Darksiders 3 Pre-Alpha Gameplay Surfaces, Shows Combat, Boss Fight, And Exploration

You may have heard about a little game called Darksiders III, first leaked via Amazon listing then confirmed by THQ Nordic just a few hours later earlier this week. Despite the fact that we only learned of the game's existence a few days ago, THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games are wasting no time showing more, allowing a full 12 minutes of gameplay from the game's current pre-alpha build.

The footage comes via IGN First, and gives an idea of what both traversing and throwing down with terrifying foes in Darksiders III might be like. There's even a boss fight with a slug-like brute called "Lord of the Flies."

I'll reserve any serious judgment for hands-on access and later builds of the game, but I will say that though I'm liking main protagonist Fury's look and style, the boss fight shown feels a bit too Soulsian for its own good, at least to me. Whip gameplay does look fun, and despite the fact that whip-athons have been well documented by the likes of God of War and others, there's always room for improvement if Darksiders III has new tricks up its sleeve.

Just like before, we don't know much about Darksiders III's release date other than an expectation of 2018, but perhaps the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo will shed more light (and possibly hands-on) regarding what's in store. It's unclear if the series will retain its strong similarities to The Legend of Zelda from this footage, but given even Zelda's coalescence with the Souls series in its latest entry (regarding combat and gear, anyway), it seems the entire industry may be headed in that direction.