Though it's drawing a lot of comparisons to God of War, according to the developers, Darksiders was originally envisioned as a "badass Zelda." You play - here comes one of the reasons for the comparison - as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Demons have destroyed the Earth, and you've been separated from your cohorts. It's your job to explore the ravaged world and reunite with your allies - hacking, slashing, jumping and solving puzzles along the way.

All of the usual gameplay mechanics are here - and what we saw definitely felt like a mix of Devil May Cry with Zelda. Dungeons to explore, block puzzles - involving punching destroyed subway cars, sure, but block puzzles all the same - were present and more or less correct (particularly for a game that's so far out on the release radar.)

The story, which reads like something you might find scrawled in a D&D-loving Nine Inch Nails fan's ninth-grade biology notebook, involves wars between the angels and demons, with the Earth caught between. Only the Four Horsemen stand to the side of this conflict, ruled by the angels but not fighting directly. Instead, they use their powers to cleanse the Earth.