黑暗之刃
Severance:
Blade of Darkness

Rebel Act Studios, 2001
Windows

Rebel Act Studios, 2001
Windows

由西班牙工作室 Rebel Act Software[1] 打造的《黑暗之刃》(Severance: Blade of Darkness,又名《刀锋:黑暗边缘》)是一款有趣的砍杀类(hack-and-slash[2] )游戏,不仅严格要求玩家把握时机,而且难度颇高,又完美地秉承了 CRPG 美学和架构。

游戏的剧情虽然很老套但也够看:黑暗之神即将突破他的牢笼,而你要靠传说中的“黑暗之刃”(Blade of Darkness)让他从哪来回哪去。

游戏直接借鉴了《圣铠传说(Gauntlet[3] )》的模式,提供了四位各具优劣的角色给玩家选择。亚马逊女战士灵活而迅捷,她擅长使用长矛和弓箭,但同时也非常的脆弱。一手剑一手盾的骑士是个平衡型角色,游戏中有几套顶尖的护甲只有他能装备。迟钝的野蛮人是个手持双手大剑并且能多段连击的壮汉。最后一位是矮人,他是个坚韧的肉盾,但他因为缺少连击手段且攻击距离太短而成为了最难上手的角色。

Made by the Spanish studio Rebel Act Software, Severance: Blade of Darkness (also known as Blade: The Edge of Darkness) is an interesting hack-and-slash game, with a very strict sense of timing and a high difficulty, and which heavily relies on CRPG aesthetics and conventions.

The story is pretty cliché but does the job: a dark god is going to escape from his prison and it's up to you to put him back in his place, using the fabled Blade of Darkness.

In a straight-up Gauntlet fashion, four characters are available, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. The Amazon is an extremely fast and nimble fighter who specialise in bows and lances, but she is also very frail. The Knight is a balanced character using a sword-and-shield fighting style, and can equip some of the best armour in the game. The sluggish Barbarian is a powerhouse using gigantic two-handed swords and has plenty of combos. Last but not least, the Dwarf is an unsinkable tank, but his lack of combos and his short reach make him the hardest character to master.

当时该公司正在开发该作的 Xbox 移植版和续作,但 Rebel Act 在 2002 年因为业绩不好而倒闭。其前任员工后来成立了水银蒸汽工作室(MercurySteam)并开发了《恶魔城:暗影之王(Castlevania: Lords of Shadow)》系列。

An Xbox port/ remake called Ultimate Blade of Darkness was under development, but Rebel Act closed down in 2002 after weak sales. Former members founded MercurySteam and developed the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series.

该作的光照引擎时至今日仍令人印象深刻,这对于一个小小的西班牙独立工作室来说无疑是项巨大的成就。

The lighting engine remains impressive to this day, a great accomplishment for a small independent Spanish studio.

你的角色有着一根和生命槽一样的能量槽,每次攻击都会大量消耗埃拉达克之魂(à la Dark Souls),攻击或是连击越强消耗就越多。敌人种类非常庞杂(兽人、恶魔、污秽骑士等等),他们不眠不休,并且不会轻易被击败。更糟糕的是,他们和你一样会使用格挡、带毒武器还有致命的连击等一系列的战斗手段。

可不要被游戏“砍杀”类型的特质所迷惑,谨慎万分加上战术谋略才是通关游戏的唯一方法。同时与两名以上的敌人对峙是件危险的事,就算敌人很弱小也是如此。幸运的是,面对着汹涌而来的敌人,你也是有一些优势的。虽然初始武器很弱,但在游戏过程中,你会捡到许多新武器。每种武器都有着不同的连击招式,所以常备一把用来粉碎骷髅的狼牙棒是个好点子。远程武器少得可怜,不过只有亚马逊女战士能充分发挥它们的作用——解谜的时候不算在内。

《黑暗之刃》采用了一种类似《时之笛(Ocarina of Time[4] )》里的锁定机制。你可以回避或是格挡敌人的攻击,但考虑到攻击范围和武器耐久度的问题,你总是得多加小心。有一些盔甲隐藏在关卡各处,它们可以让你不会那么轻易地被干掉。小背包可以装下恢复药剂和增益药剂,为攻克最困难的关卡做准备。游戏的 RPG 元素仅仅体现在升级系统之中,每升一级都能增加血量上限、提升能力并解锁新的连招。升级时也会恢复你的生命值,这让它在险象环生的战斗中成为了天赐良机。

《黑暗之刃》分为十二个关卡,每名角色都有一个专属的起始关卡。有些关卡设计得一般,有的则设计得相当复杂,而有的就只是一连串的竞技场,好在游戏整体还是非常不错的。

On par with your health bar, your character possesses a power bar which depletes after each attack à la Dark Souls. The more powerful a weapon or combo is, the more energy it will consume. Coming from a very large bestiary (orcs, demons, tainted knights), enemies are restless and won't go down easily. To make things worse, they use the same tactical array as you: blocking, poisoned weapons and deadly combos.

Don't be fooled by the hack-and-slash nature of the game; cautiousness and tactical progression are the only way to progress through the game. Tackling more than two enemies, even weak ones, at the same time is always a perilous task. Fortunately, you get a few edges to fight the relentless hordes thrown at you. Weapons start pretty weak but new ones can be picked up along the way. Every class of weapon offers different combos, so it's always a good idea to keep a spare mace to crush skeletons, for example. Few ranged weapons are present but only the Amazon will find them useful, puzzles notwithstanding.

Severance employs a lock-on system, similar to Ocarina of Time. You can dodge and block attacks, but range and durability are always an issue, so be careful. A few types of armour are hidden through the levels, making your character a bit harder to kill. A small inventory allows you to stock a handful of health and power-up potions for the most difficult passages. The RPG aspect is limited to a levelling up system automatically boosting your life, power and unlocking new combos. Levelling up also refills your life bar making it a godsend in the middle of a tense fight.

Blade of Darkness is divided into a dozen of levels, with a first level specific to each character. The level design is so-so, with some levels being pretty labyrinthine while others are just a succession of arenas. Fortunately, the general aesthetic is much better.

__________

1 译者注:原名 Blade: The Edge of Darkness。
2 译者注:Hack and slash,是指一种强调使用近战武器进行战斗的游戏类型。它们也可能具有一些基于子弹的武器(例如枪支)作为辅助武器。
3 译者注:1988 年发行于 FC 上的奇幻题材横板清关游戏。
4 译者注:全称是《塞尔达传说:时之笛(Zelda: Ocarina of Time)》,是任天堂于 1998 年在 N64 主机上发行的动作冒险游戏,因其大量跨时代的创新,被誉为“现代 3D 游戏标杆”之一,其许多理念至今仍被许多 3D 游戏借鉴。

GameDB 相关游戏: 黑暗之刃

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