Severance: Blade of Darkness (PC)

[The Rocketman]

Hi, this thread is aimed at people who have played Severance. It's a game I personnally loved, and I have finished it many, many times... It has the best sword-fighting system I've ever seen, where skill (!), timing, good defense, and strategy make all the difference! However...

<dramatic pause>

I'm looking for a similar title on x-box... The only thing that comes close is Enclave, but it has very mixed reviews. So what I want to ask you now, is "are there coming any good sword-fighting titles out soon?"
Preferably multiplayer...

Sorry for the newbie question, but I don't have an x-box yet (though will have one in a week).

Thanks!

[MerimacHamwich]

I have played Blade of Darkness and Rune (which was better IMO).

Unfortunately Enclave is the only thing that comes close. It isn't too hard at the start but as you progress through the game it gets harder. By the end of the light campaign you will be shaking your head in frustration. It has great textures though. Visually stunning. I would suggest you give it a try.

[The Rocketman]

Ah yes, Rune.... I only played the demo (which I liked), but I vividly remember the heated discussions at the Severance forum of which game was better :)
Quake3 vs. UT was nothing compared to that discussion...

Yeah, I think I'll give Enclave a try.
Have you heard about Genma Onimusha? That has some good swordplay supposedly.

[MerimacHamwich]

No I havent. Never tried it either. Well I have heard about it... it is suppose to be pretty bad. Crappy PS2 port or something of the like.

[JimmieDoogan]

Onimusha is Resident Evil with Deamons and Samurai instead of American Ops and Zombies... same game, different story.

[Qbas]

Isn't Genma Onimusha really short game? I have been considering on getting it for Xbox but i'm afraid the game is too short and i need a game that has longetivity...i allready have Morrowind for my PC :)

[wulff]

BOD OWNZ RUNE.BOD OWNZ ENCLAVE.
Rune was a good game in it's own respect though.I did like it.BUT it's no BOD.
This game was supposed to come out for the xbox at first but was later cancelled because of Rebel Act Studio's splitting the sheets.
Enclave is the closest thing you'll find for the box that compares somewhat.If you finished BOD(several times) ,Enclave will be a cake walk ,trust me.
Combat in Enclave is a no brainer button masher....which stinks(no real combo's)
There should have been a toggle button for crouch.......
And last but not least the swimming could have used some minor tweaking......
All in all though you will be fairly impressed with Enclave for a console game,trust me again.
I think for the price now 2 it's a steal.
cheers.

[Qbas]

RUNE in multiplayer is sheer fun, well i just love hacking and slashing other player to pieces with HUGE axes and swords :D

[The Rocketman]

I think I'm almost convinced then. There are no similar titles except Enclave, which has far less 'style' and skill I guess then BOD, for xbox.
Well, if I find it and it's cheap and I have money, I guess I'll try it. But it has no multiplayer, right?

Oh, and wulff, you said I'd find Enclave ease after finishing BOD? I'm hoping you're right, 'cos everybody's saying how damn difficult this game is! :)

Side note: and what's with these dumb smileys? I can't ;) without it looking like I fancy you... Grrr...

[wulff]

Side note: and what's with these dumb smileys? I can't without it looking like I fancy you... Grrr...

I know that's why i never use them at this site.

[Viper87227]

I had the demo for BOD. I bought the regular game but it doesnt work on my pc (weird). But based off the demo I played, I think you should try Baldures Gate Dark Alliance (i loved this game on PS2), or try Lord of the Rings The Two towers. There all different games story wise, but they all fall under the hack-n-slash genre.

[The Rocketman]

Yes, those are 2 titles I'm looking at.

However, BOD was no simple hack-n-slash game! Enemies would kick your ass if you weren't careful, even a little troll could be dangerous. But the thing that really set BOD apart, is the fact that you gradually became better, and your skill really improved. Aah, it truly was last year's game of the year... sigh

Is it too much to ask for on xbox? I mean, really?

[Viper87227]

(THERE ARE MINOR SPOILERS HERE, READ AT YOUR DISCRESSION)

In both of those games you can level up, in Dark Alliance you get points to accuire new skills, and when you get =certain skills you can definatly see how its helped. LOTR also has a level up system. You get points based on the rating you get when you kill an enemy. When you accumulate so many points you power up, and with each power up you can buy new attacks and combos which come in handy later in the game

As far as difficulty level, there isnt really one specific creature thats a threat but, in LOTR when you've got 200+ of those little monsters + a few archers + 2 trolls, and your responcable for your survival as well as the survival of others the game gets tough. Dark alliance is the same way in the fact there is really one specific enemy to fear aside from the boss fights which are tough, but same as LOTR there are times where you'll get surrounded and when you'ev killed everything you'll be thinking how the hell did i just survive that.

Out of the two I would probably reccomend Baldures Gate, its more fun and it has more of a crawling around in the dungeons thing which is somewhat like severance. If you have PS2, get it on that bcuz the game is exactly the same on both systems as far as I can tell, but the PS2 version is $20 instead of $50 on the xbox.

hope all this helps

[wulff]

Oh, and wulff, you said I'd find Enclave ease after finishing BOD? I'm hoping you're right, 'cos everybody's saying how damn difficult this game is

Trust me ,you'll like it and probably finish it.I actually found it to be fairly simple after your character is upgraded.It does not compare to BOD level of difficulty.I know what ya mean by a troll being able to take you out if your not on your game.A cool thing about ENCLAVE is the introduction of a crossbow,Which has simple target and fire aproach.

The only reason everybody said it was difficult was because of the no save system and some scripted event's.

[RadRider]

BOD was an amazing game, but it's such a system hog. Personally I prefer Rune for the multiplayer alone. One on One swordfighting is really something else - something that Enclave may have showed us if Starbreeze didn't shoot the wind up Xbox gamer's asses. Hell, they give us a game that was originally supposed to rely heavily on multiplayer, but ends up having no multiplayer at all, and a very rudimentary combat system at that, and then they go and make it better for the PS2, GameCube and PC. I mean, it's good to learn from your mistakes, but the mistakes in Enclave were so obvious from the beginning..

Unfortunately, there's not really any game on Xbox (now or in the foreseeable future) that is really like BOD. Star Wars: KOTOR might match it for depth combat-wise, but there's nothing out there like BOD in setting, style and depth.

[The Rocketman]

I guess I'll have to find out for myself then... Some like it (despite its faults), others can't stand it...

Well, first things first. Monday I'm gonna buy an xbox because that's when I'll have my last exam. After that, I'm gonna play Halo and Splinter Cell. And THEN, after a month or so I guess, I'll look at Enclave or TTT again.
Perhaps another title will have been announced by then?

I huuugely appreciate all the input though guys, so thanks a lot :D