I’ll start off by saying I like the idea of ArcheBlade. The
concept of a third person MOBA/brawler title is one that definitely intrigues
me, as does the mix of third-person shooter styled controls with the dynamics
typical in a fighting game. The concept actually interested me enough that I
was willing to look past the animu visuals to see if there was
anything of substance within.
Unfortunately, what I found was about as flimsy as the black
tissue paper that Elrath passes off as clothing.
I?m not sure where to start here, so I think I might as well
begin with the characters. I?m willing to overlook their over-the-top design,
the skimpy, ridiculous outfits of many of the female characters, and even the
god-awful voice acting (although the next time I hear the line ?just got out of
the shower!? I?m throwing my headset out the window). I like to think they add a bit of personality
to the whole experience; they give it a sort of insane, quirky vibe.
I will admit that the combat, too, is fairly solid. ArcheBlade is basically an entertaining, fast-paced hack-and-slash, where you?re as
likely to be torn to shreds in a manner of seconds as you are to consign your
foes to a quick and painful death. Though the combos do take some getting used
to, there?s actually a surprising amount of depth to the game, if you?re only
willing to dig deep enough.
Unfortunately, when you do that digging, you?re likely to
notice a number of glaring issues.
Out of the thirteen characters on ArcheBlade?s roster, some are unarguably better than the rest. For example: due to their
large size, champions like Danmei or Cezanne are nearly impossible to miss in
combat. Melee champions have an easy time juggling them because if their
relatively large hit-boxes, while they can find it next to impossible to land
their abilities on smaller heroes.
There?s also the fact that most of the text in the game ?
including the ability descriptions ? reads like it was shoved through Google
Translate a few times, pasted into the game, and then left to its own devices.
I?ll give you folks an example:
?When the evil generalissimo of the Dwarf Empire who dreamed
to govern the world suspected his downfall, and spread his blood relatives on
the ground by manipulating his genes. The plan was to create the so-called
?children of the generalissimo?. The by-product of the plan was Dick.?
That rather amusing description is quoted directly from the
game?s lore page. This sort of quality
is pretty much par for the course in ArcheBlade; grammar and sentence
structure clearly weren?t the developers strong suits, and as a result some of
the text in the game actually grows so incoherent as to border on completely
unreadable.
The lack of a matchmaking system ? in favor of a bunch of
player-hosted servers ? is also somewhat bewildering to me. A game like ArcheBlade is uniquely suited to matchmade games, yet instead, developer Codebrush
has decided to basically make it a complete and utter free for all. The end
result is that novice players frequently come up against veterans while they?re
trying to learn the ropes, quitting after they find themselves getting
thoroughly trounced. It?s something
Codebrush desperately needs to fix if they?re going to move forward.
Like so many of the other games I?ve reviewed recently,
ArcheBlade has potential?which it?s gleefully choosing to ignore. Pick it up
on Steam or online if you like ? you probably won?t find me playing it much in
the near future.