Close in spirit
Any book in the fantasy genre
Film "Child of Darkness"
The French from Spiders _ seems to be dreamed of the idea of creating a large role -playing game, which will not be ashamed to put next to " Witcher " And _Dragon Age . Therefore, stable, once a year or two, once again trying to implement their plans in life. And not to say that the games of the French have come out of the universal. No, what Of Orcs and Man , What Mars: War logs could boast of curious concepts and original gameplay solutions. However, not the most successful implementation destroyed all the bright ideas.
But maybe switching to a new generation (and Bound by Flame I also went out on PS4), the developers finally managed to take a new height?
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Singering story
It would be difficult. We are offered to plunge into an exemplary fantasy world collected by the most classic patterns. Elves, gnomes, impending darkness, the secret order of magicians, fearless mercenaries – everything is as it should be.
► For role-playing game, appearance settings to the offensive are scarce-a couple of people and the same number of hairstyles.
One of these mercenaries we have to become. The hero, whom his colleagues call only a volcano, is burdened with the most important mission – he will have to protect magicians during the fulfillment of a certain extremely secret ritual.
Mages decided to call the mysterious, incredibly powerful and, of course, demonic essence. But in fact, the ultimate goal of this act is quite noble, because this essence, according to the idea of magicians, should help in the fight against ice lords, which with their Army of the undead terrorize the whole world and are close to its full destruction.
► Developers of all their might try to show that their fantasy is the most adult. This "adulthood" is expressed mainly through curses and the abundance of "sorting" jokes.
THIS IS INTERESTING: The developers, apparently, are sure that the universe turned out to be interesting, and therefore there is a real intra -game encyclopedia in which all the information is entered in places, monsters and characters. We admit, however, that, contrary to expectations, is just a very exciting reading.
Of course, everything did not go exactly as magicians planned, and the powerful demon called up by them drew in our swordsman. The benefit of the demon is not at all against – he also has scores for the lines of ice. So from now on the fate of the world, as expected, in the hands of our hero.
How to get a neighbor
The neighborhood with the demon is not only the main, but also, perhaps, the only really interesting element of the game. A guest from the underworld is a completely independent person and throughout the game regularly communicates with the hero, and over time he will even try to deepen the roots in his soul.
► dividing his own body with a demon, the already stern hero becomes even darker. However, he will continue to break off stupid jokes.
The more often you agree with the demon, the closer the hero comes to the dark side. The voice will become lower, the skin will darken, over time the real horns will appear, and civilians will scatter in fear – just like in Fable. The idea is interesting, but the implementation could be an order of magnitude better. There are not many such dilemmas for the whole game, and the transformations of the hero, for the most part, are exclusively visual and the plot and the gameplay do not significantly affect.
► Demon, as a rule, offers the fastest and simplest ways to solve problems. But many of them, of course, will be ambiguous from a moral point of view.
Before talking here, however, not only Demon is hunting, but in general most of the characters. Each oncoming-transverse is glad to hang additional tasks on you and will certainly share the history of his difficult life, tell about problems and tell something entertaining about the nearby territories. Against the backdrop of a boring main plot, such conversations become a real outlet.
► sorry that the impression of communication with the characters is lubricated with terrifying facial animation. Heroes as if paralysis broke.
Minor tasks are simple and familiar: we are worn in search of some mushrooms and especially dangerous monsters back and forth according to already output locations. But closer to the middle of the story, even such instructions almost evaporate, leaving us alone exclusively with plot missions that differ weakly from secondary.
But, following modern trends in the genre, the developers filled the game with moral dilemmas. However, the choice of us is quite rare, and do not wait for any gray tones when making decisions. As a rule, everything is extremely simple: we either, risking ourselves and sacrificing the benefit, help the weak, or first of all we care about our ass and pursue exclusively skin interest. But the very presence of such episodes inspires at least some optimism.
► the levels here are large, but the fast movement was not brought. Therefore, even despite the pleasant picture, they quickly manage to get bored. ► Instead of the current of the now -fashionable dialog wheel, there is a classic choice of replicas from the list.
