Deceived by the forces of evil into prematurely bringing about the end ofthe world, WAR — the first Horseman of the Apocalypse — battles bothHeaven and Hell across the ravaged remains of Earth, searching for vengeance andvindication.
Showcasing the unparalleled artwork of Joe Madureira (X-men,Battle Chasers, Ultimates) and the Vigil Games art team, The Artof Darksiders features hundreds of full-color illustrations, character andenvironment designs, development sketches, early concepts, promotional artwork,and more.
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121 reviews for The Art of Darksiders
4.3out of 5
★★★★★
★★★★★
7
★★★★★
2
★★★★★
0
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★★★★★
saw74 –
hey all! first off!i , like many out there put off this game untill about a month ago when i found it on sale,being a comic book geek and being a joe maduria fan from his x-men and battlechaser days i was kinda put off on the god of war rip off…untill i played it.WOW! i mean yeah theres shades of god of war(what game nowadays dosent rip off another?)but there is alot of “zelda” in it and doing some research found out the creators are huge zelda fans and all i have to say is pick it up its a diamond in the rough and a shame it didnt get the resepct that it should BUT they are making a part 2 so WHOO HOO!
anyway onto the book! great joe mad sketchs along with the game company’s team of game designers artwork,im still taking my time going thru it and you never realize how much artwork is in a video game untill you see the designs!awesome!and beautiful if your a longtime joe mad fan or a fan of great fantasy art and video art do pick this up!and take your time looking thru it like i am ,dont breeze thru it the minute you get it,take your time and you will enjoy and respect what went into this fantastic game.
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★★★★★
Valentina B. –
Il libro in sè è molto bello, lo stile di Madureira è fantastico ed è molto presente nelle illustrazioni dell’artbook. E’ particolare inoltre la suddivisione di bozzetti iniziali, colorati, ambientazioni e vari render in cg, più o meno a 3/4 del libro. L’unica pecca è che la rilegatura non è molto bella, visto che aprendo completamente le pagine si crea un segno a metà del libro (spero di essermi spiegata abbastanza bene) che risulta fastidioso.
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★★★★★
Nonfallacy –
I’ve had the book for a couple days now, and have been going through it extensively. I’ve even opened it up enough to have the pages lay flat. No binding issues, for me anyways, made some sounds, but no falling out pages, etc. Parka mentioned newer editions of this book have better binding, and I guess this is the case since I have no issues. This book feels like the new one (The Art of Darksiders 2), just more pages, not as much art, but yeah, definitely worth picking up, and I’m happy it’s being republished, like all art books a premium gets made when things go out of print. Ditch the old reviews, and pick it up while you can 🙂 And if the things falls apart in a couple of months, I’ll let you know, but I doubt that’ll happen. cheers
UPDATE: just a heads up, yeah the binding is bad. Same goes for the newer Darksiders 2 book, both are of the same build. Pages are still together, just the glue is unstuck on the top and bottom third of the book, so only the glue in the center of the binding, and threading is keeping the pages together. I hope that makes sense. If you can afford the hardbacks, I’d go with those. Though they’re a little overpriced, seeing that a lot of the darkhorse published hardcover art books cost half as much. Still won’t knock it off the 5 star chart, since the art is amazing, and a must have for anyone remotely interested in this genre of art. cheers!
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★★★★★
Tenchi –
I have been a huge Joe Madureira since his Uncanny X-Men days so I was looking forward to getting this art book with great zeal. To be honest I probably wouldn’t have played the game unless he art directed it. As for the book, it’s full of great art, not just from Madureira. I would have preferred there to be more 3D sculpts on show, but there was still a healthy amount to keep me satisfied.
My book was damaged in transit which was annoying but Amazon duly sent me a replacement which was appreciated, so I can’t fault that part of Amazon’s service and why I continue to shop with them.
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★★★★★
Oenyxa –
Un très beau artbook.
Je n’ai jamais joué au jeu, mais ce livre me donne envie de m’y mettre!
