Darksiders 3: 12 minutes of whipping enemies to shreds
Giant subway crabs
Darksiders 3 [official site] was only announced four days ago but we've already got 12 minutes of gameplay to inspect.
The pre-alpha footage shows Fury, one of the Horsemen (horsewoman?) of the Apocalypse, jumping and rolling through a city that's been torn apart by nature, fighting giant crabs, horned red monstrosities and – finally – Sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. He's basically a massive, bulbous green bug with a club that looks like it could take your head off in a single swing.
Towering trees have ripped up the concrete streets, and the inside of the subway walls are covered by luminous purple eggs. Sloth himself is grotesque, initially sitting on a mossy throne carried by crab minions before Fury takes them out, forcing him to hulk about on his man legs.
The environments look great and the platforming looks fun enough too, with Fury using her whip to swing from branches and access new areas.
But I'm not totally convinced yet, and that's because of the combat. The animations seems stiff. There doesn't look to be much combo variation. And Fury's whip lacks the heft of Death's hammers that made the combat in Darksiders 2 so meaty.
Still, it's pre-alpha gameplay, and only 12 minutes of it at that. I'm sure Fury will be able to swap out weapons throughout the story, and I'm more than happy to be proved wrong. Darksiders 3 is due in 2018.
What's your snap judgement?