"Darksiders: Warmastered Edition" is updated and polished version of original "Darksiders". it features better graphics and visuals, but gameplay, mostly, stays the same

original "Darksiders" was released in 2010:
https://steamhost.cn/app/50620/Darksiders/

"Darksiders: Warmastered Edition" was released in 2016:
https://steamhost.cn/app/462780/Darksiders_Warmastered_Edition/

Original Darksiders had extremely few, like almost zero video options. Warmastered is a huge improvement in that regard. check the table below to see details:


on images below you can compare video options and settings

original Darksiders is more prone to crash. in my 100% playthrough I have expected 5-6 crashes, while Warmastered never crashed once

for Warmastered developers doubled mostly all textures in the game and made game more crisp and solid. on images below you can see the changes for yourself

Warmastered also features much better. less blurred shadows

original game had no anti-aliasing feature, while Warmastered offers two possible choices: FSAA and FXAA

not only they make picture less jagged, but also improve the visuals of some props. check the rails and apartments' windows below

original Darksiders supports, by default, only XInput controllers (Xbox) - as for DirectInput controllers (PlayStation) game uses a special wrapper that converts one signal to another. however because of wrapper remapping of DirectInput controllers is impossible (even via Steam Big Picture - game just breaks everything). also, even for PlayStation controller game still shows Xbox's icons and prompts

Warmastered fixed all those issues and features native XInput and DirectInput support, full-working remapping (still better to use Steam Big Picture for this) and correct prompts for all controllers

both games have a weird bug on unplugging the controller: if you unplug controller during the gameplay, then game may softlock. the only solution is ALT+F4

also both games do not work properly with Bluetooth gamepads - they tend to have a big input delay

some people have reported that it is impossible to summon Ruin (a horse) or dive into water on some generic gamepads because, apparently, the buttons for those commands are not set. visit Steam Big Picture and configure your gamepad manually

in both games cutscenes are packed in *.WMV containers: however because developers of original game were using a terrible codec to process the cutscenes lots of users have complained of various issues: cutscenes were skipping, audio de-sync, green lines, etc. also those cutscenes were 30fps

for Warmastered developers re-rendered cutscenes in proper 60fps and fixed lots of issues, but also inflated the size of video files in three times (yes, triple size)


seriously, why couldn't developers just make cutscenes on engine itself I have no clue. because of that players have to download 10GB of videos

original Darksiders uses Steam's language options and allows to freely change between various language options in game's configuration and download missing languages

in Warmastered all languages are installed alongside the game and you have no option but to download voiceovers and text you will never listen or read (hence Warmastered has a bigger filesize)

also Warmastered allows to freely combine subtitles with any voiceovers, so you can have cyrillic subs, but english voices



Warmastered features a bit different icons for tooltips, weapons and items, but most icons stay the same, as well as general HUD


original Darksiders is notoriously known for having broken achievements. in short game stops given you achievements if game was crashed or you ALT+TABed from it. so, if your OS lose focus on Darksiders in any way - achievements will be borked until: 1) your restart Steam, 2) Darksiders will be first game you launched (yes, that finicky!)

Warmastered fixed that issue so that all achievements are obtainable without any major issues. there are still some tricky way to obtain some (like needing to get them all in one savefile, not across all plays), but still much better than original game. so achievement-hunters, be pleased!

unlike Darksiders which had none of it - Warmastered has all that Steam junk. so enjoy (images are from SteamDB[steamdb.info])


the only major gameplay difference is inclusion of "The Harvester" weapon into Warmastered

originally, The Harvester was an exclusive weapon for console versions and wasn't available in PC-release. it is an upgrade to Scythe with a perk of harvesting +10% extra souls

you could have unlocked The Harvester in original Darksiders, via save-editing...
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2618050603
...but in Warmastered you can just purchase that weapon for 5,000 souls

your horse, Ruin, has x5 charges that allow him to run faster for a limited time. in Darksiders they all replenish one-by-one, but in Warmastered they all recharge at once. so, if you waste all x5 charges, then it takes longer in Darksiders to fully replenish them than in Warmastered (for whatever reason)

if you want to thank me...

...then check my guide about fixing various game issues: launching, crashing, optimization, stuttering, gamepads, etc. the guide is huge, but the topic is broad to begin with
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1935376439