Darksiders

Darksiders is an interesting game to me. It takes what was pretty awesome about God of War (sweet combos, smooth animation for those combos, and maneuverability), and pretty awesome about Zelda (huge dungeons, sweet treasure, boomerang - only a 4 sided blade of DEATH), and mixes them with a Metroid like overworld that encourages exploration, and rewards you with more stuff. This sounds like a very ideal combination - and it is - but you may feel pangs of "I've felt this before" syndrome as you play through the game. 
 
I will not, however, fault the game much for that, and neither should you. Just because this game is not exactly original, does not mean that you shouldn't play it. The production values (aside from the screen tearing on the Xbox 360 version) are very high. The design, especially on enemies and War himself, is great. The environments bleed color and design; no bland hallway crawls here. The animation throughout the game is very solid, and there is no problems that I've seen whilst switch between various actions (dodging mid combo - switching combo mid combo, etc.) 

Aside from the gameplay, this game has one other thing that I think really goes a long way towards the 4 stars I give it. I will call this the "badass" factor. Quite simply, War is a badass. Some of the killing moves (started by a simple button press - rather than a series of presses - another innovation I like) help to affirm that you are one of the Four Horsemen. There is no better joy than to rip a demons head off and watch as his body sprays acid as it falls to the ground, or by dismembering a huge boss then finishing off his little head. Certainly borrowed from the Spartan with the chain-swords on his arms, but perhaps toned down a little due to the visuals, but still effective in its execution. Punching dudes in half has never been so satisfying.  

 
The upgrade system is fairly typical, but makes the game addicting. Exploration throughout the overworld rewards you with souls and shards that increase health and wrath, that you can buy combos, health potions (Darksiders' version anyway), and other things that will make your life easier. You can get through the game spamming a couple of techniques, but combat is more rewarding if you take a slower, more tactical focus. In some sections, the game can get difficult, especially for those not used to dodging attacks. Sometimes the game throws several tough foes to down, as well as a good many weaker demons at you to keep you on your toes. The game is combat focused, but the puzzle solving in the dungeons helps to balance out the game. Some have said that the combat is the best part of this game; I would say what keeps me coming back is the exploration and backtracking for loot. Puzzles are typically hit and miss for me in games, but the puzzles in this game remind me of Prince of Persia, and they are just tough enough not to be easy, but not hard enough to make me not want to keep playing. I haven't been stuck in one section very long, and this really helps the flow of the game.
 
On a closing note, the holographic boxart is one of the sweetest looking boxarts that I've seen in stores. The thing was glaring at me from behind the counter. Don't fault this game for copying what has made certain other games successful; Darksiders is a great homage. I feel that the mix of exploration, dungeons, and smooth combat is a winning combination - made all the more sweeter by the graphical design and bright colors of the environments and characters.