Die by the Sword

by Atari

Product Features

• 3D Action adventure gaming excellence.
• Award winning game play.
• "8 out of 10" -- C/Net GameCenter
• "Seriously HOT!!!" -- Strategy Plus
• PC: Windows 95/98/ME (Works w/ XP under compatiility wizard)

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00003IEG6
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,204 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

GameSpot

Another damsel in distress, another wicked warlock bent on world conquest, and another hapless hero with nothing but the sword in his hand and the shirt on his back - you've heard it before. But Die by the Sword, a 3D third-person action game, goes well beyond its almost admirably typical premise to deliver a visually stunning, terribly challenging, and often awe-inspiring dungeon hack, though one not without its fair share of shortcomings.

Die by the Sword threatens to introduce a revolutionary new play mechanic. Its technology is such that you are granted complete control over the hero's sword arm. Using a mouse or numeric keypad, you can order Enric to swipe his sword from point to point in any direction, and his momentum will determine how much damage he inflicts. At first glance you might guess that this system allows for a near-infinite variety of attacks, just like the box says. On closer inspection, though, you realize that there is in fact a proper way to do things. More often than not, you'll be swinging right to left and stepping into the swing in order to add more bite. This effective attack looks basic enough when performed onscreen, but demands you quickly push as many as four buttons in sequence on the keypad. Going for fancier attacks just doesn't pay off, though once in a while you might get lucky. So in the end, Die by the Sword's intriguing control method just makes it a pain to accomplish what a competent swordsman like Enric should be able to do with little effort. While a simplified arcade mode exists, allowing you to perform most types of moves at the touch of a button, it's disappointing to use knowing that a less restrictive, if more convoluted, control scheme is available.

Aside from swinging your sword around, you can perform various functions typical of this type of game including sidestepping, jumping, crouching, and climbing. Unlike the fighting mechanics, moving Enric around is relatively straightforward and effective. Of course, frolicking around won't save you from a couple of angry man-sized mantises; you'll spend most of your time with Die by the Sword trying to fight against decidedly unfair odds, and most of that time will be spent dying and starting from the previous autosave. Though Die by the Sword promises supreme precision control over your various fighting moves, in practice your best bet is to run like a chicken and try to go for cheap shots when the enemy isn't looking. Defending with your shield is almost impossible, and even if you master the control, you'll still die half the time just because the enemy hops up and kind of runs into you with his ax, knocks you down, and then kills you dead as you clamber to your feet. In other words, hit detection and damage infliction often feel just plain wrong or unfair, if not simply inconsistent. Meanwhile, a recklessly panning and sweeping camera angle won't make your life any easier, though you can toggle through a few different perspectives to best suit the situation.

With three fighters onscreen and one wacky camera, you'd best be armed with a state-of-the-art PC with a wicked-fast 3D accelerator if you hope to squeeze a decent frame rate out of this game. Even the minimum detail setting will force a lower-end Pentium to its proverbial knees. With enough horses under the hood, though, Die by the Sword is graphically amazing. You'll fight your way through a number of fantastic yet hauntingly realistic settings including a massive set of gears, a subterranean Dwarven steelworks, an ancient temple teeming with traps, and an ominous swamp. Along the way you'll have to fend off scores of monsters including boarlike Orcs, doglike Kobolds, froglike Trogs, and more. None of these enemies is terribly original, but they look real enough in Die by the Sword to be interesting, if not fearsome. The boorish chain mail-clad hero Enric and all his foes are fully three-dimensional and look great as they run about trying to slice one another's heads off. Each successful strike registers visible damage to the target, such that once any given monster is near death, it's going to be in really bad shape and likely head to toe in cuts and bruises - that is, provided its head and toes are still attached. In Die by the Sword, if you repeatedly strike at any appendage, it's liable to be chopped clean off. Better still, once the poor thing is resting in pieces, you can continue to hack away at its remains for as long as you damn well please.

To no great surprise, Enric is chock-full of clever and not-so-clever one-liners that he'll spout repeatedly over the course of the game. Die by the Sword doesn't offer much in the way of a soundtrack since throughout most of the game you'll be focussing on the clangs and clamor of battle. What music exists is of an impressive, if not entirely memorable, orchestral variety that's well suited to the game's theme. Meanwhile, said clangs and clamor are loud and appropriate, though at times repetitive to an aggravating extent. For instance, the Kobold language appears to be composed of but one squealing syllable.

