Darksiders vs Darksiders II
Darksiders is an action-adventure action-RPG game from Vigil Games (2010) while Darksiders II is an action-adventure game from Vigil Games (2012).
Quick answer: Darksiders has the higher Metacritic, 83 to 81.
Darksiders II
What each one is
Darksiders is filed under Action-Adventure and Action-RPG. In contrast, Darksiders II under Action-Adventure.
Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end of the world, War – the first Horseman of the Apocalypse – stands accused of breaking the sacred law by inciting a war between Heaven and Hell. In the slaughter that ensued, the demonic forces defeated the heavenly hosts and laid claim to the Earth.
Darksiders II is an action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. It is the sequel to Darksiders and was released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and as a launch title for Wii U upon the console's North American and PAL regions release in November of the same year. The story follows the efforts of player character Death to clear the name of his brother, War, who stands accused of wiping out humanity. On a total budget of $50 million, it was one of the most expensive video games to develop of all time.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Darksiders II is parallel to the previous game. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - War, Strife, Fury, and Death, the player character - are the last of the Nephilim , cursed fusions of angels and demons who waged war on all Creation for a place to live. To preserve the balance of the universe, the Four received power from the Charred Council in exchange for slaughtering their kin. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Darksiders II received positive reviews. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Wii U version 85/100, the PlayStation 3 version 84/100, the Xbox 360 version 83/100, and the PC version 81/100. IGN gave it a score of 7. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Darksiders | Darksiders II | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.7/10 | — |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (89%, 12,912) | — |
| Critic aggregate | 83/100 | 81/100 |
| Price | Not listed | Unknown |
| Install size | — | — |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | Untested |
| Released | 2010 | 2012 |
| Developer | Vigil Games | Vigil Games |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Darksiders vs Darksiders II, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
DarksidersAction-adventure action-RPG gameDarksiders IIAction-adventure gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
DarksidersAction, Adventure, Hack and SlashDarksiders IINo descriptive tagsThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Darksiders ✓Metacritic 83Darksiders IIMetacritic 81Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.
Content and scale
Darksiders12,912 reviewsDarksiders II—Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
DarksidersNot listedDarksiders IIUnknownRead live from Steam and subject to change.
Darksiders takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The better reviewed of the two: Darksiders (Metacritic 83)
Where they differ
ActionAdventureHack and SlashThird PersonSingleplayerPost-apocalyptic
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Darksiders is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Darksiders II is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Darksiders and 0 for Darksiders II. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Darksiders and Darksiders II in scope?
Darksiders has drawn 12,912 Steam reviews. Darksiders II lists little scope data.
Is Darksiders or Darksiders II better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Darksiders or Darksiders II?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Darksiders or Darksiders II?
Darksiders has the higher Metacritic, 83 to 81. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.