As any gamer worth their thumb blisters knows, today marks the debut of Darksiders, THQ/Vigil Games’ new adventure title where players take on the role of War (one of the infamous Horsemen of the Apocalypse) in a quest through a hellish wasteland. While the game has drawn comparisons to titles like God of War, Vigil co-founder (and legendary comic artist) Joe Madureira explains why Darksiders is clearly in a league of its own:

• Joe Mad comic fans will be happy: “We didn’t want to turn it into a horror game, so we decided to make it more of a comic book adaptation of these characters,” Madureira said.

• It has something for every gamer…: “Even though we did strive to make the combat as over-the-top and cinematic and breath-taking as possible, it is an adventure game at its heart, so that makes it a little different.”

• …even RPG fans! “You upgrade your abilities, you upgrade War, you upgrade your weapons and they level up. There’s a lot of exploration in addition to just straight-up killing. That’s probably the most important distinction.”

• Expect a huge, 15-hour story: “War is steeped in a little bit of mystery. We don’t reveal a lot of the character right off the bat. His story unravels as you progress as well as what happened to the other three Horsemen. Were they involved in Earth’s destruction like they’re being accused of?”