Death Waits: Darksiders II Delayed

I bet it's lonely being Death incarnate. Like, people generally thank, say, firemen, police officers, and bloodthirsty mercenaries for their work. Cookie baskets, hugs, and free puppies are all pretty much par for the course. But Death? His only friend is the world's smallest violin. Perhaps, though, Darksiders II will show people his more sensitive side. Maybe his cold, black heart beats to the rhythm of a soulful acoustic guitar ballad. Unfortunately, THQ's announced that the absurdly muscular embodiment of our mortality will have to live with his crippling depression for a couple extra months.

In a post on the official Darksiders II website, THQ broke down the whys and wherefores of the delay, which will see the game release sometime in August, as opposed to June.

"This small delay is to allow additional time for polish and bug fixing. As we’ve stated in numerous articles and videos, Darksiders II is substantially larger game than its predecessor and the ambition of this project requires extra time to polish to the high standards that Vigil Games and THQ are committed to.

"As we approached the game’s completion date, the team asked for more time to polish the huge amount of content included in this ambitious project.  We are all committed to making Darksiders II the highest-quality game possible and the additional time will allow the team to do just that.  The game content remains unchanged, as do our future DLC plans."

Concerns, of course, arose in the wake of recent layoffs at Vigil, which claimed a whopping 79 jobs - though the Darksiders II team remained mostly intact. Obviously, though, THQ's on shaky (though slightly less dire, as of today) ground, and all eyes are on - somewhat ironically - Death to be the one that brings the beleaguered publisher back from the brink. Happily, Adam found the sequel to be a refreshingly in-character departure from the solid-if-unspectacular first game, so THQ might just be onto something.

Moreover, an August release date means Darksiders II will ride ever-so-precariously ahead of the holiday game avalanche, so hopefully it won't be overshadowed by the CODBLOPS, MOHWs (Medal of Honor: Warfighter, whose acronym sounds amusingly like a cat meowing), and Assassin's Creeds of the world. So godspeed, Death. You'll get that free puppy one day. I believe in you.