It’s quite hard not to like the Warhammer 40k universe. Huge armour, big guns and bigger hammers, split between a huge variety of races, filled to bursting point with lore. It is clearly prime material for making videogames that justify an ‘M for mature’ rating.

THQ took E3 to show off two new games based on Warhammer 40k that are already looking deliciously violent, and set to capture the feel of the universe brilliantly. They are also leaps and bounds away from the RTS adventures of the Blood Ravens in Dawn of War 2.

Kicking things off was Relic, developers of the aforementioned strategy series with their new offering of console action RPG, Space Marine. The game sees the player taking the role of an Ultramarine, one of the more well known chapters from the table top game who sport bright blue armour.

The trailer shows plenty of combat against the Orkz, with a lot of shooting and melee combat thrown in to a chaotic looking mixing pot. It looks to have come along nicely since the last footage that was shown at E3 last year.

The second 40k themed game to make its first appearance outside of the written word was the upcoming MMO; Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online by Darksiders developer, Vigil Games.

Taking a second stab at a Warhammer MMO, and hopefully due to out perform 2008s Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the trailer makes the game look good, but at the moment it is all the information we have about it.

The trailer shows many races duking it out, and what looks like a bit of Mass Effect over the shoulder style shooting, which suggests that this could be quite an action packed MMO, but we wouldn’t expect anything less, within the dystopian depiction of a grim future where there is only war. The setting also gives a strong indication that their will be plenty of PVP combat, but nothing is confirmed.

The developer has said that vehicles will feature, but it is unclear how much interaction players will be able to have. We can see an Ork flying a rather shaky looking helicopter which might be an indication that vehicles on that scale can be piloted, but it is unclear if the massive stomping titan featured will be controllable. If it is then that will definitely be a challenge to balance.

Two great looking games on the horizon which already have a fleshed out back story in place are early indication that everything is running smoothly at the moment. We get the impression though that both games are still far from being finished, meaning that there is still a fair old slog to go. Both studios have already proven their metal at producing good games however, so it is definitely looking promising for the mean time.

Apocalyptic horsey hack and slasher, Darksiders (with a CG review score of 8/10) is getting a very generous sounding 90 minute demo on Xbox Live and PSN later this month on February 25.

The demo contains the entire first dungeon from the game, the Twilight Cathedral, complete with puzzles to solve, equipment to find and bosses to cut down in to chunks so tiny, they can be evaporated.

Dave Adams, the General Manager of Vigil Games said, “We really wanted to give gamers a true idea of the variety of gameplay that the game offers and so rather than just making a standard 20-minute demo version of the first few levels, we decided to give away this massive level and reveal the true essence of the game.”

If the reviews for this game put you on the fence of indecisiveness, then this massive demo should be enough to push you into the hedges on either side.

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), 360
  
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: THQ
• Developer: Vigil Games
  
• Players: 1
• Site: www.darksiders.com
  

Imagine turning up for a party a whole day early. Wouldn’t that be terribly embarrassing? Now imagine you’re one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, and you’ve turned up for the end of mankind hundreds if not thousands of years early. A faux pas of truly epic proportions. That’s what’s happened to War, poor lad. Even worse, he’s ended up with the blame for triggering the apocalypse early and wiping out the human race. Somebody tricked him, all signs point to that lovable prankster Satan, and so he sets off back to Earth to express his displeasure at the situation.

Predictably perhaps, you’ll be doing your best to fix the balance of the universe by hitting things with an amusingly large sword. Repeatedly. Screenshots and videos may put you in mind of God of War; buckets of blood, gory finishing moves, oversized weapons (oo – er missus, etc), demonic enemies, and suspiciously orb – like collectables flying from fallen enemies and smashed chests. Indeed, Darksiders is at its heart a roaming fantasy beat ‘em up – but it actually owes much more to the Zelda series.

Bomb plants, the megaton hammer, Epona, and the grappling hook are all emulated here, with the graphics being the biggest difference. The glaive you soon get hold of works exactly like Link’s boomerang. If Nintendo decided to unleash the lawyers, Darksiders would be ripped to shreds. In the last leg of the game you’re given an item that, for a few hours, turns the experience into a Portal homage. At least Vigil Games are copying from the best titles.

So, this isn’t a game that’s big on originality; and it must be said that it never manages to capture the charm, inventiveness, or sense of wonder of its inspirations. Thankfully however it tries its very best, and manages to deliver a good time.

