Added: 08.05.2014 23:36 | 0 views | 0 comments

When you first start playing Bound by Flame, you're asked to enter a name for your character--a name that is then summarily ignored by the game's supporting cast, which always refers to your hero by his or her actual name: Vulcan. Given Bound by Flame's shallow similarities to

A sample battle: You and your magician companion Edwen enter a small combat arena to face numerous deadwalkers. You immediately rush to the opposite end of the arena, because you enter battle at a narrow choke point guaranteed to serve as your coffin should you choose to remain there. Meanwhile, Edwen succumbs to her attackers within 60 seconds, unable to hold her own even while you whale on the golems, specters, and spirits surrounding her. You manage to get in a few successful swipes before you get caught up in a series of attacks that trap you in a string of recovery animations. Once you regain control, you run down a connecting corridor hoping to lure an ice spirit away from the crowd, but in doing so, pull her too far away from the confined territory she is leashed to. The spirit returns to her home and regains full health, and your fallen companion comes to her senses, which is at least some comfort, since leaving the scene of battle (or finishing the battle) is the only way to revive her.

Combat then becomes a matter of exploiting defects, not one of finding a proper rhythm. Is a boss fight getting you down? Strafe around your foe, leading him in circles until you have regained enough health or mana, and then unleash another round of attacks. That's not very fun, but it's effective. Eventually, you learn a few helpful techniques, and the combat at least becomes bearable: you learn to lay the explosive traps whenever possible, you learn the best timing for blocking and parrying, you learn when to kick an enemy and interrupt his attack, and you learn how far away you can lead enemies before their invisible leashes pull them back. (And that leash radius is frustratingly small in most cases.) But even after you grow accustomed to the game's pitfalls, battles remain a drag, not because they are challenging, but because they are cheap. The combat areas were not created with enemy behavior in mind, and the enemy behavior wasn't created with player combat timings in mind. There is no shame in playing Bound by Flame on the lowest difficulty--and there is no fun in playing on the higher ones.

Bound by Flame ruins its promising combat with a series of mind-boggling choices that suck out all the fun and turn battles into an aggravation.

In between battles you might head back to camp to grab one of only a few side quests, all of which send you back into the same bland corridors in which the main quests occur. You may also check out the game's crafting system, which is its most robust element. All of the loot you grab on your travels is useful, either directly ("Hey look, I found a new pair of greaves!") or indirectly ("I can use this tainted blood to make potions!"). Raw elements can be combined to make other elements, which in turn can be combined to make useful items like traps or to bolster your equipment so that (for instance) you take less cold damage or increase your chances of a critical hit. Refreshingly, you can stop to craft at any time--even in the middle of the excruciating final boss battle.

By RPG standards, Bound by Flame isn't a very long or expansive game. If you don't consider the battles you must repeat, the adventure is around a dozen hours long, and there is no world to explore, unless you consider a few medium-size levels made up of twisting hallways to be a world. Bound by Flame shoves too many ideas into its cramped boundaries, thus giving none of them the room they deserved to blossom, and thereby allowing the flames to burn the joy away.

Added: 08.05.2014 18:14 | 7 views | 0 comments


For Gamers Sphere's Wayback Wednesday, Matt plays through a couple more episodes. Watch him make it to level three and kill a few hapless Marines alone the way.

Added: 06.05.2014 17:19 | 0 views | 0 comments


From Final Fantasy Tactics and Chrono Trigger to Pokemon, Advance Wars and more, the 411 staff counts down the top 5 turn-based combat games of all-time!

Added: 06.05.2014 11:56 | 1 views | 0 comments


Bungie's pioneering FPS bested in under 100 minutes.
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Added: 04.05.2014 8:10 | 0 views | 0 comments


Fight against ships and other planes in this fun flight simulator

Added: 02.05.2014 21:03 | 0 views | 0 comments


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Added: 02.05.2014 6:55 | 0 views | 0 comments


Take control of a band of mercenaries and journey into the unknown to become filthy rich

Added: 30.04.2014 21:14 | 5 views | 0 comments


Matt from Gamers Sphere plays Halo: Combat Evolved for Wayback Wednesday. Episodes 3 and 4 cover part of the second level.

Added: 30.04.2014 10:24 | 3 views | 0 comments


Also fixes more quest issues and blockers.

Added: 29.04.2014 17:00 | 3 views | 0 comments


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