Die by the Sword is a third-person action game set in a medieval fantasy world. The player controls Enric, a knight whose sweetheart Maya was kidnapped by kobolds and who swears to bring her back. The game's distinguishing feature is its sword-fighting system, which allows detailed and precise control of the player character's moves, giving it a fighting game flavor. The game features a fairly complex and elaborate control system, with separate keys and button combinations assigned to moves such as running, jumping, slashing, stabbing, parrying, etc., which allows the player to execute these moves simultaneously in a variety of combinations.
A somewhat simpler control system, dubbed "arcade mode", is also available. This system limits the amount of combinations to three kinds of slashes and blocks - low, medium, and high. The game also incorporates a local damage system, in which wounding specific body parts will inflict different conditions on the enemies, including severing their limbs and even decapitation. The game's levels include, beside enemies, many hazardous traps that Enric will have to avoid.
In addition to the story mode, the game also features arena and tournament modes, which allow up to four players to participate in free-for-all battles using the game's sword-fighting system. The player is also given the opportunity to create his own custom moves with a built-in editor.
A "cuss-pack" patch, which adds more mature comments, powerful insults and witty lines to the main character's vocabulary, is available from the Interplay site (support section). Most of the added speech files are not suitable for younger people.
References
Enric's taunts include "The other white meat!" after slaughtering an orc (a decidedly pig-like enemy), and "There can be only one!" after decapitating a foe (quoting Highlander where immortals could only be slain by cutting off their heads).
