Name a game in which you can chop off someone's arm and senselessly beat them into submission with it. Doesn't happen does it? Well, all that's about to change. Severance: Blade Of Darkness looks set to rekindle the gaming violence debate in glorious 'rivers of blood' style. Codemasters has accepted the fact this gore-fest will carry an 18 certificate and, although the Warwickshire based publisher is more renowned for its family values (Micro Machines, TOCA, Colin McRae), it is more than content to go along with the BBFC's adult entertainment ruling. After all, violence creates publicity in the knife-edge world of computer entertainment, and where there's publicity (good or bad), there are sales.
- Jan 17, 2020 Good afternoon. Tell me how to fix fps in Severance Blade of Darkness. The game works fine, but vsync seems to work poorly and frequent frames sometimes jump sharply. If you just run, you notice that the frequency sags during the animation. Maybe I think so, since I played the game 10 years ago.
- Jul 25, 2021 since rights to the IP are unclear GoG cannot sell it, but it also means that technically game is a abandonware and so there is plenty of ways to get it for free from websites that archive abandoned software, like google myabandonware. You are welcome.
Steam Community:. This brutal game just got re-released on GOG.com. I wanted to try it for a long time.
Interestingly, the media-friendly Codemasters is also keen to shake its image as the softly, softly publisher and, with annual profits soaring to more than $70 million, it seems that the time is ripe for oneof the industry's oldest publishers to risk incurring the wrath of the Daily Mail and its tireless anti-violence crusade.
Blood & Bones
But if you're thinking that all this blood and hype is probably just a cynical attempt to boost sales and cover costs for what has been a stellar five-year development period, you might be surprised.Severance is more than just a bloody mess; the bones of the game are very much in place. Spanish developer Rebel Act Studios has created a phenomenal engine (well, they've had long enough to do it) boasting realistic looking mutilation, convincing physics and some of the best lighting we have ever had the pleasure to witness.During one part of the game the player walks into a room adorned with flickering torches to discover there's an enormous hellish shadow on the alcove wall.
As you slowly edge around the corner to face what must be Satan himself, you discover the truth; the shadow is owned by a diminutive runt who's taken advantage of the illusionary effect of the torches to leave you needing a clean pair of pants. Effects like this are used with great aplomb to create a formidable atmosphere from start to finish. Surprisingly, one area where the aesthetics do, in fact, look slightly under the weather is the predictable reflecting water; there's simply not enough random movement there to fool the eyes into thinking it's anything close to realistic. Still, with any luck, that'll be high up the pecking order on the developer's tweak list.
Curiously, the gameplay will have more in common with arcade fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter 2. Your nifty array of combatants can knock out two or even three-hit combination moves, which is a lot more intricate than your usual third-person adventure. Instead of simply charging up to a foe and mindlessly flailing, you actually have to think carefully about what would be the best move in that particular situation.
Should you go for a low leg sweep, or possibly a powerful arcing headshot to dispose of your tormenter quickly? There are an almost infinite variety of attacks, defences and combination moves on offer. Mastering those should prove to be one of the major lasting appeals of the game.
Yet Severance is an action/adventure through and through, make no mistake about that. The story is the cliched fantasy formula of four adventurers (Knight, Barbarian, Amazon and Dwarf) who set off on aperilous quest ofgood against evil.
The player chooses which character to play as, and then attempts to hack their way through 17 levels of flaming skeleton warriors, pig-ugly ores, golems, zombies, and - of course -enormous end-of-stage bosses. In total there are more than 30 kinds of monster in the game with various degrees of intelligence assigned to each.
On some of the later levels, the fights are immense. Battles take on epic proportions as neither player nor computer manages to get the upper hand. Metal hits metal and sparks fly as you slowly gain ground and then lose it again. If your opponent's weapon does breach your defences, a wound will appear at exactly the spot where you were hit. Likewise wounds appear on your foes; you can even lop off arms or legs to leave your hapless victim thrashing on the floor before dying from loss of blood. Don't think you will be immune from the same kind of treatment though. The enemies in Severance will be capable of taking off your head with soul-destroying ease. During development, our psychopathically inclined Spanish friends even toyed with the idea of allowing monsters to carve off your limbs so that you can crawl and flop about on the floor howling in agony. They eventually dismissed the idea after discovering that it messed up the balance of the game.
The AI seems to be finely tuned with a fair amount of organisation amidst the enemy ranks. A few of the sneakier denizens plan their attacks in groups of three or four in an attempt to overwhelm and confuse you. Other monsters are sneakier still; Liches will operate in units of four and vomit a lethal poison into your face when close enough. Some monster groups will even have leaders, if you can take them out first, your chances of survival will be greatly increased.During early skirmishes, monsters aren't so bright; you'll find it easy to carve your way through the hordes, with arms, legs and heads soaring through the air in all directions. It's quite clear that Rebel Act has decided that under no circumstances should they compromise their 'art'. There's no green blood here. This is gushing, oozing and spurting red stuff.
