"Darksiders 3" was officially announced with a cinematic trailer earlier this week. The trailer revealed a new protagonist named Fury, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In previous installments, players got to play as two of her brothers and fellow Horsemen, War and Death, with the former also making a brief appearance in the announcement trailer.
Fury will be the first playable female character in the series, and the trailer revealed that her preferred choice of weapon is a red whip. Now, IGN has uploaded gameplay footage of "Darksiders 3" to their YouTube channel.
Pre-Alpha Gameplay footage of 'Darksiders 3.'
The gameplay footage showcases the stunning visuals and next-gen graphics of "Darksiders 3". This will be the first game in the series to run on the Unreal Engine, and there is a notable improvement in the graphics department when compared to "Darksiders 2", which was released back in 2012. However, the game seems to capture the overall aesthetic and feel of its predecessors successfully.
The combat system looks rather familiar. Like "Darksiders" and "Darksiders 2", the third installment will also be an action role-playing hack and slash game. Of course, Fury's combat style is different from the previous protagonists. The female Horseman seems much more agile and mobile, and she can also utilize her whip to swing across the terrain.
Level design: Interconnected to dungeons
According to IGN, "Darksiders 3" is expected to feel much more interconnected, with "the whole game world almost acting as one giant cell." As such, players can look forward to a smooth yet diverse open-world experience.
Each dungeon will have a unique design and feel to it. The environment and level design will be molded around each boss.
In other words, the dungeons will be an extension and reflection of each unique boss in the game.
The gameplay footage reveals one of these bosses: a gigantic crab-like monster named Sloth. And there's certainly a continuity between Sloth, the misty dungeon, and the minor monsters, which are mostly crabs and bugs, regarding environment and design.
The release date for 'Darksiders 3.'
"Darksiders 3" is still in the early stages of development, as designated in the gameplay video. Regardless, the game is already set for a 2018 release. Like its predecessors, "Darksiders 3" is expected to come out for consoles and PC.
While the game won't be released until next year, fans of the "Darksiders" series can already look forward to a fourth installment, which should feature the fourth and final Horseman known as Strife. Both Strife and Fury have already made appearances in the "Darksiders" comics, and unless "Darksiders 3" becomes a major flop, Strife should have his turn as the series protagonist sooner or later.
