Gunfire hasn't quite thrown the baby out with the bathwater, but they came somewhat close. Darksiders III is now a gamble—for those who have heard the British phrase "Marmite - you either love it or you hate it", that's possibly what Darksiders fans can expect. The game is not the arcade-style brawler that was the first game, and it's not quite the open-world romp that was the second game. Instead, Gunfire has created an extremely purebred brawler focused intensely on combat with a hybrid mix between open world and linear gameplay. Personally, I like it, but I couldn't possibly speak as to whether that is a good or bad thing, simply that I like the direction they took the game. Items are no longer in massive supply and overly complex and random, consumables are limited in scope and largely passable, and puzzles in levels are now solved with items that are both useful in and out of combat by combining them with the "Hollow" stances of your character. Instead of throwing a dozen half-baked systems into the game and offering what I dare say was too much cosmetic choice in the first two games, Gunfire has limited those to half a dozen incredibly streamlined systems. Stats are clear, and everything just does what it says in the tool tip. Nothing more and nothing less.

In terms of negatives, you'll find many are subjective given the nature of the changes made to the recipe of the game. Consumables were easily sidelined, and during my entire playthrough, I used them twice in the first hour and then never again, and I didn't feel like I missed out on much. Obviously, the health consumable got frequently used (and is now akin to the Hestus flask), but the others either need to be made more useful or removed entirely. The difficulty curve is not a linear gradient—for most of the game, it starts off challenging and becomes more and more complex and difficult, but I found the boss battles significantly easier than a corridor of five strong enemies. Because of the nature of combat, engaging more than, say, three enemies is futile and infinitely more difficult than focusing on a single boss with powerful attacks and a ton of health. My frustrations mounted when faced with five enemies fully capable of killing me in three shots, but by comparison, the boss right after these felt perfectly fair and balanced. I can solve this entire problem very simply, and I'm not entirely sure why the developers never thought of it, but it is a dead easy answer and widely used: invulnerability frames during perfectly timed counter attacks. Currently, any successful dodge and counter attack can be interrupted, which makes group fighting literally impossible. Most games employ short invulnerability frames during a counter attack to make such cases significantly smoother. The game is not quite the original Darksiders recipe anymore, but in some ways, that's not necessarily bad. I personally like how the game turned out, but those looking for a more casual arcade experience will want to look elsewhere. Lastly, and it's a small complaint, the game appears to be capped at 60 FPS, so users with high refresh screens are left out to dry.

All is not lost, however. If the negatives above don't phase you, what the game has left to offer is utter perfection. The levels are beautifully designed, particularly the large open rooms and arenas for the bosses, who themselves have utterly amazing models and mechanics. There's room for exploration, but not so much that you would feel overwhelmed, which is how Darksiders II felt to me; painting by the numbers, like an Ubisoft title. Enemies were suitably random, so it never felt like I was fighting against a never-ending horde of similar models in different colors, and combat is so damn tight and wholeheartedly exhilarating that I was on the edge of my seat with white knuckles nearly the whole time. Utility items have been tossed out completely, and puzzles are now solved using your four different "Hollow" forms, which also serve as different weapons in combat. In terms of streamlining systems, that was by far the game's greatest success. The dodge and counterattack system is a work of art and highly rewarding, and the weapon and character level-up system is simple enough to grasp what it does exactly, but with just enough of a slither of customization that you can feel happy about the outcome. The storyline strikes a great balance with gameplay, linking everything together in such a subtle and interesting way that it didn't feel overbearing or half baked.

Darksiders III, for me, is a brilliant game. I think Gunfire has definitely managed to keep it above and beyond a simple "7/10" title, and while they've tossed out a lot of systems from the originals, they've managed to keep in just enough to keep it vaguely familiar to a player's expectations. It has taken risks, though. Some will not be pleased about the style change to difficulty or limited itemization, but for me, it struck the perfect chord. Gunfire took a gamble that has paid off for me personally.