Gunfire Games released the first 12 minutes of gameplay for Darksiders 3, featuring Fury and her fiery whip. We get to see some of the environments that can be traversed as well as how the whip works in conjunction with platforming.

The 12 minutes of gameplay were made available over on IGN, where they offer some commentary-free footage of the game’s combat system, some of Fury’s combos, and her ability to dodge and cartwheel out of the way of enemy attacks. You can check out the video below.

First of all, the whip attacks look great. I was wondering how Fury would wield the whip, and she has snappy attacks that can take down foes both near and far. Unlike Death and War, Fury possess a lot more agility in her movements, so she quickly dodge attacks and combine her whip strikes with counter moves. Instead of rolling out of the way, Fury does flips and acrobatic moves, which can be used in combination with her attacks to pull off a variety of moves.

Unlike Castlevania, the whip attacks in Darksiders 3 are a lot more focused and less wide-sweeping. They’re obviously designed for more one-on-one encounters. I imagine as the game progresses, though players will unlock new abilities that will afford them the option to battle multiple opponents with ease.

Some of the enemies in Darksiders 3 appear to be from the original game, just updated with higher LOD meshes and improved lighting.

It should also go without saying that since the game is still an entire year off from release, there are a lot of placeholder assets present in the demo, including a pretty generic looking health and magic bar, along with a lack of special effects for many of the attacks.

The purpose of the video seems to focus more on the game’s combat encounters and Fury’s playability.

One other thing worth noting is that I do like where they’re going with Fury’s hair effects. It reminds me of Ninja Theory’s use of Nariko’s hair in Heavenly Sword, where it looks like there’s a water effect that makes it wave and flow in a kind of surrealistic manner. I imagine it may undergo some more refinement before release next year, but it appears to be on the right path.

Only her basic attacks appeared to be unlocked, and there were no secondary weapons or holy relics in her stash, so we’ll likely have to wait until it gets closer to release before we see more of her equipment on display. In most Darksiders games you don’t unlock a lot of your full gear until just past the halfway point.

Anyway, Darksiders 3 is set for release in 2018 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.