Nintendo fans will finally get a chance to check out the Darksiders franchise when Darksiders II drops on the Wii U launch day. But it’s hardly fair for gamers unfamiliar with the excellent original game to jump right into the sequel, even if it does run parallel to the story of the first game! Without any ado, here is what you need to know about the story and the characters of Darksiders.

Since the dawn of time, the kingdoms of Heaven and Hell have waged constant war. Eventually, an independent group—of exactly who, I’m not sure—called the Charred Council arose to act as mediators in the conflict, enacting laws and forming the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to enforce the law among angels and demons. When humans arose, the Council named them their own Kingdom (the Kingdom of Man). The Council created seven seals that, when all were broken, would begin the apocalypse. All three Kingdoms would duke it out and whoever wins, wins.

I think he's compensating for something.

As our story begins, War alone is sent to Earth, which is apparently in the clutches of the end times. Angels and demons wage their war in the city streets, humans are basically collateral damage, and the cities are being destroyed by the conflict. War quickly discovers, however, that the Seventh Seal has not been broken. A giant demon rises up and destroys both the leader of the Angel army (Abaddon) and War. War is sent in front of the Charred Council, who accuses him of bringing the apocalypse too soon and siding with the demons. They agree, however to let War seek out the party responsible for starting the apocalypse to clear his name.  They bind War to the Watcher, a creature who can kill War should he betray the Council.

Back on Earth (which is now a wasteland—the demons won), War meets up with a powerful but imprisoned demon, Samael, who tells War that the leader of Hell’s forces, the Destroyer, is holed up in a giant Black Tower. Samael tells War that four demon guard the Black Tower and they must be killed before War can enter. He offers his services in getting War into the tower, but asks for the hearts of all four guardians in exchange. War travels across the land, pursued by everybody and their dogs, including a resistance group of Angels led by Abaddon’s second-in-command, Uriel. War enters the lairs of the four guardians and kills them all, but the final guardian tells him that none of them guard the tower—their purpose was to stop Samael from being released (it’s not clear how). At any rate, he kills them all and befriends an “Old One” named Ulthane—assumed to be from a race prior to man’s rise. Ulthane is into metallurgy.

Oh, so THIS is where Tim Curry ended up after the end of "Legend."

Samael sends War to the Tower, where War finds an imprisoned Azrael (another powerful Angel). Azreal reveals that he and Abaddon intended to begin the apocalypse early in order to assure Heaven’s victory, but things went sideways when Abaddon was killed. The Watcher orders War to kill the Destroyer, which will finally bring balance to the Force. After fighting their way through the Black Tower, Azrael transports War to the Garden of Eden, where War has a vision: after he was killed, Abaddon was sent to Hell and offered a choice: serve in Heaven or rule in Hell. Abaddon went with Door #2 and became the Destroyer. The future holds that the Destroyer will attack Heaven and be victorious. The Charred Council foresaw these events as well. Through some twisted logic, the Council allowed the apocalypse to begin early and sent War to Earth, knowing they could later accuse him. They were betting that War would want to clear his name, and all of the bad guys (on both sides) would be killed. War also sees himself being stabbed by a giant sword. After returning to Azreal, who suggests that the blade is the Armageddon Blade—capable of destroying the Destroyer—War runs around the world collecting the blade’s shards (key hunt!).

During his search, Ulriel attacks War and offers to battle him with the rule that the victor must kill the loser. War wins the fight but spares Uriel’s life. War says he’ll kill her when he’s good and ready, and by the way, Abaddon is the Destroyer. Understandably upset, Uriel flies off to prepare her army for a final fight. War and Ulthane forge the blade while Uriel’s last-ditch effort fails. War fights the Destroyer with the Armageddon Blade and wins (of course). He reverts to his true form (Abaddon) and asks Uriel for help. She practically gives him the finger, and War kills Abaddon violently.

The Destroyer is a goddamn FIRE DRAGON.

As War reaches for the unbroken Seventh Seal (which the Destroyer was carrying), the Watcher stops him, revealing that once War completed his mission, he was to be killed, as the Council feared retribution from War. But just as the Watcher is about to deliver the death knell, Uriel grabs the Armageddon Blade and stabs War through the back, killing him and breaking the Seventh Seal at the same time. The broken Seal restores War, who is now free from the Watcher’s control. The Watcher goes “splat,” but first suggests that Heaven, Hell, and the Charred Council will now go after War (not sure why). Uriel agrees as War walks away, asking if War intends to wage the coming war alone.

No, he says; not alone. He holds up the shattered Seventh Seal as three meteors falls from the sky behind them—the other Horsemen have arrived! Cut to black.

Soooo...are we gonna fight, or...?

Darksiders 2 takes place, oddly, at the same times as the original, and it involves Death’s attempt to clear War’s name and restore the Kingdom of Man while War is running around killing guardians. The game features a much larger cast, MUCH larger areas, and a more involved story. Death’s movements are more like Prince of Persia—he has great climbing skills and can wall run just like the Prince. He uses twin scythes in combat. One of the game’s big focuses is loot—enemies now drop it by the bucketful, and it can be used to boost Death’s stats. Further adding to the RPG element, Death will level up and earn skill points that can be divided between eight stats. In Darksiders 1, the only things that leveled up were War’s weapons (with continued use). Loot can be sold or exchanged for better items in a system similar to that of “Dawn of Sorrow” on the DS.

Only ONE may possess the Pac-Man Watch.

I’m pretty excited about the game, being a big fan of the original. I’ve held off on picking it up on the Xbox 360 or PS3, largely because the Wii U version will be a “Game of the Year” edition which includes all the DLC released so far as well as a mission unique to the Wii U version. If you haven’t played the original Darksiders but have the means, I highly recommend it. The game is basically Zelda with better art direction and a more interesting plot. Seriously, the first dungeon item you get performs exactly like the Boomerang in Wind Waker onward. There’s even a Hookshot. Of course, other games are aped as well: one of the best puzzle-solving items is a Portal Gun, and the combat system is akin to God of War, giving you multiple weapons to switch on the fly and plenty of new attacks or powers to buy. Moreover, it is not a super-long game, either, so you should have plenty of time to beat it before the Wii U, and Darksiders 2, launches on November 18th.