There are fountains of blood as far as the eye can see and dismembered bodies litter the floor like autumn leaves. If you kill somebody on some steps or stairs, the blood trickles down and forms a nice little pool at the bottom. Alternatively, you can watch in disgust as recently detached heads bounce off walls and roll onto the floor leaving distinctive crimson trails in their wake. If Rebel Act hasn't considered developing Advanced Abattoir Simulator for Codemasters it certainly should do.
Heads Will Role
So have we really got an action/adventure with as much gameplay as gore? Mike Hayes, Codemasters' marketing director certainly thinks so: 'While the cleverly done gory combat sequences will attract everyone's attention to Severance, it is the immersive role-playing adventure and intricately detailed graphics that will win the game its followers,' he coos in that distinctive marketing language.
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To a certain extent his claim is true (characters can level-up and learn more powerful attacking moves), but don't expect the role-playing intricacy of Dens Ex, Vampire, or System Shock 2.
Still, with around 100 weapons lying around waiting to be used, players are encouraged to find a weapon they like, practice with it and ultimately attempt to master all the moves that particular item has to offer. It's also worth bearing in mind that most of the higher-level weapons have at least one unique special move associated with them. So, if slicing creatures in half horizontally with a sword is getting kind of boring for you, you can always look out for a large axe and attempt to decapitate two ores with one swing. The novel variety of ways in which to rearrange your enemies is enough to make your local butcher squeal.
You'll even find that some characters are more adept at using certain items than others. The Amazon, for example, is not really up for staggering down a dimly lit corridor dragging a sword the size of a horse behind her. The 7ft tall Barbarian on the other hand would fare better. Then there's the Dwarf; he's so good with an axe he could shave with it - if he wanted. It's a case of finding a combination of character and weapon type that you are most happy with.
Beware though, characters tend to tire quickly. Once again it depends on the character as to how quickly they weaken, but when they do,youwill need to make sure there are no nearby enemies to threaten your hero while he rests.
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There's also a small puzzle element to the game; nothing too taxing mind, that would ruin the flow. The average brainteaser might consist of a doorway blocked by boxes that must be burnt in order for you to pass through. Oh yes, keys, buttons and levers also make an appearance - well, it wouldn't be a third-person adventure without them.
At the moment, the level design is still something that both Codemasters and Rebel Act are working on very closely. In fact, a lot of work is going into one of the Amazon-only levels to ensure there are distinctive landmarks the player can easily identify. Hopefully, with this kind of attitude from the developers, we can expect the castle, temple, dungeons, catacombs and Severance's numerous other locations to be the kind of places where we won't actually mind getting lost.
Risky Business
One of the more conventional areas of debate that could divert argument away from the filth and slaughter is the interface and control method. Firstly, this action/adventure will not feature any somersaulting, tightropewalking or daredevil manoeuvres of that ilk. That's Lara territory and Rebel Act doesn't want to go there. Severance territory is strictly running, jumping, ducking and diving with plenty of swinging balls of fire.
Severance Blade Darkness
The control method, therefore, is a relatively straightforward affair. Players use the mouse to look around and attack, and the cursor keys to walk. Double-tap the forward key and you run. There s also a targeting system, as seen in Legend Of Zelda. Using this, you can select an enemy and remain facing them regardless of where you move. You can also defend yourself with your shield for when you need protection.
Apart from the occasional fireball-shooting sword, arrows, throwing knives and chucking body parts around, Severance is about getting up close and personal. As far as Rebel Act and Codemasters are concerned, you've got to get into the thick of it and have a bloody good time. If you're looking for wizards and spells, you can forget it.Jonathan Smith is a game designer at Codemasters who is working closely with the Spanish contingent. He explains why they wanted to stay away from the magic pixie thing: 'We wanted to focus on combat. This is a visceral, kicking you in the face, chopping your head off, slicing your arms off, punchy fighting game. Magic users stand at the back of the room and wave their hands a bit.'
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Bloody Web
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So there you have it. Kicking, chopping and slicing. That's Severance in a nutshell. But that's not quite the end of the story. There's a multiplayer version too. Modem or Network players can enter into an online arena where they challenge other players in one-on-one combat. Players will not actually be able to use their singleplayer characters however. Instead, there will be a separate online-only system that will probably involve players moving up a ranking system, gaining new moves as they progress. It's a simple concept that's not trying to infringe on anyone's online territory, especially Diablo 2. As an added bonus for what is really a single-player adventure, it's a worthy addition.
It remains to be seen whether Codemasters will eventually be ordered to tone down the violence when the BBFC get to play a finished version, but if the worst comes to the worst, it looks like Severance will be able to stand on its own two feet anyway. Find out for sure next month when, after five long years, Severance is served.