Die by the Blade

Were you a kid that made a sword out of absolutely everything? If you're any like myself - you spent your childhood forging melee weapons out of newspapers, sticks, bananas, and whatever assets you had at your disposal. In our adult years, we've translated our love of swordplay into video games - that makes Die By The Blade looking all the more attractive.

The game is dedicated to the intricate art of sword combat - and brings every melee enthusiast's fantasies to life. The Kickstarter project has garnered some significant funding, leaving me to believe I am not alone in sharing blade fighting obsessions. Die By The Blade does not have a release date yet - but the teasers provide enough intrigue to have us delve a little further.

Make Swords, Not War

The goals of Die By The Blade are simple in stature - to create a polished sword combat game. The premise may not serve as the most intriguing game concept. However, what makes the idea stand out is the visual and artistic flair added to the gameplay. The developers are branding traditional blade fighting with their own outlandish style.

If we had to explain how Die By The Blade presents, the best description would be a cyberpunk-samurai game in a universal where minor disputes are settled with a katana. At the moment - that seems to serve as the narrative as well. I think we are all OK with this, considering this already provides a massively entertaining aura in itself.

As far as gameplay goes - we've been treated to a few battle scenes that resemble a traditional fighter. There's a clear emphasis on how sword combat will work, with the control schematics geared more towards how you use your blade. The level of detail behind the blade's management is sure to impress fighting-genre enthusiasts - and frustrate many others.

With a clear-cut ambition in what Die By The Blade wants to achieve - it's the aesthetics behind the game that make it attractive. Plenty of overzealous models, environments as animations spill onto the screen at every blink - creating versatile action sequences that fighters crave. Though we still don't know the lore or universe behind the game's premise - the combat alone is already looking exciting - and that's all we can ask for!

We'll Duel at Dawn

Explaining Die By The Blade to any casual gamer - and the reaction would be 'so what?'. Many games focus on the intricacies of blade combat - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and For Honor, to name a couple. However, both haven't been quite so dedicated to polishing the simple mechanics. This game is a blade-fighter - that's it.

Pros:

• Polished approach to sword-combat in a fighting-genre arena
• Visually looking very impressive
• The fluidity of the combat seems refreshing

Cons:

• Doesn't seem accessible to casual players
• Not much information given about the narrative behind the game