I rarely skip cutscenes in video games, but after a minute or so, I skipped all the intro cutscenes for Darksiders 3. Lots of nouns delivered in a low, gravelly voice. An ancient conflict spilling over in new ways. The four horsemen of the apocalypse stumbling into some kind of grave trouble. Blah, grr, roar.

The opening story seemed generic, but I think the audience of a demon-infested hack-and-slash game is served well enough by the framework: there are seven deadly sins out there; go kill them.

As Fury, you roam around a desolate, destroyed Earth (perhaps), battling demons who lurk abjectly in pre-arranged locations. As Fury moves through the world, the AI activates, and the enemy creatures shamble toward the player character. A few taps of the square button sends Fury’s whip out to dispatch them. Rinse and repeat, over and over.

The first boss I met, Envy, was more of the same. A scripted animation sequence, including a section where she flies into the air and repeats a line until Fury manages to platform her way to the top of the arena and delivered a few scripted hits.

All of this combat emblematic of what I saw throughout my time with Darksiders 3: the game waits for you, the player, to do what you’re supposed to do to advance the level to the next area. If you don’t do what you’re meant to do, the game world will wait until you do.

Overall, it’s lifeless and dull. Enemy variety, at least at the early stage, was non-existent. I found the gameplay mindless, the level pathing straightforward, and the game design…old for a game published in 2018. For example, at the first boss, Envy, I died because I had forgotten to heal at the right moment. Instead of being taken to the beginning of the boss fight, I was taken back to the very beginning of the game and forced to work my way through the level and find the boss again. It didn’t take very long, but it was an annoying bit of rough that had long ago been sanded off of games of this type.

Something I did like was how straightforward the upgrade system presents. You trade souls, which you collect from downed enemies, for an upgrade point, which you can then apply straight to one of three areas—health, damage, or a third attribute I cannot recall. Apply and, boom, stat increase. No complicated skill trees. No plethora of things to upgrade. Simple choices.

Mostly, I think folks appreciate complex upgrade paths to enhance build diversity and replayability, Lately, I have been exhausted by illegible skill trees with far too many options, so I was happy to see a system boiled down to its essence—even if, over the long term, it’d be pretty boring if it didn’t open up over time.

After about 30 minutes, I felt like I had a decent grip on what this game had to offer. I’m certain the combat opens up into interesting combos, the enemies grow more varied and interesting, and the bosses present unique challenges. But, for the most part, this felt like a straightforward, what-you-see-is-what-you-get hack-and-slash adventure. Competently made, and exactly what some folks would want out of this type of gaming experience. It’s just not something I am too interested in.

Verdict: Competent but too rote to hold my interest.