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Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Blades Of Fire review - hammer of the gods
The makers of Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow and Metroid Dread return with an original game that has a very unique system for both using and creating weapons. Success in any medium can be a double-edged sword, from actors being typecast by certain roles to directors who can only get work making the same sort of films over and over again. It's even worse for video games, with some studios, like Call Of Duty's Infinity Ward, having been working on the same franchise, and nothing else, for over two decades. Spanish developer MercurySteam isn't quite in that position, but they have spent a significant portion of their 23 year existence making Metroidvania games, starting with the Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow series, before perfecting their art with Metroid: Samus Returns and the excellent Metroid Dread. It's unknown whether they'll return to work on a new 2D Metroid game for the Switch 2 but in the meantime, they've made Blades Of Fire. It's not a licensed game or something based on an existing franchise but a brand new action adventure that seems to exist purely because MercurySteam wanted to make it, and not because 12 months had passed since the last one. And that alone makes it an intriguing prospect. There are multiple influences on Blades Of Fire, including MercurySteam's previous work, the recent Zelda games, the work of FromSoftware, and the modern God Of War games. The plot is straight out of Breath Of The Wild, with all the swords in the kingdom being rendered useless by an evil sorceress. You play as a warrior who gains the ability to forge your own weapons, which comes in very handy when everyone else's has turned to stone. Unfortunately, the plot and setting are bog standard fantasy, and while there are a few interesting wrinkles, such as the occasionally inspired bit of art design, a lot of it could have come from any game in the last decade or so. Even if the oddly proportioned human characters are reminiscent of Lords Of Shadow and the weirder monsters are when the comparisons to Dark Souls et al. seem most obvious. Being able to forge your own sword is the most unique element of the game and, thankfully, works very well. You have a magic hammer that, unlike with Thor, is actually used for the sort of things hammers were invented for. Not banging in nails but tempering molten steel into various blades and other usefully sharp and pointy bits of metal. Defeating multiple enemies of the same type eventually unlocks a blueprint for whatever weapon they were using, from spears to swords. The enemy variety is already good but because you know there's a very useful reward for beating lots of the same kind it helps greatly in avoiding problems with repetition. The blueprint has lots of customisation options, depending on the type of steel you use and the length or shape of a blade – which has a small but measurable effect on things like power and how much stamina is expended when wielding it. Once you've made your choices you have to play a forging mini-game, to try and maximise the amount of time until the weapon becomes useless. This is not easy, or well explained, but after a few hours you begin to get the hang of it, and it becomes surprisingly satisfying. The problem is that you get the feeling the whole forging weapons aspect was the impetus behind the game getting made, with nothing else being as fully formed in concept or execution. The third person combat is fine, and relatively unique, but it's not involved enough to support a game where there are no other substantial gameplay elements. Combat is original in the sense that rather than just using light and heavy attacks the face buttons are mapped to what part of an enemy you're trying to attack: the head, left or right torso, or legs. As novel an idea as that is, there's not much more to the combat than that, expect for charged attacks and the inevitable parries and dodges. There are no proper combos and while you do sometimes have to target specific body parts, to avoid heavy armour or attack weak points, the whole concept feels undercooked. Blades Of Fire is a peculiar game, that flits between feeling impressively unique and disappointingly generic. Some of its ideas are entirely its own, while others, such as the way health potions work and having to collect dropped weapons after you die, are very obviously borrowed from Soulsborne games. More Trending And yet, the only truly bad part of the game is the terrible map, which is very easily the worst we've ever seen in a modern game. It's purely two dimensional and makes it almost impossible to tell where you are, where you've been, or where you're going. It also seems to be an awkward compromise between not wanting to have a map at all, like a Soulsborne title, and providing only the bare minimum instead. With a better story and more engaging characters this could've still been worth a recommendation but unfortunately the storytelling is no better than the game's cartography. What Blades Of Fire is left with is a collection of good idea that are never forged into an effective whole. In Short: A flawed but interesting attempt at a mash-up of everything from God Of War to Dark Souls, but where crafting weapons is often more fulfilling than using them. Pros: The core business of forging weapons works very well, including in terms of how you get blueprints and the level of customisation available. Weighty combat and memorable boss battles. Cons: The combat is interesting but too simplistic to sustain the whole game, while the storytelling is bland and cliched. Awful map system. Score: 6/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PC*Price: £49.99Publisher: 505 GamesDeveloper: MercurySteamRelease Date: 22nd May 2025 Age Rating: 18 *Epic Games Store only Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Games Inbox: When will the new Tomb Raider be revealed? MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 is getting an old school midnight launch at major UK toy store MORE: Official PS5 price cut slashes up to £140 in upcoming PlayStation sale
