Darksiders: Wrath of War Hands On

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Said colossal she-bat, meanwhile, is a great example of the frankly stunning monster design on show - really showing up the artistic streaks of Darksiders' comic book leanings. She's one of the four Guardians from whom War must pluck a still-beating heart, which must in turn be presented to an imprisoned demon called Samael, who can then grant access to the spire of a chap called The Destroyer. Said capitalised foe being the chap who War strongly suspects (presumably rightly given the name) as being at fault for Judgement Day being wrongly marked in everyone's calendars.

To take the bat-mother down (and trigger an almightily good cut-scene that's heavy on wing-ripping), War must throw explosive shards onto her swooping form and then ignite them with a handy chuck of a newly discovered weapon - the giant shuriken-esque Crossblade. It's a stunningly enacted boss battle, full of flaming skids across tiles and beautifully animated dive-bombs, and proof positive that developer Vigil can make its creations as fun to fight as they are icky to look at.

Not everything is rosy though - an angel-blasting joyride on a stolen Gryphon through various lava-filled caves (oddly reminiscent of the flight up to see those aquatic Zora people in Twilight Princess) leading up to the aforementioned cathedral currently feels overly floaty and really quite unsatisfying. The story, meanwhile, will demand plentiful twists and turns - since what's currently on show could happily be scribbled on the back of the proverbial fag packet, if not the back of the Government Health Warning. In fact, if you can find a branch of Ladbrokes willing to let you put a fiver on The Destroyer actually being a dutiful angel type from heaven, then you're advised to start withdrawing cash now.

Despite mild discontent though, in anyone's estimation Darksiders is well worth keeping an unholy hovering eye upon - above all if you're an Xbox 360 owner bereft of the Kratos own-brand of button-mash mythology. The action delivers no end of satisfaction, there's a palpable sense of advancement as you unlock new weapons and abilities, and discovering otherworldly caves, temples and demonic beasties beneath the ravaged modern city is undeniable fun. Best of all though, as the sudden proliferation of Darksiders coverage has surely demonstrated, it means everyone everywhere can come up with lines like 'War, huh? What is he good for?' Answer? Killing stuff. Same as ever.