Two decades ago, a Spanish video game was at the technological forefront of the moment with a sword and sorcery adventure that was inspired without the slightest concealment by the fantasies of ‘Conan’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and, of course, in the mythical ‘Golden Axe’. Is about ‘Blade – The Edge of Darkness‘, which was released on PC in 2001, appeared on Steam again last year and now comes to Nintendo Switch (under the title ‘Blade of Darkness’) by surprise and without prior announcements.
Twenty years in graphic terms are many and despite the wonderful remastering that the game has undergone, ‘Blade’ makes its age clear with a polygon shot and low-resolution texture. And even so, awes with its daring use of real-time lighting, shadows, fantastic set design, the fluid dynamics system and motion capture for the heroes. All this meant that, in its day, the game required very powerful equipment to be enjoyed in all its endearing visual glory.
A detail that, that of the demands for the PCs of the time that, without a doubt, contributed to a commercial failure that made it the first and last game signed by Rebel Act Studios (from whose ashes both MercurySteam and Digital Legends would rise). But his daring turned him into a very special precedent of a style that is sweeping today and is considered almost canonical for action titles.
We are talking about the ‘Souls’, with which ‘Blade’ shares a particularly sinister setting, considerable difficulty (accentuated because the game, in its original incarnation, did not allow you to choose simple levels) and a combat system more strategic than that of a mere button mashing. A true milestone in the Spanish video game that over time has become a cult title and that we can now recover in all its ultraviolent splendor (remember ‘Barbarian’?).
Source: www.xataka.com
