Elegant Sword-Fighting Game with Outrageous Stunts
While many games indeed contain sword-wielding characters, very few make even a cursory attempt actually to simulate the dynamics of sword-fighting, nor yet to impart a sense of how it actually feels to engage in swordplay.
That's what Determinance does. True, what it simulates is less the reality of fencing that the sort of over-the-top dramatic swordplay you'd expect in Highlander or a Hong Kong action flick, but hey, that's fun. What it does, and elegantly, is allow you to control sword motions, body positions, and arm positions with nothing but the mouse and its buttons.
In short, from a UI perspective, at least, this is a highly innovative game. It's also one that takes a while to master; in keeping with other "player-skill" games, you need to train with the interface before you get good. But it does impart far more of a sense of actual sword combat than you'd get out of a button-mashing "fighter" or a turn-based RPG combat system.
As with, say, Quake, Determinance is designed primarily for multiplayer duels on line; while there's a soloplay option, it's against AI bots simulating human opponents, so that the soloplay game is primarily training for online play.
Tres cool. En garde!
The developer says:
Determinance is a multi-player action game which allows you to create your own fighting style. Take on a single opponent in Duel Arena, or engage in a frenetic Free For All battle against up to eight other players online or on a LAN. Offline play against AI opponents is also available.
Move your mouse, swing the sword, duel to the death.
Determinance is a multiplayer sword-duelling PC title. The movement of the mouse corresponds directly to the movement of the sword, so only your skill with a blade matters. Slash wildly or creep in for a stealthy strike: it's up to you. Oh, and did we mention you can fly?
Forget what you think you know about so-called fighting games: full analog control has arrived.
Features
- Three game modes: Duel Arena, Free for All LAN, and Internet play (up to 8 players)
- Seven characters with their own individual taunts
- Five distinctive levels
- Offline play against bots with differing fighting-styles
- Nine original tracks by the musician nervous_testpilot
- Fully moddable: design your own swords, characters, special moves...
Reviews
"If you miss 80's hair, Sean Connery, and Christopher Lambert playing Christopher Lambert, you should take a look at Determinance."
- PC Gamer UK
"Definitely one of the best fighting games I've ever played."
- Game Tunnel