Darksiders Warmastered Edition is out on PS5 with a catch

Darksiders Warmastered Edition is now available natively on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. THQ Nordic released the current-gen port today. This brings the 2016 remaster of the 2010 hack-and-slash game to modern hardware.

The new release bumps the game up to a native 4K resolution at a stable 60 frames per second. It also adds a photo mode and DualSense controller support for the PlayStation 5 version. You still play as War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He spends the game trying to clear his name after being accused of starting the end of the world early.

The upgrade fee

The release rollout has a strange pricing structure. Xbox owners who already have the Xbox One version get the Xbox Series X/S upgrade for free through Smart Delivery. PlayStation players do not get the same deal. Anyone who owns the PS4 version has to pay a $10 fee to access the PS5 upgrade.

To balance out the math for new buyers, THQ Nordic raised the price of the base Xbox One version to $30 to match the new Xbox Series X/S standalone price. The PS4 version remains $20. A new PlayStation buyer spends $20 on the old game and $10 on the upgrade to reach the same $30 total. Existing PS4 owners are the only ones stuck paying extra for a game they already bought.

A very old apocalypse

This is the third console generation for the original Darksiders. The game first launched in 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Kaiko handled the Warmastered Edition in 2016 for the PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U. That older remaster already ran at 60 frames per second on most platforms.

The original game mixes heavy hack-and-slash combat with dungeon design borrowed heavily from classic Zelda games. War explores ruined cityscapes, solves environmental puzzles, and fights massive bosses. These encounters include a fight against the giant winged demon Tiamat.

Combat focuses on fluid combos and switching between weapons on the fly. War uses his massive sword, the Chaoseater, for wide crowd-control swings. He can perform a spinning blade attack against multiple enemies in a circular arena. He also gets access to a scythe and a gauntlet for breaking enemy guards. The combat holds up reasonably well today, even if the overall design shows its age.

The new native port does not add any story content or gameplay changes. The publisher is likely trying to keep the franchise visible on modern storefronts. A new Darksiders game is currently in development. THQ Nordic has kept quiet on details since releasing a brief teaser last year.

The series has bounced around quite a bit since its debut. Original developer Vigil Games went under when THQ went bankrupt in 2012. The IP was eventually bought by Nordic Games, which later rebranded to THQ Nordic. They released Darksiders 3 in 2018 and the top-down spin-off Darksiders Genesis in 2019.

Paying $10 for a resolution bump and a photo mode on an old remaster of a 2010 game is a tough sell. Xbox owners have an easy excuse to download it again. PlayStation players might want to hold off unless they absolutely need native 4K.