Quite suddenly, a remaster of the founder of the whole genre of brutal slashers was released.
The game is announced for the Windows platform.
LYRICAL INTRODUCTION
Once upon a time, about 15 years ago, I saw this game on my friend’s computer and fell in love at first sight. There was incredibly cool music and voice-over from the videos, blood and limbs were flying in all directions, it was necessary to explore large, confusing locations.
A friend didn’t like the game – he constantly lost and eventually deleted it, calling it incomprehensible garbage. I don’t like losing either, but this time it was as if an invisible spring clicked and I decided that no matter what, I had to beat this game.
In general, I got to the point where I sat on vacation and on some gray paper (there were no standard A4 sheets in my village at that time) wrote in small handwriting all the intricacies of each location. At that moment I knew where every apple and every piece of bread was, not to mention potions that could be put in inventory, weapons and armor. Everyone managed to complete the game except the gnome. I liked the barbarian the most, he flew through the game in almost two evenings, having already thoroughly delved into the process. I remember they also awarded ranks for a certain number of saves during the passage. The best run was "Hero", with 23 saves for the entire game.
And here is the remaster. You can’t pass by this, the legend is back.
Pretty epic. Demons have invaded the world and they can only be stopped with the help of Ianna’s sword, which we will search for.
The gameplay is pretty hardcore slasher with challenging swordplay and movement.
I recommend doing a little training in the beginning. As far as I remember, before it could jam, but in the remaster it works like a watch, although it was done clumsily in places. I didn’t like that you could actually teleport between training stations. It used to be more atmospheric, if memory serves.
Let’s look at four heroes you can defeat. I think each of them is worthy of a short story.
Dwarf Naglfar. In my opinion – the most difficult character. The range (range) of the weapon is small, as is the damage. Shields, which the hero supposedly specializes in, are not decisive in this game. At most, you can repel a couple of strong blows with the destruction of the shield and subsequent serious problems.
Stands out for having the largest health reserve among the heroes, which can be important.
I started as a gnome several times, but at most I became a vampire (a very nasty creature). There, no options, merged 30 times. Perhaps at that time I simply did not know that there were special techniques and super-strikes. But, in any case, the gnome is a hardcore mod.
Knight Sargon. This is a more aggressive variation of the gnome. In my opinion, the scope of the weapon is a little larger. Can wear heavy armor (still get there), allowing you to withstand more damage. But as with shields, you shouldn’t rely on them; at most, you can consider increased armor as a nice bonus.
What’s interesting is that this character played through almost the entire game without realizing that he had super attacks and special moves. And only almost at the final bosses, when it was necessary to chop down the last enemies, purely by accident I opened the window for skills and combos. It was a real breakthrough in game quality.
Amazon Zoe. Or easy-mod. Fights with a polearm, and accordingly has a maximum range. Good damage. After the knight it was kind of relaxing. Easily keeps enemies at a distance, and with more or less skillful play takes no damage at all.
Barbarian Tukaram. This is my favorite. Fights https://betpointcasino.co.uk/games/ with a two-handed weapon, but with a not very large range. Almost no shields (maybe, but what for??) does not wear. Has the highest damage among heroes. If this guy gets hit with a hit or two, almost anyone can be taken away. At first it’s quite complicated, but when you acquire a level and a weapon – a death machine is in capable hands.
The moment that fascinated me is the almost mathematical precision of the battle. In fact, every fight turns into a dance, where every step, blow or maneuver is important.
Don’t underestimate any opponent. The slightest mistake and now you’re already without half your health, or even dead.
There are many types of enemies and bosses in the game. You need to remember that they practically spam super and special attacks, so it is extremely undesirable to substitute.
What later became the standard – here you need to monitor the consumption of stamina and not allow it to drain, otherwise, right in the middle of the battle, the hero will begin to rest and will be mercilessly and quickly chopped down.
There are a whole bunch of weapons in the game. Some can be used by all heroes, while others are specialized for each class. Naturally, the maximum profit is from a weapon that suits the hero; with it he will be able to perform super and special attacks.
The combos are different for each class. Quite quickly it becomes clear that you can do a whole series of techniques using super and special attacks, not forgetting about endurance.
Each weapon (suitable for the hero’s profile) in the game has a super-strike (a furious swing with a red stripe – maximum damage). In the super-strike window, you can also see what types of weapons are specifically suitable for the hero, their entire list is here. The only exception is Ianna’s sword, it suits all heroes and has the most severe damage and impassable techniques.
Each hero has a set of special attacks (swings with a yellow stripe – much more damage than with a regular strike).
Among other things, the heroes here do not just deliver even simple blows. They can cut from all sides and each movement is completely dependent on the player. For example, the enemy has a shield. This means it makes sense to slash at his legs or take off his head, but a side blow will not be so useful.
An interesting feature of the game is that enemies can accidentally hit each other and then a bloody mess brews. I still recommend finishing them off yourself, as this way you lose valuable experience.
The game has dismemberment, with the possibility of subsequently taking pieces of the body and fighting with them. Of course, it is more profitable to fight with specialized weapons, but there is such an opportunity.
Can throw weapons at enemies causing good damage. This tactic has a right to exist if you find some gun with strong damage, but which cannot be used for combos yet or in principle.
The game has a whole bunch of consumable items. As a rule, they are aimed at restoring health, but there are other options. Some items can be stored and carried with you in your inventory, some need to be used here and now. It makes sense to leave various food untouched and only after being well-chopped to return to where it lies.
You also need to remember that health is fully restored when you level up and when you move to a new map.
Archery available. As a rule, it is of an auxiliary nature. But having sharpened your shooting skills, you can destroy enemies quite well in some situations. The tricks are that each fired arrow can be physically picked up (if you can reach it, of course) and the absence of any kind of sight – you will have to hone your skills.
The number of arrows is extremely limited, so it is not recommended to miss.
GALLOP THROUGH EUROPE
There are quite a few large locations in the game, and some of them contain critical secrets (I won’t spoil it).
Don’t be alarmed, the menu, just like in the old days, can only be controlled by the keyboard.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of the game and summarize.
+ Quite outdated, but still pleasant and updated for modern graphics systems.
+ Epic atmospheric soundtrack and good sound accompaniment.
+ Well-designed heroes with varied fighting styles.
+ Lots of weapons and opportunities to use them. A large number of super and special attacks.
+ Evil, dangerous enemies and damn dangerous bosses.
+ The battles are complex, but at the same time delicately accurate. There are no uncertainties with the control and recording of impacts. This could also include a good endurance management system.
+ They say you can somehow play with a joystick. I do it the old fashioned way, on the keyboard I chop.
+ Good Russian text localization.
THINGS THAT CAN BE BOTH A PLUS AND A MINUS:
+- This is a really hardcore game. An easy walk is possible only after very good mastery of the game, and even then – one missed hit can change everything.
- It seemed to me that the control when shooting from a bow became somewhat inaccurate, jerky.
This is the founder of a successful genre and a legend. The game came out before many modern gamers were born. And now, you can get acquainted with the modernized version, and it is of quite good quality.
PS: I probably didn’t cover all the aspects, I might have missed something. I will be glad to add/correct the review or answer questions along the way in the comments.
