NEW DARKSIDERS 3 GAMEPLAY TRAILER RELEASED!

With the hype still flowing hot in my veins, I was very excited to see that THQ Nordic had the sense to trot out some fresh content to help reassure fans who get suspicious when they see cinematic trailers (as they rightly should). It's always a good idea to show that you're more than just a really well-rendered cutscene when it comes to selling the idea of a game to potential players prior to release.

So having watched the trailer myself, I had a few opinions to express, starting with their portrayal of Fury. Obviously they're aiming for an agile, quick-footed approach similar to Death from Darksiders II, which is fine by me, given that was my favorite installment of the series. This clashes a little with a statement made by Reinhard Pollice, Director of business and product development at THQ Nordic, who said:

There is simply no team better qualified to create Darksiders III, beginning with our unpredictable and enigmatic hero FURY – a mage who is considered the most powerful of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Obviously, being a marketing guy, you can't take everything he says at face value, and that seems especially the case here. Dedicated fans will know that so far Fury has been a very sidereal character, getting little to no development in what supplemental media and lore we've been privy to. However, in what we HAVE seen, she's not exactly someone to be feared. In the prequel comic released around the time of the original Darksiders, she totally fails to restrain War during a murderous rampage by her fellow Horseman, which leads to Death having to step in and subdue his less-angsty brother. If they're serious about her power, then Gunfire Games would do well to try and dispel that image of inferiority right off the bat. In a series with big names such as War and Death, Fury needs to stand apart in terms of design, yet stand shoulder-to-shoulder in terms of how much of a badass she is.

Thankfully their claims about her being a mage would seem to indicate they're on the right track. If their goal is to make Fury more of a glass cannon (high damage, low endurance) though, then they need to beef up her abilities, at least in terms of presentation. They could start with the whip, which visually and audibly pales in comparison to the Chaoseater or Death's dual scythes. Darksiders is an inherently 'metal' franchise, and as such, everything needs a certain level of 'oomph' to carry it off. Weapons and attacks should be brutal and visceral, yet her whip, even if it is apparently a bladed chain like in the announcement trailer, lacks the savagery of the weapons of Fury's fellow horsemen.

Apart from this discrepancy, the trailer demonstrates that the devs have a pretty good grasp of the series' soul, with dungeon-crawling and Legend of Zelda-like maneuverability and combat both highly in evidence. Also of interest is that much like her brother Death, Fury doesn't appear to have a blocking move, meaning that combat requires fleet-footed dodging and a good awareness of the area around you. This is very promising, and hopefully is a sign that the creators have a firm grasp of the base mechanics, as well as an idea of where to go next.

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