But the farther the plot, the fewer talkative characters for some reason. Unless the companions of the protagonist. Each of them has their own thoughts, goals and ambitions, and everyone has something to tell. Yes, and the types themselves are interesting: for example, we will communicate with an elf who have betrayed his own tribe, an immortal spirit, for many thousands of years changing the body, and a silly mercenary who speaks of himself in the third person. Everyone has interesting stories, but their linear development is insulting them. New replicas and lines of dialogue appear strictly during the plot, and it doesn’t matter how often you take one of the satellites with you and how often you communicate with them.
The sorcerers are not here
The gameplay is not much different from gameplay in other representatives of the genre, and in previous Spiders projects too. We explore the locations, take, take the quests, kill the monsters, collect trophies, build up power and rummage in the inventory.
► The world in the game is not seamless, and the loading between locations is not the simplest test. ► Trophies can be disassembled, and from the resulting raw materials, make jewelry for weapons and armor, which at the same time improve the characteristics of the equipment.
The battles are more or less curious. The hero has three combat regimes that can be shuffled right during the battle. It is permitted to lead the battle, fighting off with heavy weapons and relying on rough power, using light daggers and secrecy or resorting to the gift of the demon – Pyromania. Each of the modes has its own characteristics: the warrior knows how to block enemy attacks, counterattack and stun opponents, dodger can sneak up unnoticed by the enemy, and in battle can dodge enemy attacks, but the pyromancer enhances his weapon and, of course, throws it with fire balls.
► Additionally, you can use fire traps collected from improvised materials, and a crossbow, the bolts for which will also have to be made personally. ► each of the modes has its own tree of skills, and it is better to choose specialization at once – hybrids do not live here for a long time, and skills of skills will only be enough for one branch.
THIS IS INTERESTING: There is a tactical element in the game. It is allowed to take one of the satellites with you on the task. In battle, he can be given instructions: assign goals and determine behavior. However, if you decide to send a friend to the very thick of the battle, then, most likely, in a minute he will lie on the ground without feelings.
The balance between the "classes" is absent completely. It’s hard to live just pyromancers. It is the local “sorcerer” who has almost no magic attacks, and all sorts of fire balls and auras cause a meager damage. Most of the time still willy-nilly will have to wave a sword. At the same time, the damage from physical attacks will be an order of magnitude less than that of the conditional "warrior".
The same magical reinforcements of weapons are called upon to equalize the forces. In battle, they really feel, but too fleeting and greedy to magical energy. When the supply of mana approaches zero, you will have nothing to oppose the enemy at all. Having chose Pyromania, be prepared to stock up on crossbow bolts, traps and potions – in Bound by Flame and for a well -developed magician, even an ordinary battle can be the last.
► Opponents in most cases are so strong that it seems like they are ten levels “older” by the hero, and even gather most often in large groups. Well, closer to the end, they will begin to throw off bosses from the start of the game as ordinary opponents.
The adherents of heavy weapons will be easier, their damage is tangible, and the unlocked unit. However, if there are many opponents, there is a considerable probability that they will sneak from the back to you. And here there is almost no chance-for some reason the warrior dies from a pair of teles, even if it Tropic Slots Casino is chained from head to toe in steel.
But the dodgers live much easier than the rest, they move faster, and their blows are more rapid, and you can always get out of the battlefield safely. In a word, the choice of specialization here looks more like a choice of difficulty.
Pleased
Sharped
- pleasant picture;
- interesting characters;
- In some places good dialogs;
- Intra -game encyclopedia is interesting to read.
- All bright ideas are again ruined by realization;
- Too a template fantasy universe;
- clicked plot;
- Brave strong opponents.
The main ratings
6/10
Gameplay
7/10
Visual series
8/10
Sound and music
5/10
Plot
"Achivka" of the editorial office
Master of mathematics
Count how many times per game the heroes will say the word "ass".
Special ratings
10/10
Sounds of music
The sound accompaniment in the game is no different, but the music is simply magnificent, and many melodies immediately get stuck in the head. But it is not surprising, because the writing of the soundtrack was led by Olivier Derivier himself, responsible for the melodies from Obscure, Alone in the Dark (2008), Remember Me and many other games. The compositions even in the separation of the game are perfectly fed by ear and sound holistic.
Site assessment
6.0
Medium
Verdict
Despite all the shortcomings, Bound by Flame is not hopeless, and large fans of fantasy and role -playing games will be able to get pleasure from the game, and at the same time they will kill time in anticipation Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, let's hope that in their next project, Spider will still be able to rise to a new step.