Blade and Sword (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.3 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Craig Beers
• Reviewed on: 01/14/2004
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 12/22/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Blade and Sword (PC) Review

Blade and Sword is a Diablo-style action role-playing game set in China. It has a heavy emphasis on fighting-game elements such as combos, special attacks, and blocking. The game actually pulls off these aspects really well and can be exciting at times. Unfortunately, a poor translation, very repetitive gameplay, and a lack of any multiplayer features mar what otherwise could have been an excellent take on this type of game.

Blade and Sword takes place 3,000 years in the past, albeit in an alternate past. It's difficult to make out exactly what is happening in the story, though, due to a poor English translation from the original Chinese. There's something about emperors and wars, but all you really need to know is that there's an evil wizard that you need to stop. Wizard Wen has opened rifts between three realms, and so creatures from the human, beast, and demon realms can now mingle freely. As such, all sorts of foul monsters have come to terrorize humankind, and it's up to you to figure out exactly what's wrong and how to fix it. Rather, it's up to you to kill a whole bunch of monsters single-handedly.

You can choose one of three heroes to step up to the task. The three heroes aren't created equal though. The long-swordsman is the average, balanced character. He can stun a group of enemies and move in for the attack, so he is the easiest to play as. The twin-blades heroine is fast and agile, and while she isn't as powerful as the other two heroes, she does have a secondary kick attack. The great-blade warrior is very strong, but he isn't as coordinated as his fellow comrades. The latter two heroes are more difficult to play as because you have to put forth more effort to control them due to their abilities and skill sets. Each hero has a unique set of skills, which are divided into four categories, and each category has a progression of three skills, followed by a super skill. Each skill (except for the super skills) can be upgraded twice to make it more powerful. As with similar games with skill tress, you gain one point every level, and you may distribute any accrued points whenever and however you wish.

Unlike in Diablo II, for example, you'll get every skill by the end of Blade and Sword. The upside is that you won't be penalized for diversifying your character as in Diablo II, in which characters with a variety of skills are much weaker than characters with a focus on particular skill sets. The downside is that you can't create a unique character. There's no mystery about what some other skill path may have given you, and so there's not much incentive to try playing the same character in a different fashion. And that's only the beginning. When you level up, the game automatically upgrades your ability scores. That means you can't make your character more powerful in one area if you're inclined. Since the character-building aspects of Blade and Sword are really quite limited, you'll never feel very attached to your character, nor does the game offer much replay value.

This identity crisis is further compounded by the fact that you don't scavenge for weapons. Part of the appeal of role-playing games is finding new equipment for your characters. However, you don't equip your character in Blade and Sword. You'll never put on better armor or find a stronger sword. That's a shame--it's not very exciting to never get to upgrade your arsenal. For what it's worth, you can slightly upgrade and customize your character with gems, which bestow benefits like extra damage or higher defense and are dropped by slain enemies or found in the environment.

A game had better have something to keep you interested if there isn't bountiful loot, and fortunately, Blade and Sword does have something up its sleeve. Most of the skills in the skill tree are special attacks that you can perform. For example, the twin-blade heroine can do a move that involves kicking at an enemy three times consecutively. The special attacks aren't incredibly powerful on their own, but they can be devastating when used in combinations. Your normal attack may only reduce an enemy's health by a small amount, while a combination can slice through the same enemy's entire life gauge. That's because enemies will fall down if they are hit by the same type of attack repeatedly, preventing you from pursuing the attack until they regain their footing. For example, the great-blade warrior will drop an enemy if he hits it with three normal attacks, and that enemy will probably get back up. Instead, you can string together special attack combinations to inflict a lot of damage without knocking down the opponent. The great-blade warrior can make a combination like this: two normal attacks, two triple-strike attacks, two more normal attacks, one dragon lift, one more triple strike, one normal attack, and then a smash throw. Fortunately the game allows you to make four combo shortcuts, so you could do that entire sequence by just pressing the right mouse button instead of manually changing attacks.

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