This was one of two games this year that I've been waiting for since their last iterations over six years ago and honestly, while this is by far the better of the two, it still has issues that don't allow me to give it a higher score. Like everyone seems to be saying, this is the weakest of the three Darksiders games. I should know because in the last year I've gone back and replayed the two previous installments.
From a technical standpoint, I've noticed several glitches that really shouldn't be there for a game like this; especially since it's already been update three or four times since its release. Load times are somewhat ridiculous and I've notice that you do see them mid-game. One particularly irritating instance, which I saw this morning, is that there one of these for an area shortly after a checkpoint. It might not be so bad but immediately following that load you're faced with defeating multiple enemies where it's pretty easy to die; meaning you have face this load area multiple times, if you aren't good at games like I am, only to die repeatedly.
Which leads to my next gripe. Combat, the lack of save checkpoints, and having to re-clear the same area over and over again if you die. Combat isn't as smooth as the previous Darksiders games and without a definitive, if albeit weaker ranged attack like the guns in those games, is much more difficult. The best way I can describe it, is that the flow is just off when fighting more than one opponent. The camera and lock on system don't make things easier. Without a ranged attack to stun enemies using ranged weapons, the game become frustrating when you just need to make a jump to get to them for in close attacks and they shoot you just as you're making that jump. Add in the fact that when you die you need to you go back to the previous save point and then have to clear the area you just survived is, and I hate to keep using the word, frustrating. The ironic thing is, any puzzles you've cleared remain cleared.
My third major gripe is a lack of a map/mini-map. It might seem like a minor complaint but with what the two previous games setup, it's expected. I get it games evolve and you don't necessarily want the same thing in each game but this is a basic mechanic that was established early on.
Now for what I like. The story and art style seem consistent with the Darksiders universe. I don't seem to have an issue with the lack of environments that Gamespot seems. I get it, it's a recently post-apocalyptic world, so I don't expect to see the same sort of changes to the human world you saw in the first Darksiders. I like the different secondary weapons. And I even like, although I miss them, the lack of chests for items. It means you have to be paying attention for these little points of light that indicate items. I also love the fact that they got rid of the extensive gear system from the second game. Don't get me wrong, there are some people that like that sort of thing but for me, when it come to gear and weapons, less is more. Keep things simple. If you're going to give me a new gear item, make it unique in form and function and not just something that looks and feels similar to another piece of gear that I already have.
Overall, the game could and should be better. I know the game languished because of business issues. But this is a franchise I love. I found the first Darksiders a darker, Zelda clone that I have been looking for on the console I was playing. The second one built upon what that first one did. This third one though, I really wish it had stayed closer to those first two game when it comes to combat and some of the mechanics.