Darksiders

In real life, war is messy. Mistakes get made, civilians get hurt, families are shattered and once-thriving countries are bombed back to the Stone Age, often because of the misguided actions of their politicians. Wars in videogames, by contrast, are a hell of a lot more convenient and clean. Because they’re (usually) fictitious, the justifications are clear, the goals relatively simple and the opposing forces completely, irredeemably evil.

But that’s not always the case. Whether by design or through slapdash writing, some of gaming’s most notable conflicts – when examined objectively – are completely meaningless, stupid exercises in futility for all involved. Here are some of our favorites...

Looking for categories like Best PSP Driving Game? Greatest Achievement in Control Layout, Artistic? Eastern European Developer Most Worth Watching in 2011? Then our end-of-year awards might not be for you.

GamesRadar's Platinum Chalices are different. We're not interested in checking off a massively tedious list of genres, platforms and technical subdivisions… we'd much rather focus on the stuff that makes this hobby, you know, fun. And reward whichever games delivered the most of that stuff.

So if you're looking for the best fan service, most satisfying gore or greatest achievement in old-school kickassery in 2010, you've definitely come to the right celebration. Let's get it started…

Since it was first unveiled, Dante’s Inferno – based loosely on the first chapter of the epic 14th century poem The Divine Comedy – has been roundly derided for being a hack job of a famous piece of literature. For over a year now, we’ve heard about how the game supposedly shits on the original by turning a thoughtful epic poem into a paint-by-numbers clone of God of War.

Though you could play all the way through Darksiders without ever hunting down a single shard or artifact, collecting these trinkets will grease War’s path by providing additional health, wrath and souls. What follows is an area-by-area guide to the shards and artifacts hidden throughout Darksiders, complete with detailed screens and videos.

Topics:

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If you want maximum bad-assery from your Apocalypse, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will show you the location of all 10 Abyssal Armor pieces, so your War can look this awesome while splitting demon skulls. Additionally, we’ll clue you in on how to acquire all 12 weapon enhancements so you’ll have the muscle to back up your intimidating appearance.

It’s not easy being a horse, especially a diabetic horse who loves sugar cubes and games. As a proud member of the Equidae family, I don’t give a damn about the new protagonist in Assassin’s Creed II or the stupid non-animal flying device he’ll pilot. I just want to know if Ezio will be riding a freaking horse through the Tuscan countryside. Will he get to mount a Salerno, or perhaps a San Fratello?

Now that the dust has settled from the best E3 in years, we can take a moment to process the years’ worth of upcoming-release insanity that we took in over four days – and that means making early, snap judgments based on what we’ve seen and played.