Posted by Raine Hutchens on Aug 7, 2012

As if Darksiders II wasn’t already awesome enough for you to slap down pre-orders on, it just got a little sweeter. The game is close to being released, it’s so close in fact that if you close your eyes and listen, you can hear Death’s horse clopping in the distance. Okay, so I may be exaggerating just a bit, but I’m excited. Sue me.

Anyway, the newest announcement from THQ, which comes from the official Darksiders forum about the game is that it will include a New Game+ mode. This mode will allow players to carry over their version of Death from when they beat the game the first time around into a new game. You’ll keep all of your skills and equipment and charge through the game again, this time feeling more like a natural badass.

That’s not all, though. The second part of this announcement was the added feature called The Crucible. This is an arena-like gameplay mode where survival is key. In The Crucible players will take on floor after floor of enemies, with each floor more challenging than the next. There’s a total of 100 floors of enemies for the slaughter in the beginning, but you can unlock additional floors by locating special Tarot Cards that are hidden in the world in later parts of the game.

In order to unlock The Crucible players will have to make it through the game’s beginning section, The Forge Lands, and best its boss. Then The Crucible may be challenged at any time. As you traverse each floor you can earn rewards special rewards. At the end of every five floors you get through you’ll be presented with one of these rewards. This is where you’ll make a choice: either take the reward and exit The Crucible, or continue on for a better one. If you die before you make it through the next five floors, however, you’ll gain nothing.

The Crucible will offer rewards that you simply cannot get through any other portion of the game. For instance, you can unlock “Death’s ultimate armor,” and if you make it through all 100 floors and wiping out each floor in a single sitting you can pick up the Death Mask for your Xbox Live/PSN Avatar.

I’m already excited for Darksiders II and Vigil keeps finding ways to make it even more desirable. They’ve put a lot of work into this sequel to make it exponentially bigger than the last, and they keep adding to it. Darksiders II is set to release next week on August 14th. Are you ready?