Product Features
- Genre
- Adventure
- Publisher
- Namco Bandai
- Release Date
- December 22, 2011
- Available Platforms
- PlayStation 3, XBox 360, XBox 360
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Dark Souls
Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to the widely acclaimed action RPG Demon's Souls by From Software. Dark Souls is a brand new action RPG (role playing game) set in a rich, dark fantasy universe. Tense dungeon crawling, fearsome enemy encounters and groundbreaking online features combine for a truly unique RPG experience. Dark Souls breaks down barriers with a seamless world design that encourages exploration and fosters an adaptable gameplay experience. As players encounter terrifying enemies and discover new areas, the unerring foundation of challenge and reward permeates to offer an unparalleled sense of achievement. Storyline: Demons, spawned by the wrath of gods, have brought darkness to the world. Stricken by the curse of the undead, many have lost their souls. Players must battle...
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Alex Decker May 28, 2012 360
Dark Souls Xbox 360 Review
Dark Souls is a fantasy RPG and the sequel to 2009's Demon's Souls. I'm going to get straight to the point; this game is difficult, so difficult that it had me screaming and shouting at my television for the 50 hours that it took me to complete it. However, I know that this will sound weird but this was one of the reasons why it had me coming back for more, time after time again; despite some minor mishaps.
In terms of story, there really isn't a lot to go on. You start your quest by creating a chosen character after choosing your class from a selection of 10. Shortly after this an epic cut-scene plays out telling you how you get to be in the prison you start the game off in. Here is where your adventure begins, yet despite the high tempo beginning I felt myself feeling disjointed from the story as it didn't really tell me what I was doing. Gratefully this disjointed feeling doesn't last for long. Eventually you discover that you are the chosen one and have to slay the demons that inhabit the land and ring the two bells of awakening to cleanse the world; that bring about the age of fire. When the story eventually got going I found it to be quite engrossing; something that added a mysterious edge to the game and something that made me want to play it, just to see how things would pan out.
The gameplay in this game is where it truly shines. Tight and polished close quarters combat really makes this game feel like the dungeon crawler that it is, and the massive, epic boss battles really makes this game stand out. The combat is probably one of the best aspects to this game and it never gets old to watch the demented creatures you slay be cut to pieces by the blade of your sword. However no matter how refined the gameplay is in a game, there are always going to be problems, and it is no different here. The lock-on system in this game is terrible. I don't know how many times I would be locking on to an enemy only for the lock-on system to have me killed as it didn't switch to a different enemy when I pressed the button. This is a major problem as with a game as challenging as Dark Souls the last thing you want to be dealing with is a poor control scheme. This is not a huge problem when you are fighting an enemy one-on-one like in a boss sequence but when a group of enemies comes flying at you, it can get incredibly frustrating. Speaking of boss battles, this game has a tonne of them. These are giant monsters the size of skyscrapers coming at you with ferocious and violent attacks. I found these boss battles to be very challenging much like the rest of this game but never cheap. I never found myself thinking that it was unfair that I died or that the game was cheating me. There is always a way to kill these demons; you just have to find out their strengths and weaknesses. If all else fails you can always call upon your friends to help you defeat the boss in four player co-operative mode.
As well as joining your friends' world and helping them play the game, you may also choose to invade their world and take them on in a head-to-head battle. I found this to be a whole lot of fun and I found myself not caring when my friend killed me as I was just having too much of a good time. Although what really did annoy me about the game, was the sadistic way in which I continually died. It wasn't the death, as much as the loss of all my hard earned souls and humanity that really got to me. Souls are what you spend to rank up your character in the game and humanity is what gives you a health boast at bonfires; the game's checkpoint systems. I will repeat this; my deaths never felt unfair or cheap, but they did feel like a massive inconvenience. I accept that in games you die; but in this game you will die and die and die some more. Surely there has to be a limit to how punishing a game can be, but in this game it does not change its rules. It stays at one difficultly throughout the game, and unless you can keep at this game for hours and hours until you make some small progress, you will be staring at you television, asking yourself what on earth just happened. time after time again.
This game's presentation is one of its better parts. Demons are terrifyingly brilliant and the boss creatures are outstandingly designed. Just as you think that the demons can't get any more gruesome and horrifying, out comes the next boss or the next creature that is lurking behind a possible deadly corner. The art design it very creative also, from lush green forests to spider infested volcanoes; you can never guess what you will see next. The voice acting in this game is where the presentation comes apart slightly. Stereotypical characters that you'll meet on your adventure are only slightly more well designed than your own, and are matched with even more stereotypical voices. Thankfully though the characters do not say an awful lot unless you speak to them yourself, which is a good thing as you'll be more than likely be listening to the absolutely magical soundtrack that accompanies this game. Desperate and hopeless music fills the air only amplifying your determination to complete your quest and save the innocent world that is at risk. My last note on the presentation would be about the terrible frame rate that plagues the game throughout the course of your playthrough, especially in Blightown; (other players will know what I mean when I say this). The frame rate gets so low at times that the game comes to a near standstill. It stops your flow and will often result in death. But the worst thing about it; is the fact that you can't stop it. At least with the numerous deaths you will surely have throughout the game; it was your own fault that you died. Here you can't change what is happening and I'm sorry to say that it will really hinder both your gameplay and presentation experiences as it will become almost a chore to continue playing this game.
To summarise, I truly have mixed feelings and opinions about this game. Yes it may be good at times, with a solid combat system and an excellent musical score to boot, however your experience will often be hindered by the many minor flaws that are a part of this game. I really enjoyed most of my time with Dark Souls; however I can already begin to see why this game is not for everyone. If you are an RPG fan then you may want to check this one out. However if you feel like maybe trying an RPG and this is your first time; then Dark Souls is definably not the game for you. Dark Souls can be enjoyable at times but the cons often outweigh the benefits, leading to a game that is not for the light hearted. If you're not sure if you want to buy this game then I would suggest to rent it first, as Dark Souls' challenging nature is enough to frighten off even the toughest of players.