Blade of Darkness is a re-release of a 2001 Spanish action game that came out in the West under the name Severance: Blade of Darkness. The original was made by Rebel Act Studios, and the updated version was released in October 2021 by SNEG together with Fire Falcom and General Arcade. Today the game is often remembered as one of the forerunners of the soulslike genre, since its weighty melee combat arrived long before Dark Souls.
Pick One of Four Heroes
The kingdom is coming apart at the seams: border fortresses are falling, there are more orcs than ever before, and an army of monsters is marching out of abandoned mines toward the underground cities of the dwarves. Long ago the goddess Ianna gave an ancient hero a sword to stop the evil, and now a new chosen one is needed. That can be the barbarian Tukaram, the dwarf Naglfar, the knight Sargon or the amazon Zoe. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, their own weapons and set of moves, so playing as the barbarian feels quite different from playing as the amazon.
Combat That Cuts No Slack
Strikes build into chains, and knowing how to string attacks into a combo matters more than your character's raw strength. You can lop off enemies' limbs, then pick up a severed arm and use it as a weapon. Your foes include orcs, trolls, golems, skeletons and demons. The levels don't forgive carelessness either: tombs are packed with traps, some of them running on mechanics and hydraulics, there are puzzles to solve, and many objects can be smashed with your fists or set on fire. Your path leads through ice fortresses, deserts, temples, palaces and demon towers.
What the Re-Release Changes
The gameplay, story and levels stayed exactly as they were, and only the technical side was reworked. Textures are sharper, and the update adds anti-aliasing, HDR, glow and blur effects, widescreen support and resolutions up to 4K. Gamepad support and an improved camera were added, and the game now runs more reliably on modern systems. The system requirements are very modest.
Key Features
- Four heroes: a barbarian, a dwarf, a knight and an amazon.
- Attack combos and limb severing.
- Traps, puzzles and destructible objects.
- Orcs, trolls, golems, skeletons and demons.
- Updated graphics with 4K and gamepad support.
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