Console: Xbox 360/ PlayStation 3/
Players: Single & Online Multi player co-op/versus
Release Date: 8th October 2011
Developers: From Software
Publishers: Namco Bandai Games
Genre: Action-Adventure, Roleplay
Price: €44.99*
One dreary September morning we got an e-mail from an arcade reader asking if we’d gotten wind of this brand new game being released fairly shortly and that it claims to be one of the most challenging and difficult video games ever made! (They got to use a lot more colourful language than we do though!).
Now for a game to claim to be one of the most challenging was in our estimation a pretty brazen claim so we decided to see for ourselves but then we forgot to… so when we took a stroll through our local video game store and picked up a copy completely by random it wasn’t until we got home that we realised this was the game that everyone was kicking up a big fuss about…our nightmare was only just beginning…
Dark Souls comes to us from the folks over at From Software of Tenchu and Otogi fame and Dark Souls is not the first title in a series we’re only learning about! Dark souls is predated by Demon’s Souls for the PS3 and King’s Field released way back in 1994 for the Playstation. The games are not direct sequels from each other but rather spiritual meaning they don’t follow on from end points in the story but are rather the inspiration and base for which the next game and can claim it’s improvements and such from.
You take on the role of an Undead, a creature who still retains memories of their former life and after escaping from a prison you learn of an ancient prophecy, that a single Undead, a Chosen one would rise up and ring the bell at the Cathedral of Lords. The Dark Sign, a curse afflicted on humanity after the fall of the Dragons seeks to destroy the burning fires and end the era of man and after finding out there are in fact two bells and ringing both you learn that your destiny is far greater than a mere trivial quest…the fate of the world weighs down on you and you alone.
Hitting things from a distance…hooray for Mages!
Dark Souls is a 3rd person action roleplay, you create your own unqiue character, granting them a class, appearance gift at the start of the game. Our first impressions of the game were overwhelmed solely by the huge amount of customisation that goes into building your own Undead! There are he typical RPG classes to choose from, Warrior, Thief, Sorcerer, Cleric and this is bolstered up then with other classes including Wanderer, Pyromancer and even one where you start with nothing!
The game looks amazing and feels pretty comfortable from a playable point of view. Graphics are sharp and despite the dank nature of the world around you you can’t help but stop and admire it from great heights or gazing up at toward colossal towers and cliffs. The creatures you battle are as beautiful as they are terrifying with intricate details in their appearance, weapons and armor. The cutscene detailing the history and lore of the world is spectacular and actually managed to captivate us further. The game is loosely based on a typical roleplaying system, you kill so many baddies you level up – in the case of Dark Souls you reap souls from th bodies of the slain and at special points known as bonfires you may use these souls to increase your attributes and level up. However the same souls are also used as currency with the merchants and blacksmiths that are scattered around the world so from the get go level grinding becomes very important if you wish to survive.
Online mode was a very nice surprise for us when we randomly stumbled across a bloodstain which once activated shows how another player recently died at that spot. You can also leave messages for other players to read and rate offering your support about an upcoming boss or even decieving them with false information. (A special shoutout to the guy who left a note telling us to kill the merchant…how noobish could we have been to fall for that…twice!). Players can also be summoned to other players worlds where they can team up to tackle a difficult boss or if you feel like being more of a nuisance you can always invade!
That all sounds well and good doesn’t it…however there is a but coming and it’s very big but…
BUT…
Dark Souls is one big steaming pile of frustration and will turn even the most calm and gentile of gamers into twisted temper tantrum throwing teeth grinding fist clenching toerags! The game is’nt a challenge… it’s an impossibility. As it is an open world you’re free to roam whereever…just be sure not to roam into the graveyard where skeletons can rind the flesh from your undead bones just by coughing on you…oh and don’t go down the stairs either…down there you will find zombies which are easy to fight but lure you into a false sense of security because it’s the ghosts that will turn you into a crying mess on the floor of your bedroom.
Don’t worry though up ahead there is a bonfire, if you use that you will recover health and spend the souls that you may have lost had you not crawled to this safe point with only 1 HP. So you’re feeling refreshed and somewhat calmer now? Good now is the right time to tell you so that by using the bonfire not only have you healed ourself but you’ve also managed to revive all the monsters that you barely managed to defeat on your way here…ENJOY!
The Bonfire will betray you!
Dark Souls throws you head first into the deep end but it doesn’t stop there…while you desperately try and stay afloat the game constantly tries to shove you under and as much as you beg it to take its foot off your head it only cackles maniaclly to itself. We’ve restarted Dark Souls four times with four different characters – when we last checked in our level 17 Sorcerer had just defeated a hug Minotaur but was then set ablaze by a dragon only a few feet away from our victorious battle.
*pees pants*
Yes, the game is a challenge, it’s difficult but in all honesty the game and perhaps the designers seem to revel in our misery. We’ve gotten up and walked away from the angry so many times now we’ve lost count, we’ve cursed it and the children of the developers to fiery doom only to find ourselves plonked in front of the loading screen 20minutes later more determined to complete the game!
Dark Souls is a good game, it’s not enjoyable but it’s good! It’s also a b*st*rd!
Good Points
Strong graphics
Great character creation
Playability
Bad Points
The game thinks it’s better than you!
Rating
84/100