Forbes
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Blades Of Fire Review Round-Up & Release Date Info
Blades of Fire Blades of Fire caught my eye. A few months back, I was looking through the latest posts from the gazillion YouTube channels I subscribe to, and I saw a trailer for 505 Games' new fantasy, third-person action title. I love third-person action games with large enemies and good combat, and while I hadn't heard of MercurySteam's Blades of Fire up to that point, I was interested as the art style and overall vibe piqued my interest. I still haven't played it, though I plan to put some time in once it releases. However, I have done some research to gather the impressions from others in the industry. I'll share those here, but first, here is the release information you need to know if you're interested in trying the game yourself. Some have praised the weapons-forging system, while others have said that it is a mild distraction from a disjointed story and an overly simplistic combat system. IGN's Jada Griffin loves the 'superb crafting' of weapons but laments the title's 'uneven story and combat that lacks real depth.' FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Griffin slammed the title with a harsh 5 out of 10 rating. While acknowledging a few of the same issues Griffin pointed out, Tom Orry of Eurogamer wrote this in his review: Orry scored the game 4 out of 5 stars. Abbie Stone of GamesRadar also gave it 4 out of 5 stars and gushed over the diverse experience the game provides: On the downside again, Slant's Justin Clark absolutely slammed Blades of Fire for a lack of enjoyment: As you may have guessed, Clark scored the title low. To be specific, he gave it two stars on a five-star scale. Whenever scores are this mixed on a title from major publications, it tells me one thing: I need to play it for myself. As is the case with everything, it likely comes down to preference and what you're in the mood to play. I'd be lying if I said I was fired up to spend a bunch of time crafting weapons in search of a major payoff. That's not normally why I'd play a game like Blades of Fire. I'm also worried about the cutscenes leaving a lot to be desired. Still, I'm going to give it a whirl and I'll let you know my thoughts.
Daily Mirror
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Blades of Fire review – forging a new style of hack-and-slash combat
MercurySteam have created a deep and intriguing fantasy world where creative melee combat is unequivocally the main attraction. Providing you don't mind getting turned around every so often, Blades of Fire delivers a worthy twist on the Soulslike template thanks to its unique combat and weapon-crafting system. Don't be fooled by the protagonist's broad shoulders and burly beard. There's far more thought given to Blades of Fire than what its Xbox 360 era aesthetic and character designs may initially suggest. It's a third-person action-adventure about going on a quest to protect a fantasy kingdom from the forces of evil, yes, but beneath this relatively ho-hum premise is a new kind of combat system that quite literally puts out the more you put in – thanks to the ability to create and modify your own weapons. As such, taking on enemies is always stuffed with a lot more meaning and risk than you'd find in other typical hack-and-slash fare. And while the systems outside this core hook aren't quite as exciting, it's hard to deny the thrill that comes from repairing, recycling, and creating your own spin on the game's namesake whenever heading back to the forge. At the centre of this fiery tale is Aran De Lira, part-time reluctant hero and full-time master forger, who finds himself in the rather unique position of being one of very few still able to craft steel following Queen Nerea's spell that has since turned everyone else's weapons into stone. His determination to do something about this properly begins after being gifted with a magical hammer by a young squire, Adso, that inspires the pair to fight their way to the queen's royal palace. It results in a road trip of sorts that challenges Aran to fight and forge through all kinds of interlocking dungeons and areas. From here Blades of Fire falls into a structure that is very Dark Souls in style, although in a way that reshapes your expectation due to the nature of weapons that will over time become blunt and degrade. Knowing that the weapons you've hammered into shape and spent time gathering better materials to make will eventually wear might sound disheartening. And yet, it's a core part of the Blades of Fire experience, one that forced me to think better about my actions both in and outside of combat. See, specific weapons are more and less susceptible to different enemy types, to the extent that, say, a polearm won't do as much damage to someone in full body armour. From here you can either switch weapons from the four Aran can carry at any one time, or you have two other options: change the stance with your equipped weapon or try to target a part of the enemy's body that is vulnerable to a certain directional swipe. As you can probably already tell, developer MercurySteam has placed a lot of depth into the way you not only can – but should – approach combat scenarios; a fact that quickly prevents you from being able to just continually button mash your way through crowded areas. The god of war Aran De Lira is not, and therefore it always pays to seek out the green outline on enemy limbs, being the best way of quickly telling whether your crafted weapon will deal