Personnages, props, environnement, créatures … de la recherche aux choix finaux, tout y est! Des détails impressionnants, des illustrations époustouflantes qui nous montrent la conception et l’univers de Daksiders. Quelques annotations, déclinaisons, en croquis, en digital-paint ou même en 3D diversifie et rend ce livre très agréable.
Qui plus est, la mise en forme du livre lui-même est travaillé (pagination, titres, sous-titres) Il est rare de trouver des livres aussi enrichie sur un jeu et je le recommande vivement!
Je vous invite à prendre aussi la suite : The art of Darksiders 2
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★★★★★
David Are –
I think the front cover says it all. So incredibly stylized and intense artwork from a fantastic game! It’s HUGE too! Almost 300 pages!
My only complaint is that the book itself smells like toxic chemicals and I can’t get passed a few pages without gagging from the smell.. It was printed in Hong Kong.
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★★★★★
Seitora –
As so many already said the book is simply gorgeous. I don’t own my own copy just yet, is still set to arrive until 15th of February, but I’ve already had my share of it thanks to a friend of mine. The pages are packed full not only with finished artworks, but also works in progress, sketches, variants of design for characters and environments… simply a feast for those interested not only in the finished visual products, but also the in-process stages of acquiring inspiration, setting multiple design ideas and how to choose that perfect one. The printing quality is very good, with sharps colors and details. Many artworks and especially sketches are indeed printed in thumbnail clustered form and you can definitely find many of them on the internet at higher resolutions – although I would venture to state that this is only true for some and only after a whole lot of searching. Personally I think the thumbnails are large enough to allow the reader to discern even smaller details, while at the same time offering a larger number of drawings than if only one/page was printed. Not to mention that, in order to get the overall grasp on line quality, color, movement, light etc it’s actually better to see works in smaller versions first, then concentrating on details. And the need for further in-depth study is resolved in the end in this book when looking at the bigger, finished or almost finished, artworks. So basicallly you get many large thumbnails for sketches – no worries ’cause you won’t get 1cm/1cm ones – and large, colored, semi/finished artworks.
On the other hand yes, it’s true the binding is not one of the best out there since it consists only of poor-quality binding glue, which is not enough for the amount of pages this book has. But the fact is that there is enough space on the inside of the pages to let you get a decent view on the inner artworks without having to widely open the book. I donno about other people but when I have a book with binding problems I simply make the best out of it without trying to open it wide and hoping it won’t break, I simply take care of it as it is. Besides, I don’t see why would one need to open a book at 180 when you can see pretty well at 150 – unless you want to have the book open in front of you while you draw or do something else with both hands, although a press-papier or a freestanding book stand could do the work even in such condition. So for me and my friend binding was not a problem whatsoever, and I’m sure it won’t be when I’ll receive my own copy.
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★★★★★
SuperWoch –
Un trabajo magnífico de Joe Madureira. 288 páginas de arte conceptual sobre los personajes, entornos, armas, objetos, modelos CG, etc. El diseño artístico de este juego es magistral. Sí que se echa en falta algún comentario hecho por el autor, comentando el proceso de creación del mundo del juego y ese tipo de detalles. Por lo demás, una delicia en todos los aspectos. Existe una versión en tapa dura pero es díficil de encontrar a buen precio.
Helpful(0)Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
★★★★★
Diogmites –
Darksiders 2 is way better than 1. Not so with the art books. Here’s why: This thing is longer by over 70 pages. Most of the art isn’t tiny and the Environments (places) section isn’t as scant. I really like this book. Also, a lot more full color Joe Mad pieces are in this one. It had characters, enemies, weapons, objects and areas. Also, it has quite a bit more commentary (the second book has next to none). Although that commentary is hyper cheesy fantasy descriptions of the various subjects in this book. Although War is the focus, this one has art of all 4 horseman. The boss pictures are bigger and better and all but one are drawn. Plus, it has Samael who is missing from the second book. The Griever has no concept art but he is in the back. Which is another great part of this book. In the end there are the full color CGI models from the game. What a nice touch. The second book has that but they are tiny and not colored. If you are into Joe Mad’s art (the other artists mimic his style phenomenally well), comic style fantasy art with Gothic undertones or the Darksiders games: get this. I have the second printing and the binding isn’t woefully flimsy like in the first, but it’s still pretty bad. You have to be careful when flipping through it. A real drag some of these older Udon softcovers are afflicted by this because they are excellent books otherwise.
