In full retro fashion, the most veteran players are swelling to receive productions of this same nature indefatigably. The proliferation of independent studios has especially encouraged the arrival of all kinds of classical works , and in some cases these productions have a specific name of their own. That is the case of Henk Nieborg (known for his work in works such as the Shantae or Xeno Crisis saga ), who is the alma mater that has led this project called Battle Ax . A quite enjoyable game that takes us to the golden age of arcadesfrom the late 80s and early 90s. A good example that a simple and humble work supported by Kickstarter can end up giving a very good result, something that fortunately we have already experienced many times over the last few years.
The narrative takes us to a fantasy land called Mercia, a place that has been dominated with an iron fist for many years by the sinister Etheldred. Every seven years exactly, this sorceress sends her hordes of monsters and creatures from beyond the grave in search of poor victims to become her slaves. Faced with such a situation and tired of their cruelty, the inhabitants of Mercia try to reverse the situation by sending their three best and most powerful warriors to the cold northern moors, which is the area where the witch has established her court. Three guys who, in the end, become the great protagonists and heroes that we can handle in this interesting adventure full of action and confrontations .
This adventure is inspired by great arcade classics of yesteryear such as ‘Golden Ax’ or ‘Gauntlet’.
Pitched battles
Indeed, this is a game that has a very arcade and direct playable layout. It is an old-fashioned hack’n slash that, according to its own creator, is inspired by works as beloved and revered as Gauntlet or Golden Ax . And that is noticeable from the first moment, because the approach of the title consists, basically, in choosing our favorite character and ending every monster that comes our way . And what characters do we have at our disposal? Well, we have a trio as we mentioned before, which is made up of the ruthless dark elf Fae, the druid Ialo and the prowling “animal” Roonie. Some protagonists who have a very good design and a lot of charisma.
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We can choose between three different characters, a druid, a dark elf and a marauder, all of them very different.
Each character has their own unique weapons, attributes and movement sets , although they all share a similar control scheme. This consists of four main action buttons (attack, shot, skill and object), a simple system at best but that allows us to carry out authentic carnage. The scenarios are riddled with undesirables, with a considerable variety of adversaries that vary depending on the level at which we find ourselves. And in case you are wondering, indeed, each phase is guarded by the final boss of the shift who will do the impossible to finish us off.
At the end of each level we must face the final combat of the turn, being necessary to kill beasts as ugly as the one you see on this screen.
The game formula is straight to the point and does not beat around the bush. The fighting is constant and it is necessary to advance through funds that have a fairly linear design, although it is true that an attempt has been made to bring some diversity to the matter thanks to two well-present factors. On the one hand, in the scenarios there are characters waiting to be rescued if we wish (it is not mandatory), a light brushstroke of exploration that never hurts, to which is added the presence of certain chests that are scattered throughout the funds and containing succulent rewards. That for one thing. And on the other, as we move forward and kill the rivals, we collect fresh money that can be exchanged for different tools. As you can see, this is a work that could well have made us enjoy many decades ago in arcades, especially in its cooperative doubles game mode (local only).
The soundtrack has been composed by Manami Matsumae and listening to it becomes one of the great incentives to continue advancing in this retro action adventure.
It may not be the most original title of the moment (it is the opposite case), but it is entertaining and it is also quite itchy. A wild action odyssey with a touch of cartoon gore that suits you perfectly, as does its level of difficulty. And it is that even in the easy level, it is not a precisely simple game, forcing us to learn the attack patterns of the final enemies to our fingers so as not to fall in full battle … if we manage to reach them beforehand. A production that, as you can see, has also been blessed with a formidable technical finish. We find the aesthetics captivating and it is a pleasure to contemplate both the sets and the beasts that roam the different locations we visit, very varied indeed. Ythe soundtrack… it’s wonderful . Composed of the underrated Manami Matsumae, whose past is closely tied to masterpieces like UN Squadron , Final Fight, and the like, each tune is an ode to good taste in music. Therefore, we are facing a title of an indie nature that is very prominent in its audiovisual facet.
The aesthetics that have been integrated into this work seem really striking to us, from the beautiful decorations that we can go through to the appearance that the characters show.
A return to the arcades
Talented creator Henk Nieborg has brought a game to life that has lived up to what he surely had in mind: bringing to life an old-fashioned action-fighting adventure that pays tribute to classics as great as Gauntlet or Golden Ax . Without coming close to reaching the greatness of these legendary works that we have just mentioned, the truth is that it is very much enjoyed distributing firewood among the monsters that populate the lands of Mercia. A work as simple as it is well recreated and enjoyableAs soon as we are interested in what he proposes, which is nothing more than to advance alone or doubles (on the same console), killing every bug that gets in our way. A title that also has a fantastic aesthetic line and, better yet, a truly magnificent soundtrack.
