I'm a  huge fan of the original Darksiders. Sure, it doesn't do anything new, but it rips off its source material incredibly well. The story is interesting, the combat is satisfying, and the puzzles are great. I was also a huge fan of the art direction. So I've been waiting a long time for THQ to hurry up and finish its sequel. I was initially disappointed to learn Darksiders II would not be a direct sequel to the original. Instead, it's a parallel storyline featuring Death, another of the Horsemen, in his quest to clear War's name. The game takes place at the same time as War's story, and it will be interesting to see how they wrap up in the end.

The game was not available to demo on the Wii U, so I ended up trying the Xbox 360 version. They couldn't tell me what will be different about the Wii U version, but based on how the game played, I wouldn't surprised if most of the equipment customization (at least) will be moved to the GamePad. I was told multiple times, however, that the game will be a launch game for the Wii U, so that's nice. We should talk about the game itself, though.

Darksiders 2 starts out with Death riding his trusty undead steed, Despair, up toward a towering ice fortress. This crumbling tower takes some effort to get into, however: Death shows off his Prince of Persia skills in wall-climbing toward ramparts, shimmying up beams and wall-running. This aspect of the game feels like it was torn right from the excellent 2008 PoP game. So, yeah, Darksiders II doesn't have any original ideas, either. But that's okay, because it's incredible.

Once Death has managed to get up to solid ground, the combat begins. Skeleton enemies melt out of ice crystals and attack! Death has twin scythes this time around, and seamlessly flies between enemies. If there's a block button, I couldn't figure out what it was. The original Darksiders had a stun system, where blocking at the right time resulted in an enemy stun and a free attack. Like War, Death also has a hyper mode, activated by pressing L1 and R2, in which he transforms into a big, badass Reaper. This is useful when facing the game's one big enemy: an Ice Giant, who attacks by stomping and kicking. With enough dashing dodges, the Ice Giant falls pretty easily. After that, you get to the game's first major story sequence: Death confronts the Crowfather, keep of the souls of the Nephilim, an entire race slaughtered by the Horsemen in exchange for unimaginable power. Yes, the Horsemen are Nephilim! Instead of battling Death directly, the Crowfather transforms into a duplicate of War. This battle is great fun and War's moveset is straight from the original game.

Once you defeat "War," the Crowfather reveals himself and Death breaks the amulet. The souls fly into Death's body, burning his chest, and Death passes out in agony. Then the demo ends. Cliffhanger!!!

The biggest change comes from enemies dropping equipment that players can use to customize Death's appearance and stats. Also, Death has an extensive skill tree instead of purchasing attacks in the original game. For a guy who likes the Metroidvania Castlevania games, this was a huge plus for me. The game comes out in August, but not for Wii U of course, and I'm gonna have a hard time holding off.