In Darksiders, the player controls War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The core gameplay is that of a third-person hack and slash action-adventure with role-playing elements.
The game consists of main story objectives, but allows for open world roaming and backtracking.
Character Meters
In the upper left corner of the screen, multiple meters track War's Health, Wrath, and Chaos Form energy.
Health
- War's health is tracked by a green meter and green skulls in boxes above the meter. While an individual bar can be depleted, War will only die when all meters (equal to the number of skulls) has been depleted. If War is defeated, he will respawn at the last checkpoint. In order to heal you will either need to use healing items, level up, or regaining health by defeating enemies.
Wrath
- Wrath energy is Darksider's mana system. Gained over the course of battles, and indicated by the yellow bars under the health meter, the energy can be used for special abilities in combat to ease the battles.
Chaos Form
- Chaos energy is a separate form of energy, indicated by the red swirl bar, that is gathered through combat and acts similar to Dante's Devil Trigger in Devil May Cry, transforming War into his Chaos Form and making him more resilient to attacks and stronger.
Weapons & Gear
There are three types of items in the game: Weapons, Gear, and Items.
Weapons are the way in which War engages in combat. There are two types of weapons: primary and secondary. The only primary weapon is War's Chaoseater, later replaced by the Armageddon Blade, and is used by pressing the primary attack button. There are two secondary weapons, the Scythe and the Tremor Gauntlets, both of which are used by pressing the secondary attack button and can be switched between by the inventory or hotkeying them.
As weapons are used in combat they gain experience, eventually leveling up. Each weapon can be leveled up to five times, becoming stronger with each level.
Gear are different than weapons, despite some of them being useable in combat, and do not level up the same way weapons do. They can be equipped via the inventory and hotkeyed for use on the fly.
Weapon Enchantments
Weapon Enchantments are bonuses that can be found or bought. These bonuses can be attached to War's weapons and give him a distinct bonus, whether it be additional experience for that weapon or additional Wrath upon killing an enemy. Each weapon, except the Armageddon Blade, can only be equipped with one enchantment at a time.
Money & Collectibles
As War defeats enemies, he will obtain money in the form of souls, which can then be used to buy items and learn skills from Vulgrim at certain locations on the map.
Additionally, there are hidden collectibles such as Artifacts, Abyssal Armor Pieces, and much more.
