10 Shameless Video Game Rip-Offs (That Were Actually Great)
1. Darksiders
Video game ripoffs don't get more hilariously industrious than Vigil Games' Darksiders, which is basically what you get when you put God of War, Devil May Cry, and The Legend of Zelda in a blender and serve up the resulting slop.
But what tasty slop indeed.
Darksiders combined the dizzying combat of God of War and Devil May Cry with the adventurous world-faring of Zelda, and while this could've easily resulted in an abject mess, there's a slinky, seductive quality to the game that's tough to deny.
In fact, Darksiders basically took the popular idea of "ripping off the competition" and turned it into a cottage industry, given that the immediate sequels decided to riff on Diablo and Dark Souls, because why the hell not?
Yet the original Darksiders - and we use the term "original" quite loosely, here - is unquestionably the best of the bunch, inexplicably fusing several games together in a way that simply shouldn't work.
But from the fluid combat to the gorgeous art style, neat level design, and solid upgrade systems, it's a great mash-up.