Now, here we have a game with some serious potential, for everyone that loves the Gothic, and the Elder Scrolls series. The Sword Hero demo is rather short, as you are limited to five arena battles, with increasing difficulty depending on the foe. However, what is showcased here is nothing short of amazing. Especially if you enjoy heavy system based RPGs/action games. By that, I mean how stuff interacts with each other, primarily through a damn cool physics engine. Expect hilarious ragdoll slapstick, which is right up my alley.
Arena combat
Before you get to step into the arena, you have to pick one class from three. The warrior, the ranger, or the scholar. The warrior is melee based, chopping off heads in close combat, while the ranger prefers picking out eyes from a distance. The scholar is not very scholarly, as his method of terminating life is through blowing everything to small pieces through force-magic. I found the warrior the most fun, but also the hardest, since you have to step into the action, aka, the danger zone to do anything. The ranger and the scholar not so much, as keeping your distance is the best choice.
Of the three, and the one I won the arena with so far is the scholar. I found his magic absolutely OP compared to the rest, but it was also a great deal of fun, unleashing havoc. Flinging the Grey’s tiny broken bodies against the stonewall was a great joy. But if we go back to the melee. As its most basic, you parry (with timed parry as bonus) and chop at your enemies. The damage is fairly high, and overall, the combat felt chaotic. The good kind of chaotic.
You control your attacks depending on what direction you pick, so pressing W during a strike will have your man come down with a devastating overhead swing. It’s not as easy as just spamming attacks either, since everything costs stamina – parrying too. You have to be careful, and strategic about your swings, which is not the easiest being assaulted by two vicious dogs at the same time. The systems remind me of games from the past, like Gothic, and more specifically Risen. However, I must point out that Sword Hero feels unique with its own style of combat, yet still familiar.
Imagine the RPG
The thing that gets me with Sword Hero, is that the demo is only a small taste of what to come. It’s supposed to be an open world, where its main inspiration is, once again, the Gothic games. With an awesome combat system like this, with systems that interact with each other in the world – it’s really hard to not feel the hype. The full title will have quests, loot and stats, in which you also get to experience in the demo, but only the basics.
You will also gain/unlock or learn special talents in the main game, like the kick ability that both the warrior and rangers have in the demo. When you accumulate enough PSI energy, you can do a kick, which will send anyone in front of you airborne. Very amusing, and above all useful, because kicking creatures into things usually ends up bad for them in a gory way. It makes me wonder what other fantastic skills we will be able to learn!
Another highlight is the wonderfully nostalgic PlayStation 1-style visuals. I know, not everyone likes this style, yet when made like this it’s just so aesthetically pleasing and moody. I highly recommend giving the demo a go, and if you enjoy it as much as me, and can see the potential for the future. Make sure to visit their Kickstarter that will soon come live. You will find it here!
It’s time for me to return to the arena, to finally become the champion as a warrior! And good luck, if you decide to try it yourself. Remember, there is no shame in kicking anything, regardless of how small it is.
Thanks for reading.
– Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 