Game Over: Darksiders 2

Death has saved his brother War. The sins of the brother have been mostly wiped clean. But how was it done, and was it satisfying? That is the point of this Game Over article. Be warned that spoilers are ahead.

Quick recap for those that don't know, Death has vowed to do anything to clear War's name. The Charred Council has given him the task of returning the kingdom of man, that which was destroyed when War rode early. To do this Death visited the Crow Father, a man of much wisdom and holder of an amulet that held the souls of Death's slain brethren, the Nephilim. Death, being as tactful as possible, ends up fighting the Crowfather to death (that seems redundant), gets the amulet jammed in his chest by an explosion, and thrown to the Forge Lands. These lands are over run with Corruption that is choking out all life. Here Death begins his journey to the Tree of Life.

Fast forward through the Forge Lands and Death reaches the Land of the Dead. This is possibly the largest area as far as the story goes. You find the lord of the land, defeat his champion to speak with him, earn your right to enter the City of the Dead. This process takes you through 6 dungeon like environments and brings you back to square one, talking to the Crowfather, only in spirit form now. He informs Death that the Well of Souls can restore the Kingdom of Man, but to access it he needs 2 keys. One held by angels and one by demons. Fast forward again as Death defeats angels that have fallen to Corruption, a trip to Earth, and two boss fights in a row. Then to a corrupted demon realm where he finds dear old mom. She informs him that the key has left this realm with it's master, but that does not mean it s out of reach. She gives Death the ability to travel back in time, and asks that he follow his heart and save the Nephilim whose souls he now holds. Fast forward again to one long fight against Samael (early boss in the first Darksiders) and now Death has both keys.

Finally Death reaches the Well of Souls. Using both keys Death enters a door on the Tree of Life and confronts the source and champion of Corruption, Absalom, the first Nephilim. After defeating Absalom in combat Death is given a choice by the Crowfather. Either restore the Kingdom of Man or the Nephilim. Only one is possible as it forever dams the other. His choice also requires a sacrifice. Death chooses, above all else, to save War. He steps up to the Well of Souls and jumps in, killing himself in the process. Don't worry, a horseman never truly dies. When War breaks the 7th seal at the end of Darksiders his brothers ride, and they shall always number four.

So there you have it. Now what did I like / dislike about it? First of all, the entire thing about the Nephilim seemed over palyed. It may have been in an effort to humanize one of the most fearful embodiments in man's history, but it was just too much. It seemed the NPC's focused on it too much. Yes, he helped kill most of his species to keep balance in the universe, and he even feels guilty about it. But he is not carrying their souls around in his chest by choice. Unless the post credit scene where someone is pissed that they did not get a Nephilim army leads to a Darksiders 3 then it is totally pointless to have spent that much time on it. It also seemed to distract from the main goal of restoring humanity. What did I like if the majority of the story irritated me? Well, Death's attitude was pretty entertaining. He only took small amounts of crap from people, did have a heart, but did not allow people to forget who he was. Also with Death's death happening prior to the first game it explains why War was able to wield Death's scythe during the first game. That only leaves the question on how Strife cannot keep track of their pistol since now both Death and War have used it.

There you have it. The quick and dirty of how the game ends and my complaints about it. What did you think? Anything about the game that you particularly liked? Or anything I missed that you hated with a burning passion? Sounds off folks!