saw74 –
hey all! first off!i , like many out there put off this game untill about a month ago when i found it on sale,being a comic book geek and being a joe maduria fan from his x-men and battlechaser days i was kinda put off on the god of war rip off…untill i played it.WOW! i mean yeah theres shades of god of war(what game nowadays dosent rip off another?)but there is alot of “zelda” in it and doing some research found out the creators are huge zelda fans and all i have to say is pick it up its a diamond in the rough and a shame it didnt get the resepct that it should BUT they are making a part 2 so WHOO HOO!
anyway onto the book!
great joe mad sketchs along with the game company’s team of game designers artwork,im still taking my time going thru it and you never realize how much artwork is in a video game untill you see the designs!awesome!and beautiful if your a longtime joe mad fan or a fan of great fantasy art and video art do pick this up!and take your time looking thru it like i am ,dont breeze thru it the minute you get it,take your time and you will enjoy and respect what went into this fantastic game.
Valentina B. –
Il libro in sè è molto bello, lo stile di Madureira è fantastico ed è molto presente nelle illustrazioni dell’artbook. E’ particolare inoltre la suddivisione di bozzetti iniziali, colorati, ambientazioni e vari render in cg, più o meno a 3/4 del libro.
L’unica pecca è che la rilegatura non è molto bella, visto che aprendo completamente le pagine si crea un segno a metà del libro (spero di essermi spiegata abbastanza bene) che risulta fastidioso.
Nonfallacy –
I’ve had the book for a couple days now, and have been going through it extensively. I’ve even opened it up enough to have the pages lay flat. No binding issues, for me anyways, made some sounds, but no falling out pages, etc. Parka mentioned newer editions of this book have better binding, and I guess this is the case since I have no issues. This book feels like the new one (The Art of Darksiders 2), just more pages, not as much art, but yeah, definitely worth picking up, and I’m happy it’s being republished, like all art books a premium gets made when things go out of print. Ditch the old reviews, and pick it up while you can 🙂 And if the things falls apart in a couple of months, I’ll let you know, but I doubt that’ll happen. cheers
UPDATE: just a heads up, yeah the binding is bad. Same goes for the newer Darksiders 2 book, both are of the same build. Pages are still together, just the glue is unstuck on the top and bottom third of the book, so only the glue in the center of the binding, and threading is keeping the pages together. I hope that makes sense. If you can afford the hardbacks, I’d go with those. Though they’re a little overpriced, seeing that a lot of the darkhorse published hardcover art books cost half as much. Still won’t knock it off the 5 star chart, since the art is amazing, and a must have for anyone remotely interested in this genre of art. cheers!
Tenchi –
I have been a huge Joe Madureira since his Uncanny X-Men days so I was looking forward to getting this art book with great zeal. To be honest I probably wouldn’t have played the game unless he art directed it. As for the book, it’s full of great art, not just from Madureira. I would have preferred there to be more 3D sculpts on show, but there was still a healthy amount to keep me satisfied.
My book was damaged in transit which was annoying but Amazon duly sent me a replacement which was appreciated, so I can’t fault that part of Amazon’s service and why I continue to shop with them.
Oenyxa –
Un très beau artbook.
Je n’ai jamais joué au jeu, mais ce livre me donne envie de m’y mettre!
Personnages, props, environnement, créatures … de la recherche aux choix finaux, tout y est!
Des détails impressionnants, des illustrations époustouflantes qui nous montrent la conception et l’univers de Daksiders.
Quelques annotations, déclinaisons, en croquis, en digital-paint ou même en 3D diversifie et rend ce livre très agréable.
