulverizing them in the process! It's almost as if he's got dual blades ... attached with chains to his arms ... okay, it's basically like the combat in the God of War series. There -- we said it. Head over to Game Informer and take a peek for yourself!

What does a Destroyer of Worlds do to a pre-destroyed world?