It must have been very tempting to paint the literally post – apocalyptic world with nothing but greys, browns and beige; but Darksiders features admirably colourful locales and enemies, with reds and blues being particularly evident. The aforementioned enemies tend to be more toothy than Esther Rantzen and Janet Street Porter combined (if you don’t know, google for images). You fight puzzlingly heavily armoured angels as well as demons, and we like to think that gigantic heavenly gnashers lurk beneath those helmets. At any rate, you’ll be carving through them all with a sword. You can soon buy a scythe, and you’ll get hold of a gauntlet, but that’s about it for variety of melee weapons.

The ‘souls’ that you collect come in three flavours: minty green for your health, banana yellow for your ‘wrath’ meter (which is used for wrath abilities such as poisoning surrounding enemies, or boosting your defence), and spearmint blue for spending money. As you progress you’ll unlock the obligatory replenishers for your various meters to purchase, as well as special moves and combos. These unlockable moves seem rather superfluous, however; weak enemies are easily despatched with the classic attackattackattackattackattack button bashing method, while most stronger enemies can be seen off with attackattackattack dodge attackattackattack dodge attackattackattack.

This is going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me.

Whether you go for cheap button bashing (like us) or taking advantage of the various moves and combos up for grabs, combat is fun. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why, but overcoming huge waves of enemies – and all that blood – probably has something to do with it. It just never gets old, and this is just as well. There are dozens of puzzles in Darksiders, but very rarely will you find one where the answer isn’t immediately obvious; combat will take up most of your time.

Once you’ve passed a certain point in the story, you can take on a ‘Chaos’ form for about ten seconds at a time, a super – powerful flaming beast with… a sword. Every hit you land on an enemy in your regular form fills up your Chaos meter a little, and when it’s full, you’re able to activate this angry chap. You soon learn to save it for when the more powerful enemies gang up on you.

As for the most powerful enemies of all, well… after your first boss fight, you’ll always be hungry for the next, craving it like a forgotten celebrity on a reality show craves attention. Here is a game that knows damn well how to deliver a good boss. Huge and evil looking every one of ‘em, even the smallest towering over War with powerful attacks at their disposal (though at the end of the game… well, you’ll see). They all end up meeting a very gory God of Waresque end too, designed to get the testosterone flowing – um, if you’re male – and encourage you to scream RRRRAAARRRGGGHHHHH in victory.

I DON'T need the feather! I just need to flap my ears!

It would be unfair to say this was a strictly one – note game; the previously mentioned Portal style puzzles, while epically derivative, are something completely new in the context of the gameplay. At other points you’ll be fighting on horseback, piloting a flying angelic, er, thing, tackling the puzzles, or using your grappling hook to swing around like an apocalyptic Tarzan. Nonetheless, you’ll spent the biggest chunk of the game hacking your way through waves of enemies.

The script is the only thing about the whole game to offer a spark of originality; but the dialogue could have come straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, drenched as it is in melodrama. It’s entertaining nonetheless, and the ending almost (almost) ties up all the loose ends. The game itself, apart from a slightly tedious fetch quest just before the big finale, keeps up a good pace. It may be low on new ideas, and sometimes outright steals from other games; but it manages to carve an identity for itself, and to entertain effortlessly.

8/10

Thinking of pre-ordering THQ’s upcoming apocalyptic hack and slash ‘em up Darksiders? Well if you’re in the UK you may want to think carefully where you reserve your copy as many retailers are offering different pre-order incentives.

If you stroll in to GAME you can expect to get an in game weapon, the Harvester, an ornate scythe ‘from the arsenal of Death himself’.

Getting your copy pre-ordered from Play.com will get you access to War clothes for your console avatar on Xbox Live or Playstation home, really letting you rub your purchase in the face of others. Likewise if you order from Amazon you will get exclusive access to a Ruin head mask for your console representation of you.

You can always throw your money Gamestation’s way and nab yourself a Darksiders comic book which expands on the story, drawn up by ex-Marvel and Vigil Games creative lead Joe Madureira.

Alternatively you could order from HMV and get the ‘Your Last Centrefold’ calendar if you are starting to get bored of staring at the pin up you might have adorning your wall currently.

If these rewards are starting to make you froth at the mouth with excitement, or if you merely want to be guaranteed you can slot it in to your 360 or PS3 on the 8 January next year, you now have some tempting pre-order bonuses.

Here’s the latest trailer for Vigil Games’ Darksiders. In Darksiders you’ll play as War of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse fame, stripped of his powers and sentenced to walk the earth. There’s a distinct God of War vibe to the trailer, mixing up violent bloody action with mythology.

Despite the God of War styling, designer Joe Madureira has drawn comparisons instead to The Legend of Zelda series, except evidently with much more blood (and guns).

Darksiders is due for release early next year on PS3 and Xbox 360.