Die by the Sword

The Good
Die By The Sword offers a different style of fighting game compared to more traditional titles – it’s more like a medieval sword fighting simulation.

The unique (to my knowledge) VSIM control system is excellent fun. The numpad or mouse are used to direct your character’s weapon arm in any direction, and allows other movements such as blocking, extending and sheathing. Being able to manoeuvre your sword arm in any direction allows for an almost unlimited number of moves. With a bit of practice you’ll be decapitating those Orcs in one swing! There’s really nothing quite like taking on three or four monsters at once, swinging, blocking and dodging across a room… the sense of fighting is very real, as opposed to simply pressing buttons to activate various attacks. Great fun is to be had by amputating the sword arms of all your enemies, then watching them try to attack you with a severed stump (then try picking up the disembodied limb and beating them to death with their own appendage). For beginners, there’s a more traditional “arcade” control method.

The music and sound effects are excellent, especially the main character Enric’s various taunts and exclamations (“Ahhh… the other white meat…” “Ooh! Ow! Hot!”). They really add to the enjoyment and greatly increase the atmosphere of the game. As well as a “Quest” mode that sees the hero Enric proceed through level after level of caves and caverns filled with ever increasing numbers of monsters, DBTS offers an “Arena” mode. The arena allows up to four players to slug it out in a choice of four arenas and as a variety of warriors, from human fighters and diminutive Kobolds to the scary looking skeletons and the insanely powerful Ogre. The only thing missing is a choice of weapons…

The Bad
The plot of the Quest mode is pretty terrible. Enric’s girlfriend gets kidnapped by some rather ugly looking monsters and dragged off into some cave. Of course you have to chase after them and rescue your lass from some evil wizard type intent on taking a peek at her entrails. Thankfully this lack of compelling story doesn’t detract from the gameplay.

The AI at times acts with all the cleverness of a short-circuited toaster (which isn’t much). Jumping into pits of flaming lava, decapitating their friends with wildly swinging axes, less than ideal choices of combat moves (particularly the Orc’s “Turn-around-and-jump-backwards-onto-my-sword manoeuvre”) and occasional pathfinding issues detract from the realism, but not the entertainment.

Some players (like me) may find the single player quest a little too difficult towards the end (taking on three Ogres at once is a tad hard), but it does make it all the more satisfying when (if) you get past the tricky sections.

Oh, and i can't figure out the special move editor.

The Bottom Line
DBTS is a real classic. For me, the arena mode gives the game its longevity long after I finished the quest. Playing the arena mode, I can come back all the time for an hour or so of hack-n-slash hilarity. There’s always more you can try, with an infinite number of potential moves and several varied characters to choose from. And once you start playing over a network with three other players, you’ll never look back. I just wish they would make a sequel with better graphics, a good physics model and a choice of weapons... we can only hope.

The Good
Die By The Sword (DBTS) features a new interface style, called VSIM (Virtual SIMulation) that lets your mouse control the torso of the main character, including the weapon he holds in his hand. This means one can control direction and character motion on the keyboard, and his fighting moves with the mouse. As the game's very apt MobyGames description says, fighting is totally unlike a normal fighting game, with a 'punch' key, 'kick' key, etc.. VSIM allows you whatever move you want, taking out the click-fest middleman. It adds an amazing level of immersion. I loved just sitting in a quiet area and practicing different moves.

Does this work well against the game's enemies? DEAR LORD YES. Fighting the enemies in DBTS - which are typical, but superbly well-done - is incredibly fun. The virtual reality created by the VSIM system creates a kind of visceral immersion, where button-punching no longer exists, and you're allowed whatever moves fit the terrain, enemy, and your style of play. Fortunately, for those who can't handle the VSIM system, a more typical fighting-style interface is available, bless those clever designers.

Graphics-wise, Die By The Sword is pretty nicely done. Character modeling is great, allowing locational damage - which means you can select what extremities you'd like to remove from your enemy. The terrain engine is decent, and does its job, featuring excellent textures that fit the appropriate area. The traps are surprisingly well done, and even include rope traps that lift you right off the ground and suspend you in mid-air - and still let you fight off the coming ambush. Sounds are also well-done, with great grunts and howls appropriate to each enemy. Music is absolutely great - this guy/girl should be making albums. The music, featuring Star Wars - style classical background music, never got repetative and never got in the way of the action, yet added a lot to gameplay. Very nicely done.

One last thing I should mention - the main character, Elric. Elric is a very angry Scottish swordsman, and is played... well... to the hilt. His comments, synchonized to battle events, are absolutely great. The actor who played him is to be commended, as well as the designers who built his character. Also included is a long monolouge by Elric after the game is done, describing his quest in detail - a wonderful addition.

The Bad
Man and woman are together. Woman is carried off by monsters for evil wizard's nefarious purposes. Man chases woman. Man fights off monsters, pushing levers, getting keys, evading traps. Man confronts evil wizard, says cool one-liner, kills wizard, saves woman.

The plot in DBTS is cliche. It's old. As a stand-alone element, it'd be another lame fantasy story. But this isn't the point, surprisingly. (sorry to warp the topic) DBTS handles this plot amazingly well, breathing new life into an otherwise tired story. No, I didn't like the plot itself. But I loved the way it was handled. If you buy games for plot alone, I doubt you'll like DBTS.

Another problem with DBTS is that it's hard. Really hard. Even playing on the easy level, I had trouble with the early parts of the game, not to mention the hordes of creatures that come later. The enemy AI is a little frustrating, if simply because when two enemies are present, they both charge you, making defending yourself quite difficult. VSIM seems more suited to a dueling system, and multiple enemies, which happens often, kind of takes away from the gameplay.

The Bottom Line
Die By The Sword, for me, is a classic. Not because of the plot (which most of my personal classics are based on) but because of the gameplay. DBTS almost seems like a proof-of-concept game at times, and the concept works great. It has gotten me to replay it several times, often all the way through in one night. I'd be trying to calm down my heart, listening to Elric's endgame rant, turn my head, and see morning peeking through my window. I sincerely hope VSIM isn't lost to the sands of time and big business. Applied to another game, with better plot, the addition of RPG elements, the next incarnation of VSIM could be the next step towards a virtual reality gaming system.

And it'll be a screaming Scottsman leading the charge.

The Good
The graphics are superb and the sword control is like no other. All settings are adjustable for difficulty, graphics, gamma correction and sound.

The Bad
Due to the extreme manueverability of the sword play, it takes a while to get the hang of it, but once mastered it works fine.

The Bottom Line
This is a fine first person RPG in the style of Doom, but not near as complex. You, as a knight, will explore vast areas and with quite a unique sword control will hack monsters to pieces. There are a lot of bloody body parts flying in this game. I recommend it highly to all who appreciate the adventures of a knight with plenty of virtual realism.