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Blade of Darkness

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.4 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 15 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Codemasters

Developer: Rebel Act

Genre(s): Action

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: February 21, 2001

Summary

Stunning, richly detailed fantasy world. Real-ime lighting casts eerie and terrifying shadows. Unrivaled blood and gore combat. Hack off an enemy's limb, then thrash him with it. Learn devastatingly fluid combo attacks and use them to slice your enemies to pieces. [Codemasters]

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Also On The Web: Official Game Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

PC Gameworld

An excellent addition to the third-person genre, incorporating great components of sound, music, and visuals, as well as bolstering incredibly intense melee combat.

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Daily Radar

After a fighter has leveled up and gamers have mastered the combos, BoD can be pretty damn cool. The lighting effects are superb, the music is moody and there is plenty of action. Turn up the volume, turn out the lights and you'll have a thick slice of fun.

IGN

A pretty darn satisfying experience. The battles are intense, the gore is outrageous, the levels are well designed, the graphics are superb, and there is a save anywhere feature. Thank God for that. So if you are looking for a challenging and beautiful adventure, you'll want to check this one out.

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GameZone

But I could not help but enjoy this program, even with the blood and mutilation modes turned on, because of the ‘feel’ of the game (the nice sense that the world was one where common elements, like light and even gravity – throwing objects is very cool – have meaning).

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PC Gamer

Successfully mixes numerous gameplay styles in one compelling package. [May 2001, p.84]

GameSpy

There will always be a place for simple violent diversions in gaming, and this is one of those that seems to balance a few contemporary technical features with classic gameplay to create an experience that is quite simply fun.

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Computer Games Magazine

Mixing down and dirty hack-and-slash action with some light puzzle solving; Blade of Darkness makes a simple concept work. With enough blood spurting and gib spraying to send Joe Lieberman and his cohorts running for cover, this is slicing and dicing at its finest.

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GamePro

Despite the so-so sounds and demanding controls, Blade of Darkness is an entertaining action/adventure game where it pays to keep your wits honed and your sword sharpened.

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Hot Games

An extremely difficult action RPG with some nice graphics and high system requirements. It's a game of trade-offs that will appeal to a hardcore audience but does not have broad crossover appeal.

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Game Over Online

I liken Blade of Darkness to a popcorn flick. Check your brain at the door, this one’s all about the special effects and boisterous fighting scenes.

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Gamer's Pulse

I have to be honest. I simply lost interest in this game.

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GameSpot

It's got some problems and takes some time to get into, but it should otherwise appeal to players who've enjoyed previous hack-and-slash action games, or those who like the idea of them.

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Spank!

It's hard not to feel some satisfaction from decapitating an enemy with a cunningly timed swipe then watching his headless body loll for a few moments before collapsing in a heap. Or how about this - slice off a baddy's arm then pick it up and beat his mate to death with it. Blimmin' marvellous.

Happy Puppy

For a budget title, Blade of Darkness ain't so bad, despite its weaknesses. If you've run out of games to play, give it a whirl, just don't expect the world.

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GamePower

Unfortunately, it seems that Rebel Act might have bitten off more than it can chew. Although the swordplay is Blade Of Darkness' greatest strength, it's also its greatest weakness. The sluggish interface is the main problem.

Game Revolution

I just wish it wasn't so mediocre.

