THQ Nordic had one last surprise to close out its annual digital showcase Friday: a teaser for a new project in the Darksiders franchise, which might signal a continuation of the story it introduced over 14 years ago.
The teaser didn’t reveal any details. Instead, it’s a slow cinematic that pans over what looks like Hell, with three beasts roaring, their mouths filled with flame. This is the Charred Council, and they yell for the “horsemen.” According to a description on Xbox Wire, “It won’t be long until we reveal more about where the Darksiders series is going next, but for now, know this … the Four Horsemen will ride again.”
It’s unclear if this will be a proper sequel to the action-adventure hack-and-slash series. After all, the series hasn’t exactly followed up on the story from the very first Darksiders, and that might happen again. The original game followed War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Without getting too in the weeds about this series’ complex religious-inspired mythos, War was imprisoned by the Charred Council for starting the apocalypse early. After defeating the final boss known as the Destroyer, War decided to go to, well, war against Heaven and Hell. The cliffhanger ending shows that he won’t be alone, and instead will be joined by the other horsemen: Strife, Death, and Fury.
It’s an ending that very easily sets up for a sequel, but Darksiders 2 takes place at the same time as the previous game and follows Death as he works to clear War’s name. Meanwhile, Darksiders 3 also runs parallel with the first Darksiders but follows Fury. The developers at Gunfire Games also experimented with a different, Soulslike-esque gameplay style.
The last Darksiders release was Darksiders Genesis from 2019. The Stadia and PC release (although it was ported over to consoles later) moved the normally third-person game to a top-down perspective and was a prequel that starred Strife.
Since we’ve gotten games that starred each horseman, maybe it’s time for an actual chronological sequel. It’s unlikely that it’ll be a remaster, as Darksiders: Warmastered Edition was released in 2016, but you never know.
