Darksiders

Story and setting

War is tricked into triggering the end of the world before the appointed time. Heaven and Hell collide, humanity is wiped out and the demonic forces claim Earth. The Charred Council blames War for breaking its sacred laws, strips him of his powers and sends him back to the ruined planet to uncover the truth.

The story takes place around a century after the biblical apocalypse, across a devastated modern city, ruined highways, underground dungeons and stranger realms beyond Earth. War is pursued by vengeful angels while bargaining with demons, including the powerful Samael. It is a deliberately comic-book take on apocalyptic fantasy, shaped by Joe Madureira’s bold character and creature designs.

How it plays

Combat is the centre of the experience. War starts with the Chaoseater sword, then expands his arsenal with new melee and ranged weapons, supernatural abilities and the Chaos Form, a temporary transformation that turns him into a much more destructive version of himself. Ruin, his fiery phantom horse, also becomes important for crossing larger outdoor areas and taking on certain enemies.

Darksiders is not an open-world sandbox in the modern sense. It uses a connected, hub-based world containing substantial dungeons, optional routes and areas that open up as War gains tools such as the Abyssal Chain, Crossblade and Voidwalker. Progression comes from finding relics, improving weapons, unlocking abilities and collecting upgrades. Puzzles regularly interrupt the fighting, usually asking you to combine War’s equipment with the environment, while each major dungeon builds towards a themed boss encounter.

The design wears its influences openly, particularly The Legend of Zelda’s dungeon structure and environmental puzzles alongside the heavier combat of God of War and Devil May Cry. The result is varied and entertaining, although the controls can feel crowded once War has several tools to manage, and the original Xbox 360 version was criticised for screen tearing and occasional slowdown.

Platforms, editions and UK price

The original game launched on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, followed by PC. It has since appeared as Darksiders: Warmastered Edition on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Wii U and Nintendo Switch, with the Warmastered Edition now also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

For UK buyers, the original Xbox listing is currently £14.99 and remains playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles. Warmastered Edition is £24.99 on the UK Xbox and PlayStation stores. The War and Death bundle, which adds Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition, is listed at £31.99 on Xbox and £34.99 on PlayStation. These are digital store prices rather than launch retail RRPs, and they can change.

The original Xbox 360 release is backward compatible, with Xbox One X enhancement and FPS Boost support on Xbox Series X|S. Warmastered Edition is the cleaner choice for most new players, particularly on current hardware.

What changed since launch

The major post-launch addition was Warmastered Edition, not a new campaign. It doubled texture resolution, re-rendered the cutscenes, improved shadows and post-processing, and introduced 60 frames per second gameplay on PS4, Xbox One and PC. The Wii U version runs at 30 frames per second. The original single-player campaign, progression and story remain fundamentally the same, and there is no co-op or competitive mode.

The 2026 current-generation release adds native 4K rendering and a stable 60 frames per second target on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. PS5 also receives a Photo Mode, DualSense support and Activities integration. Xbox One owners receive the Xbox Series upgrade at no extra charge. The PC version has also received a June 2026 patch addressing Vulkan device-loss crashes, camera-speed issues at unusual frame rates, achievement reliability and several interface problems.

Reception and verdict

Darksiders was well received, if rarely considered revolutionary. GameSpot awarded it 8/10, praising the satisfying combat, varied world and challenging puzzles while pointing to the derivative design, awkward controls and Xbox 360 technical problems as weaknesses. The broad critical response settled around a generally favourable score, with the game’s willingness to combine familiar ideas proving more successful than its uneven storytelling.

It is still a worthwhile purchase for anyone after a compact, offline action adventure with proper dungeons and puzzles rather than an endless service game. The original version has historical appeal, especially on Xbox 360, but Warmastered Edition is the sensible recommendation in 2026. The PS5 and Xbox Series versions offer the best presentation, while the £14.99 Xbox listing remains the cheapest straightforward route into War’s first adventure.