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Review ActionTrip is not impressed with Blade&Sword

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,044
Tags: Blade and Sword

<a href=http://www.actiontrip.com>ActionTrip</a> posted this <a href=http://www.actiontrip.com/reviews/bladesword.phtml>review</a> of <b>Blade & Sword</b>, an isometric action RPG set in ancient China. The rating is <b>30 - Don't Bother</b>
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<blockquote>During the first couple of levels, combat won't be much of a challenge. Still, gradually leveling your character will allow you to use more lethal moves against enemies. This is when things become a bit more interesting. There's a wide range of cool martial-arts moves at your disposal, allowing you to tackle with multiple foes at once. Throughout gameplay, I especially enjoyed using the Wind Walker skill, thanks to which I could literarily run through several opponents, consequently draining their energy without using the sword. Gamers also have the option of improving a particular move, until they reach the so-called Killing Blow - the ultimate attack. For instance, a certain move called Dragon Fight, is upgradeable all the way to the ultimate Dragon Dance. Utilizing the Dragon Dance, gamers will watch foes collapse as their character twirls in the air and performs a deadly combo attack. For what it's worth, Blade & Sword also features an effective block move (triggered with the 'Alt' key), which stands as a rather pleasant addition to combat. So, in a nutshell, it's all about combining these fighting skills against different types of opponents.
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When all is said and then, we're left with this feeling that Pixel Studios had a fair shot at making a decent title, but they blew it. Discarding the obviously outdated visuals and feeble audio, we believe that certain gameplay elements should have been considerably elaborated on. Slicing and dicing is all very well, but Blade & Sword simply cries out for more depth. Occasionally enjoyable combat surely won't be enough for the game to compete against similar titles on the market.</blockquote>
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It seems to me that B&S got a number of things right, but still managed to present itself as a mediocre clone not worth of anyone's attention. It's a shame though, as I think that rpgs set in culturaly rich ancient Asia could offer a lot of interesting things.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gengamers.com">GenGamers</A>
 

Sol Invictus

Erudite
Joined
Oct 19, 2002
Messages
9,614
Location
Pax Romana
One of the problems with Blade and Sword is that it doesn't really take advantage of that setting as it feels a lot more like Diablo with oriental graphics fantasy-inspired monsters than actually giving off any oriental 'feeling'. It's a lifeless game.

It's really a lot like pitting Baldur's Gate 2 (Which has a rich fantasy setting) against a game like Revenant. Revenant has a fantasy setting but it just doesn't feel like they put much work into the setting. I'm sure you know what I mean.

I'd just wait for Seal of Evil to come out for any chinese-inspired or set games.
 

Saint_Proverbius

Administrator
Staff Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2002
Messages
14,133
Location
Behind you.
Yeah, that's one reason I liked Prince of Qin so much. If there's one single thing you can point to that game did right, it's the Chinese setting. I'm hoping Seal of Evil does the same thing with it's setting.
 

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