12Volt
01-31-2007, 04:37 PM
Please take into consideration that I don't score games that I review, due to the fact that I've been known to play several years on games that people say are "5/10". I just like to give a preview of what people will find in the game, and anything that might go wrong. How fun it is - is up to them :p
Lets start with the most intriguing thing most people first thought about Silverfall.
Graphics: Silverfall offers quite a unique brand of graphics, from both the bold line around the characters to the ragdoll physics that this game utilizes for both enemy death animations and the objects you see in the world. You can even turn off the bold line if you feel it is too 'cartoonish'. The ragdoll physics are flawless, which is actually quite a sight to see in a hack-n-slasher. Even if you can walk straight through the bodies in your path, it doesn't take away from the experience. The only way that the graphics have interfered with my game play experience is when walking. Sometimes the towns have objects or walls that will get in your players way. Even if the area your character wants to go is on screen. Meaning your character will lag around the entire object - getting caught on people along the way. Never-the-less it was a minor frustration at best.
Storyline: Mind you this is a demo, and the storyline isn't really fleshed out yet. For potential alone the story is amazing. It starts the story off with news of your city being destroyed, and all the refugees being forced to huddle into the swamps. This is well displayed through the way the quest givers talk. The blacksmith thinks that they need more technology to expand the community, while some of the other quest givers are distressed at the way animals are being hunted in the marsh. This is another intriguing option that is shown through your stats sheet, its a loyalty bar of sorts. It shows whether your loyalty shifts towards Technology or Nature. So far the developers at Monte Cristo have aced the story. Especially for a hack-n-slasher.
Gameplay: Now we're getting there. In the cities you can talk to several vendors and speak with quest givers as well. When accepting a quest you can select several responses. Very well done in my opinion. While most of the NPC's aren't voice acted, the ones that are, are done superbly. When you venture out of the town the gameplay heats up. Enemies can be spotted on the mini-map, mostly in groups of two or three. Sometimes groups become larger, four or five. Enemies are well balanced and have level with you. Yet they seemed to stop leveling at around level 10 or 11. The basic ones anyways. Enemy variety is pretty good, and every death is interesting. Ragdoll physics are done greatly, and even the items and weapons the fiends drop realistically. Leveling up is very complex, yet simple. Its hard to explain but as for attributes, you level up either constitution, strength, intelligence, or agility. At first it was hard to find a balance, but soon I figured it out. Skill wise is a bit different. Every character has the same skill panels, but only enough points for a few categories. So you either have a warrior, or a mage, not both. Skills are all pretty fresh, and when they aren't fresh they make up for being completely useful. Warrior skills are pretty neat, as they have a few skills for hand to hand warriors (hatchet hands, katars), two handed swords, and sword and shield users. This makes your weapon specialization all the more important. Not to mention you can improve your overall combat abilities. For mages theres a variety of elemental spells (Fire, Ice, and Air), not to mention Shadow Spells, and Light Spells. Which consist of raising undead minions, curses, and healing and resurrection spells. Then theres technology and nature based spell sections. Loot is done nicely, and found little that needed balancing.
The music was also superb, though its hard to hear over the slashing. Thats my review of Silverfall. A wonderful game worth your time. I'll be getting it on launch - look for my character builds by March 21st at latest.
;) Sleep will not be an option.
Lets start with the most intriguing thing most people first thought about Silverfall.
Graphics: Silverfall offers quite a unique brand of graphics, from both the bold line around the characters to the ragdoll physics that this game utilizes for both enemy death animations and the objects you see in the world. You can even turn off the bold line if you feel it is too 'cartoonish'. The ragdoll physics are flawless, which is actually quite a sight to see in a hack-n-slasher. Even if you can walk straight through the bodies in your path, it doesn't take away from the experience. The only way that the graphics have interfered with my game play experience is when walking. Sometimes the towns have objects or walls that will get in your players way. Even if the area your character wants to go is on screen. Meaning your character will lag around the entire object - getting caught on people along the way. Never-the-less it was a minor frustration at best.
Storyline: Mind you this is a demo, and the storyline isn't really fleshed out yet. For potential alone the story is amazing. It starts the story off with news of your city being destroyed, and all the refugees being forced to huddle into the swamps. This is well displayed through the way the quest givers talk. The blacksmith thinks that they need more technology to expand the community, while some of the other quest givers are distressed at the way animals are being hunted in the marsh. This is another intriguing option that is shown through your stats sheet, its a loyalty bar of sorts. It shows whether your loyalty shifts towards Technology or Nature. So far the developers at Monte Cristo have aced the story. Especially for a hack-n-slasher.
Gameplay: Now we're getting there. In the cities you can talk to several vendors and speak with quest givers as well. When accepting a quest you can select several responses. Very well done in my opinion. While most of the NPC's aren't voice acted, the ones that are, are done superbly. When you venture out of the town the gameplay heats up. Enemies can be spotted on the mini-map, mostly in groups of two or three. Sometimes groups become larger, four or five. Enemies are well balanced and have level with you. Yet they seemed to stop leveling at around level 10 or 11. The basic ones anyways. Enemy variety is pretty good, and every death is interesting. Ragdoll physics are done greatly, and even the items and weapons the fiends drop realistically. Leveling up is very complex, yet simple. Its hard to explain but as for attributes, you level up either constitution, strength, intelligence, or agility. At first it was hard to find a balance, but soon I figured it out. Skill wise is a bit different. Every character has the same skill panels, but only enough points for a few categories. So you either have a warrior, or a mage, not both. Skills are all pretty fresh, and when they aren't fresh they make up for being completely useful. Warrior skills are pretty neat, as they have a few skills for hand to hand warriors (hatchet hands, katars), two handed swords, and sword and shield users. This makes your weapon specialization all the more important. Not to mention you can improve your overall combat abilities. For mages theres a variety of elemental spells (Fire, Ice, and Air), not to mention Shadow Spells, and Light Spells. Which consist of raising undead minions, curses, and healing and resurrection spells. Then theres technology and nature based spell sections. Loot is done nicely, and found little that needed balancing.
The music was also superb, though its hard to hear over the slashing. Thats my review of Silverfall. A wonderful game worth your time. I'll be getting it on launch - look for my character builds by March 21st at latest.
;) Sleep will not be an option.