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ActionTrip

Low "immersion factor". Two-bit, two-frame main character animation. Sluggish and awkward combat mode. Completely unoriginal puzzles. RPG elements are nothing more than a decoration - something to put on a box.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ryan B gave it a9:
At present I'm playing through my 6th or 7th or so playthough. I truly cannot remember how many times I played this game, it is that great. This is the only time in my life I've played any game so much and yet loved every second of it. If you've played fighting games and have always wanted something more deep and thoughtful, look no further. Above all else thing game excells at it's melee combat. Far better than Dark messiah and Oblivion is a joke to this game. You don't just randomly attack your enemy clicking the attack button, every swipe of your sword must be a planned maneuver. If you attack to early, or you use the wrong combo you could easily find yourself in a bad situation. That brings me to the other incredible feature of this game, the AI. In most games your AI will simply run at you attacking wildly. Well there are some enemies that do that here, but those are the worst. Knights for example are some of the hardest, they will strafe slowly around you shield always at the ready only attacking when it is absolutely best for them to hit you. The AI dictates the difficulty, unfortunately there are some over sights by the developers and some of the enemies they seemed to design to be "hard". I'm talking about golems, they're attacks are some of the easiest to dodge and because of that they are easy to take down. But then there are moments where the AI shines through, enemies with health potions will wait until they are far enough away from you to heal instead blindly healing. Oh yes, healing takes time, it is part of the strategy of the game. You always must ask yourself, heal now or risk having to risk healing in battle(bad). And potions are not easy to come by. Even as a veteran I found my self barely able to stay alive as a dwarf nearing the end of the game. The game scales with difficulty perfectly. Although at first the game may seem clunky and complicated, it eventually unfolds into an epic adventure with you as the hero. Now if you do not like melee combat, I mean real melee combat as I described you'll get bored or frustrated very quickly. There is archery, however it is essentially pointless because you can do maybe 50dmg with a bow to enemies with 1000+hp that charge at you. So if you like a good, real, in-depth melee hack and slash game Severance is definitely for you. And for those who were hoping for a sequel, I hope I will be able to work one out. I'm an upcoming independent developer and I'm looking into making a remake of Severance, this time with archery and without the lock-on control.

Sally J. gave it a7:
I am only now playing Blade of Darkness. For anyone reading this, this game still is better then most of it's modern counterparts. If you're not a "eew the graphics are not as good as Crysis-whiner", PLAY THIS THING!!!! One note on the audio though: There's a reason the music is fantastic. Most music tracks are live orchestra loops, coming from a premade CD. These loops can be found in numerous budget titles. With this in mind, you could say the audio is the only thing in this game not up to par with the rest. It still is functional though. Also, these loops are converted to mono, degrading the loops in quality. in Stereo, they sound FAR better. I do have one more thing to say: the loops are "beefed up" with additional sampled instruments. Here you can see a hint of the "composer's quality". These additional melodies are outstanding. The tracks where he added horn melodies dubbed by a tenor singer are outstanding en very immersive. Let's hope the composer did better in other games. Conclusively: This game is worth every penny. Pick it up, you WILL NOT regret it!!!

Wilkinson K. gave it a10:
It just goes to show that the critics havn't got a clue. As a major game player on all formats Blade of Darkness still stands head and shoulders above other medevil fighting games. There are no stupid numbers above opponents heads and enemies fill the screen to give the feel of an actual combat. The lighting and graphic design are superb, this game should definately be remade for the latest computers, if only Codemasters were still around.

Gary M. gave it a9:
This is a classic melee fighting game, begging to be rediscovered (or even better, sequelized or remade). Terrific bloody combat, great weapons, smart enemies, tons of gore, huge levels, tons of moves, four playable characters, great lighting and shadow effects, and awesome music. What more do you want? Blade of Darkness makes games like Rune and Enclave look like kiddie games.

Nucleus gave it a9:
Only the new Prince of Persia games (Sands of Time, Warrior Within) have equalled this brilliant melee fighting game. The fighting system resemblences games like Virtual Fighter, in that you have dozens of moves you can use and you need to use them wisely to survive. Simply hacking the left mouse button will do you no good (like in Rune). It gives great pleasure to outwit a horde of monsters with series of cool moves. This is a must have for pro gamers, as it is hard, rewarding and long.

Adrian gave it a10:
Best medieval game ever, Lot of weapons, lot of combos (more with mods) and a unique system of combat that is the best ever made, you hit where you want legs head arms.

Dwain gave it a10:
I love cutting things off!! iz funny.

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