out the most damage it's capable of. From Twin Axes to Greatswords to Spears, there are seven different weapon types you craft at the forge in total. The better you hammer the metal into each one's shape at the forge, the more damage they'll do when swung – not to mention the more times you'll be able to quickly repair it so as to avoid the need to start forging entirely from scratch. Forged in fire Once you get past how to swap weapons in and out on the fly and how to switch stances to slash, thrust, or otherwise, facing down goblins, spirit creatures, and bosses becomes a delicate dance of knowing not just when to attack, but how. The result is a genuinely unique and refreshing mode of third-person hack-and-slashing that is more meaningful than it is mindless, and something totally different to the usual combat language of 'attack, parry, block' that most modern action games can sometimes use as a crutch these days. Outside of combat is where the light that usually burns bright within Blades of Fire tends to dim somewhat, since story-wise there's not a whole lot going on here surprisingly. I spent a good ten hours, for example, barrelling my way through zones before I was reminded about Aran and Adso's mission, and it's still a while longer before Queen Nerea makes a full appearance. Sure, this makes the extent of her evil and power all-encompassing. But in terms of actually having a tangible adversary present in the narrative? Meh, I personally would have enjoyed learning more about her whole deal much earlier on. Thankfully, there's a small but impactful cast of quirky characters that the central pair bump into, such as the magical witch Glinda and Melcart the old and forgetful spirit. As opposed to the villain, these personalities help coat Blades of Fire's world with some much-needed texture. Speaking of which, the locations you visit throughout Blades of Fire could have absolutely been the stars of the show, were they not a tad irksome to navigate. The huge map being interconnected is one of the most effective ways MercurySteam sold me on Aran and Adso's adventure being a colossal road trip. However, it's when exploring each individual zone, fort, or dungeon that navigation can often be a real pain, where more than a few times me working out where to go next simply boiled down to guesswork. There's a compass on screen at all times that points to the closest forge or previously dropped weapon, but they weren't enough to keep me set on the correct path. Thankfully, some areas like The Doyen Graves are better laid out than others. So often, however, did I find myself turned around due to some inconsistencies in layouts more than I'd like, which led to me being occasionally frustrated with traversal and exploration. Shallow narrative hooks in the early game and the odd annoying biome aside, Blades of Fire excels in presenting an alluring and brand-new fantasy world I couldn't wait to dive into and chip away at further. Even in instances where I was bashing my head at a wall unable to find the next best route forward, I knew that persevering would be worth it since it meant getting to test out my newly forged, more powerful weapon at the next gaggle of enemy soldiers who lined up for slaughter. I can't say I ever truly invested in Aran's personal plight, but I very much enjoyed the way he goes about resolving it, all thanks to one of the most unique and thoughtful melee combat systems I've experienced in the past few years. Blades of Fire borrows from the past, but when it comes to combat and creativity it also forges its own way forward.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Metroid Dread dev channels that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow energy in a new action game with "almost infinite" ways to build your own weapon
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Developer MercurySteam is probably best known for its modernized takes on both halves of the word Metroidvania, from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to Metroid Dread and Samus Returns. Today, the studio has unveiled its new project Blades of Fire, an original action game that seems to channel a fair bit of that dark fantasy Lords of Shadow energy. Blades of Fire was just unveiled today ahead of a May 22, 2025 release date, which is something of a refreshingly brief marketing cycle. You play as Aran de Lira, a member of a knightly order who's out to stop the increasingly evil Queen Nerea. You're accompanied by a scribe named Adso, who seems to function as something of a human Navi, offering insights into how to defeat all the enemies you'll come across throughout the game. The central hook here is that you'll be forging your own weapons here, built based on items called "Forge Scrolls" that you'll collect over the course of the game. The official site notes that there are seven different weapon families, more than 30 Forge Scrolls, and various materials to use, promising "almost infinite weapon combinations." Each weapon you forge will have different characteristics in categories like "weight, length, durability, penetrations and edge quality," and I promise you I am trying avoid obvious jokes about that phrasing. You'll need to be particular about your weapon choices because each enemy will have its own weaknesses, and you might need to specifically slash, stab, or bludgeon foes to most effectively deal damage against them. You'll also be able to attack specific enemy body parts. The trailer and few details we've seen so far don't give a great sense of how all these systems work together, but the combat looks up close, personal, and satisfyingly brutal in a way that's certainly got me interested. We won't have to wait long for Blades of Fire's release on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC via the Epic Games Store. Get your blood pumping with the best action games available today.
