新冰城传奇
The Bard’s Tale

inXile Entertainment, Inc., 2004
Windows, Mac, PS2, Xbox, iPad等

inXile Entertainment, Inc., 2004
Windows, Mac, PS2, Xbox, iPad, etc

本世纪初,游戏界掀起了一股热潮,那就是主机平台上的砍杀类动作 RPG,《X 战警传奇(X-men Legends)》、《博德之门:黑暗联盟(Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance)》、《诺拉斯战士(Champions of Norrath)》以及《恶魔之石(Demon Stone)》[1] 都是个中代表。

当时,这类游戏实在太火了,以致 Interplay 取消了正在开发的 PC 独占游戏《辐射 3》(Fallout 3,又名 Fallout Van Buren,即《辐射:范布伦》),转而制作《辐射:钢铁兄弟会(Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel)》——这款动作 RPG 游戏在 2004 年登上 PS2 和 Xbox 平台,其评分之稀烂人尽皆知。彼时 Brian Fargo [2] 已经卖掉了 Interplay、创立了他的新工作室 inXile Entertainment,但他也一头扎进了时代的潮流,将《新冰城传奇(The Bard's Tale)》推向了市场。

我倒不是说这个游戏完全没有新意。虽然《新冰城传奇》借用了《博德之门:黑暗联盟》的引擎,但它实际上意在嘲讽各种奇幻题材的 RPG 游戏。玩家在游戏里扮演一个反英雄式的主角:由 Cary Elwes [3] 配音的吟游诗人。这位诗人既自大又懒散,人生目标不过是“一手银子,一手奶子”,别无所求。

游戏的 RPG 系统相当轻量化。虽然角色属性点可以自由分配,也有一系列天赋供玩家解锁,但游戏里并没有背包功能——战利品会自动转化为金币,获得的武器也会自动装备。部分对话还会提供“阴阳怪气”或者“说点好话”这样的选项。

不过,游戏的笑点比较飘忽不定。诚然,有些笑话确实让人捧腹,各种歌谣也悦耳动听,但无趣的双关语同样随处可见,过气的老梗也玩了不少。虽然《新冰城传奇》总在取笑奇幻作品的套路,它本身的游戏过程却也套路无比。唯一的不同之处是,这个诗人在套路的同时还会尖酸刻薄、口吐芬芳,甚至和 Tony Jay [4] 配音的旁白唇枪舌战。

One of the big mid-2000s trends were hack-and-slash Action RPGs for consoles, such as X-Men Legends, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath and Demon Stone.

They were such a guaranteed hit that Interplay cancelled its PC-exclusive Fallout 3 (aka Van Buren) to focus on Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004), an infamously bad Action RPG for PS2 and Xbox.

By this time Brian Fargo had already sold Interplay and founded his new studio, inXile Entertainment, but he also joined the trend, releasing The Bard's Tale.

That doesn't mean that the game is devoid of originality. While borrowing Dark Alliance's engine, The Bard's Tale is actually a satire of fantasy RPGs. You play as the Bard, an arrogant and lazy anti-hero voiced by Cary Elwes (Westley in The Princess Bride), who desires nothing but “coin and cleavage”.

The game has a very light RPG system, with customisable stats and unlockable talents, but no inventory – loot is automatically converted into gold, and new weapons are auto-equipped. Certain dialogues also offer the choice of being “snarky” or “nice”.

The humour is hit and miss. Some jokes are funny and the songs are well-executed, but there's also many lazy puns and dated pop culture references. As much as the game enjoys making fun of fantasy clichés, your quest is as cliché as it gets. The only difference is that the Bard does it while spewing snide remarks and arguing with the narrator, voiced by Tony Jay (Judge Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

《新冰城传奇》在 2017 年进行了重制,添加了更高分辨率和《新冰城传奇》原版三部曲作为奖励内容。

The Bard's Tale was remastered in 2017, adding higher resolutions and the original Bard's Tale trilogy as a bonus.

虽然这是个动作类 RPG,但在游戏里,战斗反而是最没有存在感的环节。你只能近身攻击、远程射击,以及用魔法鲁特琴召唤盟友,别的什么也做不了。此外,交互界面显然是为主机设计的,放到 PC 上简直不忍直视。而且,随着游戏的推进,战斗频率也越来越高,这就毁掉了各个笑点之间的节奏。

最后,《新冰城传奇》这个游戏名就是它的原罪。单看游戏本身,它还是主机平台上一个质量颇佳、轻松愉快的动作类 RPG,虽然和《诺拉斯战士》以及其他一些大受欢迎的砍杀游戏相比仍有差距,但也不至于像《辐射:钢铁兄弟会》那样糟糕。然而,作为一个出自 Brian Fargo 之手、又借用了《冰城传奇》系列经典之名[5] 的游戏,《新冰城传奇》无疑不尽人意。由此可见,对于传统 CRPG 的爱好者来说,零五年前后这段时间有多么让他们失望。

Despite being an Action RPG, combat is the game's weakest feature. All you do is attack in melee, fire ranged weapons or use a magical lute to summon allies. The interface, clearly designed for consoles, is terrible on PCs, and the more you advance, the more combat there is, ruining the pacing between jokes.

In the end, The Bard's Tale's biggest sin is its name. By itself it is a decent light-hearted Action RPG for consoles. Not as good as Champions of Norrath and other popular hack-and-slash titles, but not as terrible as Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel either. However, as a game that carries the legacy of Brian Fargo and shares his name with the classic Bard's Tale series, it's underwhelming – a reminder of how disappointing the mid-2000s were for classic CRPG fans.

游戏的操作系统很简单,不过它是基于手柄设计的,大部分操作都需要通过轮盘菜单来完成。

The game’s controls are simple, but were made with controllers in mind and require a lot of input on radial menus.

作为一个以吟游诗人为主角的游戏,《新冰城传奇》中随处可见各种歌谣,比如合唱曲《啤酒,啤酒,啤酒》[6] 。

Being a game about a bard, many songs are incorporated into the game, such as the “Charlie Mopps” sing-along song.

__________

1 译者注:应该是指 2002 年 PS2 平台上发售的游戏《被遗忘的国度:恶魔之石》。
2 译者注:即 Interplay 创始人,于 2002 年初离职;本世纪初 Interplay 陷入了严重的经济危机,基本被 Titus Interactive 操控。他也是《冰城传奇(The Bard’s Tale)》经典三部曲的主要制作者,值得一提的是,与 Interplay 分道扬镳后,Brian 只有“冰城传奇”这个标题的版权,但没有其中人物、情节等内容的版权。
3 译者注:曾饰演电影《公主新娘(Princess Bride)》中的海盗维斯特里(Westley)。
译者注:迪士尼动画片《钟楼怪人(The Hunchback of Notre Dame)》中,大法官孚洛罗(Judge Frollo)的配音演员。
4 译者注:《新冰城传奇》是国内译名,实际上其原名与《冰城传奇》系列一样,为“The Bard’s Tale”。
5 译者注:这首歌也被称作《查理·莫普思(Charlie Mopps)》,是起源于不列颠群岛的一首民谣,其历史可追溯至19世纪初。因 Charlie 与 barley(大麦)、Mopps 与 mop(啤酒花)押韵,而大麦与啤酒花又是制作啤酒的必备材料,“查理 · 莫普思”便被虚构为啤酒发明人的姓名。

GameDB 相关游戏: 新冰城传奇

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