Forged to near perfection
Blades of Fire is the latest game from longtime Spanish studio MercurySteam, known for reinvigorating the Castlevania series and working a similar magic with the Metroid Dread from a few years ago. Having loved the latter, I was all for this new game when I heard it was going to involve smithing of your own weapons, and some epic sword play.
In Blades of Fire an ancient race known as Forgers are who created mankind and gave them knowledge of steel to create weapons. After an evil Queen rose to power, she casts a spell that petrified everyone’s weapons but her troops, turning them all to stone. Players will take control of Aran de Lira a warrior and forgemaster who after a series of unfortunate events is bequeathed to one of the legendary forge hammers that was used to make the world. With it, Aran is able to create steel weapons and thus is able to begin his quest – to kill Queen Nerea and restore steel to the world.
Along for the ride is a young scholar named Adso, he will provide tips and sketches and research creatures as Aran defeats them. I for one loved the banter between these two, but for those who don’t want to hear someone else players can send Adso back to camp at any time and can likewise summon him to their side, usually interrupting something he was doing which was funny every time. One of the more interesting things about the game is how the story is presented. Unlike seeing the cutscenes of the villains discussing their plans in Blades of Fire the player will only ever know what Aran and Adso knows.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $59.99
Which leads me to exploration which is required for Blades of Steel; the good thing is the environments are beautiful, most of them evoking the art style of comic book artist Frank Frazetta. The environments all have very vivid colors and dramatic compositions which really help to sell the game as a dark fantasy fairy tale. From the swamps to old Forts and forests the visuals didn’t disappoint, but this is also true of the enemies that Aran will face. The Queen’s forces are made up of the usual rank-and-file soldiers, but players will also face zombies and other monsters along the way. The story and even enemy types are cool but it’s not anything ground breaking, but the combat however, well that’s another story.
Combat in Blades of Fire is one of the most unique things about the game. For starters players are able to swing their weapons left, right, top and bottom; on controller weapons swings are mapped to the X, B, Y and A buttons respectfully. Players are able to mix up these buttons to create combos based on Aran’s momentum when swinging, they can even use a heavy attack by holding the button down. It took me quite a while to get used to the fact the B wasn’t the dodge button, every game session of Blades of Fire would have me taking hits or even getting killed at least once until I could reacclimate myself to the controls. Dodge is actually the LB while block is handled by the LT. Just as in most games that have melee combat players can parry attacks if they press the block button at the right moment which will stun most enemies. Locking on to enemies is important because enemies will be highlighted based on how well the current equipped weapon will do damage. It will also highlight where they may be weak with the simple red, yellow green; with green doing the most damage, yellow at 50% and red is ineffective.
Annnnnd there is a stamina that of course drains as players attack and dodge, but the cool thing is Aran utilizes an ability that allows him to gain stamina back by blocking. So, players will need to ensure they hold that block button during fights in order to keep up the stamina to push the attack. Weapons will dull as Aran slays enemies and players will have to use a stone to sharpen them, this is tracked on screen for the player. Weapons can in fact break once they have been repaired the max number of times but more on that later.
The other really cool thing that Blades of Fire does is allow players to forge their own weapons. As players progress, they will defeat enemies who each use a different type of weapon, once the player defeats enough of them (each requires a different amount) they will unlock the ability to forge that weapon type. Now this is where the fun begins, well I say it’s fun, but I absolutely suck at the art of forging.
When players enter the forge and approach the work bench, they will begin by choosing the type of weapon that will be made. After that you are given many options as far as the type of steel to use, the length, shape of the blade or hammer head, type of handle material and more. Each of these will change how hare the weapon hits, how much block it can withstand and how strong it is. Once players get their billet it’s time to bring the hammer down. When forging there will be a design that will be drawn, and the players will have to make the iron line up to the design. As they hammer one section it will likewise raise another section; so, players will have to be slow and methodical l when forging. The reason this is important is that the better the iron matches correctly the more repair stars the weapons will have, which directly equates to how long players can use that particular weapon.
Once players have forged their weapons the system will save the max amount of repair stars earned so the next time you forge the same type of weapon you can skip the happening and use the star level you got before. When that’s all done players can name their weapons, so if you want to name your great sword ‘The Blade of Blood and Tears’ you can do that. There is also a random function for those who may not care about that part so much.
Blades of Fire is a welcome return to MercurySteam and I think it’s one that is going to be a sleeper hit. The way the story unfolds and pushes the player to explore the environment that is littered with hidden fights and upgrades that will help Aran become stronger. Even the characters that players will meet along the way are fun and add something to the overall game, and I for one loved Adso but if players like to adventure in silence the developers have allowed for that which is neat. If you are a fan of big, adventure action-RPG’s with a beautiful land to explore and tons of weapons to make and use; then Blades of Fire is going to be for you.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