Qui plus est, la mise en forme du livre lui-même est travaillé (pagination, titres, sous-titres)
Il est rare de trouver des livres aussi enrichie sur un jeu et je le recommande vivement!
Je vous invite à prendre aussi la suite : The art of Darksiders 2
David Are –
I think the front cover says it all. So incredibly stylized and intense artwork from a fantastic game! It’s HUGE too! Almost 300 pages!
My only complaint is that the book itself smells like toxic chemicals and I can’t get passed a few pages without gagging from the smell.. It was printed in Hong Kong.
Seitora –
As so many already said the book is simply gorgeous. I don’t own my own copy just yet, is still set to arrive until 15th of February, but I’ve already had my share of it thanks to a friend of mine. The pages are packed full not only with finished artworks, but also works in progress, sketches, variants of design for characters and environments… simply a feast for those interested not only in the finished visual products, but also the in-process stages of acquiring inspiration, setting multiple design ideas and how to choose that perfect one.
The printing quality is very good, with sharps colors and details. Many artworks and especially sketches are indeed printed in thumbnail clustered form and you can definitely find many of them on the internet at higher resolutions – although I would venture to state that this is only true for some and only after a whole lot of searching. Personally I think the thumbnails are large enough to allow the reader to discern even smaller details, while at the same time offering a larger number of drawings than if only one/page was printed. Not to mention that, in order to get the overall grasp on line quality, color, movement, light etc it’s actually better to see works in smaller versions first, then concentrating on details. And the need for further in-depth study is resolved in the end in this book when looking at the bigger, finished or almost finished, artworks. So basicallly you get many large thumbnails for sketches – no worries ’cause you won’t get 1cm/1cm ones – and large, colored, semi/finished artworks.
On the other hand yes, it’s true the binding is not one of the best out there since it consists only of poor-quality binding glue, which is not enough for the amount of pages this book has. But the fact is that there is enough space on the inside of the pages to let you get a decent view on the inner artworks without having to widely open the book. I donno about other people but when I have a book with binding problems I simply make the best out of it without trying to open it wide and hoping it won’t break, I simply take care of it as it is. Besides, I don’t see why would one need to open a book at 180 when you can see pretty well at 150 – unless you want to have the book open in front of you while you draw or do something else with both hands, although a press-papier or a freestanding book stand could do the work even in such condition. So for me and my friend binding was not a problem whatsoever, and I’m sure it won’t be when I’ll receive my own copy.
SuperWoch –
Un trabajo magnífico de Joe Madureira. 288 páginas de arte conceptual sobre los personajes, entornos, armas, objetos, modelos CG, etc. El diseño artístico de este juego es magistral. Sí que se echa en falta algún comentario hecho por el autor, comentando el proceso de creación del mundo del juego y ese tipo de detalles. Por lo demás, una delicia en todos los aspectos. Existe una versión en tapa dura pero es díficil de encontrar a buen precio.
Diogmites –
Darksiders 2 is way better than 1. Not so with the art books. Here’s why:
This thing is longer by over 70 pages. Most of the art isn’t tiny and the Environments (places) section isn’t as scant. I really like this book. Also, a lot more full color Joe Mad pieces are in this one. It had characters, enemies, weapons, objects and areas. Also, it has quite a bit more commentary (the second book has next to none). Although that commentary is hyper cheesy fantasy descriptions of the various subjects in this book.
Although War is the focus, this one has art of all 4 horseman. The boss pictures are bigger and better and all but one are drawn. Plus, it has Samael who is missing from the second book. The Griever has no concept art but he is in the back. Which is another great part of this book.
In the end there are the full color CGI models from the game. What a nice touch. The second book has that but they are tiny and not colored.
If you are into Joe Mad’s art (the other artists mimic his style phenomenally well), comic style fantasy art with Gothic undertones or the Darksiders games: get this.
I have the second printing and the binding isn’t woefully flimsy like in the first, but it’s still pretty bad. You have to be careful when flipping through it. A real drag some of these older Udon softcovers are afflicted by this because they are excellent books otherwise.