Review: Dragon Blade is worth your $40
Saturday, September 29th, 2007 at 1:33pm by Blake
Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire is retro gaming bliss made anew with engaging motion-controls. It’s not even close to being one of the most memorable games of the year, but its gameplay, somewhat impressive visuals, and old-school storyline sans superfluous “cheese” make it a worthy purchase.
The extremely linear gameplay evokes fond memories from my gaming past; sorta like playing an old NES game in three dimensional space. The enemies are a bit mindless, but when in large numbers they can present quit a challenge.
Wrath of Fire is hack and slash mixed with some beat ‘em up elements, similar to God of War and Devil May Cry. The motion-enabled controls, though not perfect, are satisfyingly fresh as are the smorgasbord of upgradible fire attacks. I particularly enjoy the thrust attack and massive fire arms, though I haven’t acquired the coveted whip attack yet.
The graphics are somewhat of a mixed bag. At times I’m pleasantly impressed by fire effects that accurately distort the background visuals and lighting effects on darkened objects as your emblazed sword approaches them. Otherwise the semi-jaggy environments, unconvincing water, and redundant power-up barrels are forgettable. That said, it’s obvious that developer Land Ho (comprised of persons who also worked on Panzer Dragoon), built the game exclusively for Wii rather than insipidly use a GameCube graphics engine.
Is Dragon Blade a sleeper hit? Only in the sense that it’s more obscure than even Beyond Good and Evil — a top sleeper released in 2003. Is it fun? You bet. And it’s only $40 to boot.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Hmm… A good Wii game at 40 dollars… I might just rent it. I was looking forward to this game.
September 29th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Oh man i want this game! Ill buy tomorrow!
I’ve played it and its a pretty good game, and at 40 bucks, im sold!
September 29th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I’m enjoying it too. I have serious thoughts that this may be a repurposing of the game RavenBlade started by Retro. It looks and plays VERY simillarly even down to the way the enemies “pop-in”. I could be wrong, but it sure looks like it. Even the health bars respond similarly. Maybe I’m crazy, but anyway, yeah its mindless fun. I actually enjoy the story elements. The character model looks/moves great. I’ve had a few janky camera moments and the first boss only had 2 attack sets, but hell, its fun to practice your swing timing to try to get combos. If you practice and tweak your sensitivity (down if you want to swing harder) it is actually very accurate as long as you let an animation complete before beginning the next swing.
September 29th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Also, I forgot to mention, even though this game is good mindless fun, I predict it will totally tank in critical reviews.
September 29th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
…
September 29th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
that is great to hear, i´ll pick it up right away
September 29th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
A rental maybe.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Dang it Blake,
I just spent almost $100 at Besy Buy with Halo 3 and Robot Chicken season 2, and now I get home only to find out that there is another cool Wii game begging for my limited funds. Why Blake, WHY?
LOL.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
i’m having fun with it
I’m enjoying this for $40 much more than I enjoyed MySims for $50 last week
in fact, my experience with MySims almost talked me out of taking a chance on Dragon Blade. I’m glad I did
September 29th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
This has MUST RENT written all over it.
Must Buy? Not for me. I have to many big games on the Wii and 360 to worry about to buy it, maybe used, in a few months.
It sounds like a fun game, that is for sure.
Nice review.!
September 29th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
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September 29th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
there are absolutely no reviews on this online. its’ been out, howcome?? anyone that has this game have any impressions?? to be honest, since there being so many wii games coming out between now and the end of the year, i was going to pick either this or soul caliber legends, depending on which is better. soul caliber is interesting because of the 2 player coop, but i wonder if the controls are going to be better on dragon blade. anyone has impressions on the control system?
September 29th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
I was at Wal-Mart, and thanks to this review, I decided, ‘umm lets give it a try’ and I must say I’m not disappointed, the game play is quite enjoyable. However as unimportant to me the graphics department is, it’s alright so far, however it’s mainly the animation, I can easily deal with bad visuals, but animation itself is way more important, and it seems like the developers were really new to 3D games, the characters move quite stiffly and emotionless. But nevertheless a fun game to play, and I understand it doesn’t have to be an epic cinematic experience to have fun! @_@
September 30th, 2007 at 3:09 am
“Land Ho (comprised of persons who also worked on Panzer Dragoon)”
You got my attention right there… I LOVED Panzer Dragoon Orta! But it is the same team as that one, or is it the team from the original Panzer Dragoon?
October 1st, 2007 at 12:03 am
I picked it up today and have been enjoying it a lot. This is the type of game I wish there were still more of — not a big investment of time to sit down and have some fun. Definitely a retro Double-Dragon, Final Fight-type game, but thankfully a little more variety than those so far. It’s is plenty of fun learning the combos, integrating jumping attacks and combos and using the right dragon power for the right situation.
I really like the motion controls. Felt random as hell at first until I starting getting into the swing of things and timing one attack just as the previous animation was finishing. Now I have no problem getting exactly what kind of swing I want all the time. Very satisfying to throw a punch with the wiimote (push forward) using the dragon hand, and see thing big flaming fist shoot out and knock some enemy on his ass.
Like all good Wii games, I get that feeling like “it just wouldn’t feel this cool if I were pressing buttons, this really is the new direction for gaming”. The pacing is good and I am kept interested in doing the next level and the next level, etc. Surprising challenge in places with some rooms of enemies wiping the ground with my previously motion controlled carcass.
Graphically, it’s definitely “meh” except for the nice flame effects. I actually like the way the water moves and shimmers, but it’s true that it’s not as realistic or convincing as a lot of recent titles. I think the character’s animation is pretty decent for the most part, but gemotery-wise we are in Legoland with obviously low poly environments and enemies. However, this comes with the benefit that I’ve encountered zero slow-down or drops in the smooth frame rate, even with a 15 enemies coming at me at once. Plus, I’m no graphics snob so the lack of “wow” hasn’t bothered me anyway. I realized that throwing an incredible graphic polish on the game would definitely engage my visual interest more and create a better atmosphere, but I wouldn’t be having any more fun than I am right now. And I am having fun.
Based on the first couple worlds I have completed, it will hold my interest long enough to complete it, and that will take probably about 6 or 7 hours. I estimate it’s worth another 8 or so hours in replay just for the fun of the ass-kicking sword fighting, and occasional revisits on rainy days in the future. 13-15 hours of good entertainment for $40 is less than $3 an hour and well worth it.
If I had to assign a review number, I’d give it a 78/100 based on the first couple worlds. But I will add in the note that I will probably play this one all the way through with very little boredom , and I don’t do that very often, even with the highest-rated and greatest games released. (Still haven’t finished Metroid, FF XII, etc.) So even if it doesn’t get the highest reviews, that don’t mean it isn’t a lot of fun and well worth the purchase!
October 1st, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I got this game last friday. I’m actually liking the story and the art style the game has, but not the difficulty. the game is kind of easy. tHE ONLY TIME YOU GET A REAL CHALLENGE IS WHEN YOU RUN AROUND AND LET ENEMIES (sorry about caps lock, but I’m not retyping that) bunch up on you. Then you get a challenge, not from the A.I., but simply because of the numbers. Of course, i havn’t played for more than 2 hours, I’m only a stage or two past the point where you get the fire arm. (which is pretty sweet). I wish moving from one move to another was a bit more fluid. Control wise it is, but the animations are the type that start ver between certain attacks. It’s great for a lot of moves, but notfor some of the sweeter looking ones.
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:23 am
OK, now I’m stuck in the last world. I’m at the sub boss who has the dragon head. I’m getting slaughtered over and over.
I must be missing some weakness or pattern here. Has anyone beaten him who can give me some advice?