About two weeks ago, I previewed the Darksiders 2 stuff that Triforce is going to release soon. And I really hope they’ll do it soon since it will go wonderful with this amazing special edition.
Even though we haven’t played the first Darksiders yet, it has been on my to-play list ever since I saw it for the first time. But the sole reason why we don’t have the first one in our collection yet is simply because of the fact that there wasn’t a special edition released. Of course, when I saw that they would release one with the second installment of the series, I pre-ordered it right away!
My only fear was that the mask they would include would be made from cheap ass plastic like they usually do. But, when I opened it up, all my fears melted away. I love this edition!
The box is huge but that was expected if they included a life-size replica of Death’s Mask in it. It’s also very, very shiny. You can actually see me in the reflection taking the pictures. Yeah, I know. We really need to upgrade our camera…
The first thing I noticed is that they covered the outside with some protective plastic. Love the fact that they did that. Makes it harder to receive a damaged one. On the other hand, they sealed the box on the top and bottom using tape. Why tape?! Since the inner box is made of some rough paper like stuff, it’s impossible to remove the tape without damaging it. Why didn’t they just wrapped the whole thing up in that protective plastic? Darn it…
When I opened the box, the first thing I noticed, much to my disappointment, that they didn’t do anything special for the game case. I’ve seen pictures of a really neat steelbook packaging for this game so why didn’t they include that one with this edition? It just baffles me…
The game edition that’s included with this Premium Edition is the Limited Edition which simply means that you get some extra DLC with it. Argul’s Tomb, which will be the game’s first single-player downloadable content pack, will be free for those with this Limited Edition (not just for those owning the Premium Edition). Don’t you just love it that they already announce DLC even before the game has been released? At least they don’t let people pay for it that actually buy the game on day one…
If you put all the vouchers that you get in front of you, you’ll see quite some vouchers… One is a commercial one for the book (at least I guess, bloody thing is completely french), one that for the DLC Argul’s Tomb, one for the DLC exclusive to this Premium Edition (Shadow of Death Armor & Scythe) and one for the digital soundtrack. Yeah, digital. If you’ve read some of my previous reviews or just know me a bit, you known how much I hate digital stuff. And especially digital stuff that can be easily included with the edition itself on actual disc(s).
But at least they let you download the entire soundtrack and not just a compilation or selection. They also know and understand that people have the tendency to accidentally lose such downloads, so they’ll let you download it three times before the code gets expired.
The actual soundtrack is very nice to listen too and consists of 26 tracks, being:
- The Makers Theme
- Into Eternity
- Makers in the Outlands
- Story of the Makers
- The Corruption
- The Makers Overworld
- The Makers Fight Back
- The Floating City
- Crystal Spire
- Trouble in Eden
- Stains of Heresy
- The Abyssal Plains
- The Rod of Arafel
- The Crowfather
- The Dead Plains
- The Plains Await
- Supernatural Desert
- The Eternal Throne
- City of the Dead
- The Crypt
- Death Brings Hope
- Plains of Death
- Demon Realm
- Into the Shadows
- Lord of the Black Stone
- Dead Plains Reprise
If you head over to the Amazon websites, you can listen to the samples of these songs. This is one of those soundtracks that I actually recommend getting since the music is actually really nice to listen to.
The next item is the artbook. What really pisses me off is that the American version got a hardcover one included and we just get a softcover one. I like hardcovers… This artbook is also something I had some issues with, the secondary issue being (primary = no hardcover) the fact that they didn’t let the glue dry up before they shrink wrapped it… I got some ugly glue spots on the spine of the book. I can remove them but it really scratches the cover. Darn it.
Even though the artbook is small, like with most special editions it’s roughly A5 sized, and the fact that it isn’t a hardcover, it is nicely filled with art. For once, they didn’t went with the easy solution, aka including mostly in-game screens or 3D models, but actually put art in it. I like it. It’s what an artbook should include.
And last, but certainly not least, is the life size replica of Death’s Mask. It’s absolutely gorgeous! It’s certainly one of my favorite game goodies that got included with a special edition! It’s amazingly heavy and made out of quality resin instead of the plastic crap they usually make these things out of. I love it! And like I said before, it’s life-sized. So that means it’s quite big. Hooray for Vigil Games/THQ for not cheaping out on us and making it life sized and not out of cheap plastic! Hooray! Thank you guys!
It’s also quite lovely finished. No paint misses, nice shading, a wonderful addition to my desk.
Only thing that looks less as good is the stand. It’s also not that nice a fit which causes the mask to slightly wobble. But if you put it somewhere secure, it shouldn’t be a problem. On the bottom of the base they also included something that really appeals the collector in me; a number. Yes, the edition is actually numbered. Nice, isn’t it. There are 13.300 copies made of this edition. Now, I only don’t know if this number is just Europe or if it is a worldwide edition size… Nonetheless, it’s nice to know that it’s actually limited.
Conclusion
Even though I love this edition, it doesn’t have enough going to warrant a place in my favorite special edition list. The game box is too plain, next to the mask and the small-ish artbook there are only digital extra’s and no actual disc for the soundtrack. Of course, the mask being actual limited (13.300) and made of higher end stuff (resin) is a big plus that actually made this edition worthwhile. That, and the fact that they (even though digitally) included the FULL soundtrack and that the artbook, although tiny and a softcover, is filled to the brim with good quality art, saved this edition.
So, conclusion in a conclusion, if you like the game I really recommend this edition. It’s one of the nicer ones and the mask is just really amazing.
| Pros: – Lovely made, 1/1 scale mask – Mask is made of resin, not cheap plastic – Nice soundtrack – Although small artbook, it’s nicely filled |
Cons: – Regular game case, not even shiny like the NTSC one 🙁 – digital soundtrack – Small artbook – Why did they use tape? It damaged the box… |
Pictures
Item reviewed: Darksiders 2 – Premium Edition
Type: game, Xbox 360
Variations: Normal edition (just the game) and the Special Edition (game + DLC)
Rarity: Not rare since you can still buy it on gaming websites even though it was supposed to be a pre-order special edition or something like that…
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