An excellent tutorial complete with slick voice-over will teach you much of what you'll need to know in order to survive the quest mode. The quest itself, certainly the highlight of Die by the Sword, details Enric's blood-soaked, age-old journey to save the girl. It spans over half a dozen fairly long, nonlinear levels, each packed with dangers and secrets, yet each rather different from the next. Some parts of these levels are straightforward and enjoyable enough, while some are astonishingly difficult and frustrating, forcing you to retry again and again until you succeed at the impossible. Still other sequences are wonderfully well-designed. You might happen across a room containing Orcs playing tetherball with a Kobold strung up by his legs. You might don an Orc Shaman's mask to find your enemies kneeling before you in reverence. Or you might navigate past a perilous set of pendulums, then notice you can jump across their tops on the way back. Die by the Sword's arena and tournament gameplay modes let up to four people choose from the various characters in the game and have at it in a free-for-all over a network. You can also create custom special moves available at the touch of a button by means of the included move editor, though its complexity makes it something of a chore to use.

In the end, Die by the Sword is a solid action game with enough thrills and challenges to satisfy you even if you think you've seen it all. Though the ambitious control scheme is hardly perfect, it does offer you a sense of freedom not afforded by most games of this sort. And the quest, for all its frustrating moments, packs more than a few situations that make it worth the price of admission. If the 3D action-adventure game is your thing, you're looking to give your new machine a workout, and you're up for an especially difficult fight, then you'll want to look out for this one.--Greg Kasavin
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Product Description

Have you ever wanted to know how it feels to just lop off someone's arms, legs or head? Are you sick of plain old hack n' slash games that seem mundane and repetitive? If you are, Interplay has got the game for you. It's called Die by the Sword and it's a very unique and detailed experience dealing with the ancient art of close combat with a sizeable sword. This game has some very strong arcade elements, but goes quite a bit farther than that. It also has some very strong adventure/role playing qualities but falls short of a real adventure game. So what the heck is this Die by the Sword, anyway? I'll tell you in one sentence. It is the baddest, most painful, meticulous rendition of raw swordfighting you will find on a computer screen at this point in time. If you can stand the sight of fresh entrails and severed limbs ... read on. Adventure deep into a sinister undermountain stronghold to rescue your true love from a horrific ritual sacrafice. As Enric the adventurer, slash your way thorugh hordes of intelligent and fearless enemies. Engage Kobolds, Orc Masters and even a giant octopus in brutal combat as you explore dangerous dwarf mines, escape bubbling lava and pilot down the trecherous underground rivers. Inflict REALISTIC DAMAGE (you can lop of arms, heads etc.) REAL-TIME fluid movements of arms and body. Infinite variety - no canned animated attack sequences, each is UNIQUE! Full weapon control & Movement! Accurate damage assessment enables limbs & flying body parts. True REACTIONS such as off balance, tripping up, etc. Variable Battle Terrains & Much More! Multiplayer mode allows for battle arenas and tournament structures. Quest mode allows for IMMERSIVE adventuring. Explore SEVEN Distint environments.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Technical Aspects of Die by the Sword, December 17, 1999

By 

Jek Tezak (Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Die by the Sword (CD-ROM)

One of the many reasons that we love die by the sword are the technical aspects of the game, as collision detection, and unlimited freedom of movement. In all realism, the game is a VIRTUAL REALITY SWORD FIGHTING GAME, where you move the mouse barely to the left, the arm with the sword in it goes, barely to the left. Using the mouse, makes me feel as if I am holding the sword myself. and the climb, flips, strafing, and double hop in any direction, give you unlimited combinations to get your sword-fighter moving to the rythm of the blade. All this, plus the move editor can help pull off tricky homemade moves. In reality, the game's high point isn't the gore or bloody removal of limbs, but the sword fight that last clear to three minutes, when the swords clang and clang to hit their marks to no avail. In alot of ways it's like playing chess, you must outthink your opponent to survive, not just blindly slash about. You must use your manual block, and parries, and learn not to be trapped by your opponent's blade on your skin. To be honest, I play Die by the Sword more than any other game, because its realistic, fun, safe, and I REALLY control my character! The replay value is astonishing with the addon pak Limb from Limb, which gives you a chance to master different weapons, like hammers, and pole axe. The funny thing about Die by the Sword battles, is that they are different every single time! So anyone want to slap steel together?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hack'N'Slash w/Flair..., February 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Die by the Sword (CD-ROM)

I've had this hot little item in my hands since the day of it's release and have still spent good long hours playing it due to it's high replay value.

Besides sadistically chopping them up into tidbits after their demise, I would lop off their fighting hand, sheath my sword and pickup their hand while it still held the weapon and use it against them. Or I'd lop off a piece of their body, pick it up and fling it at them w/great insult!

To conquer the controls difficulty, I used a Gravis Joystick, the joystick itself was the fighting arm w/8+ directional movements for the swinging action and extra keys for my movements, strafing & turning. It was sweetness after that.

His enjoyable one liners that show a good sense of humor in this uncommon hack'n'slash game. Unfortunately, this game had a lot of potential with it's true freedom & control along with the ability to make your own custom moves and record them on a button. Mine was a kneeling ½ Slice that always seemed to lop them off at the knees at the touch of my thumb trigger.

Times may have changed, graphics and hardware may have improved but this game is still one very under rated winner that never made it due to a it's overwhelming AI and the sheer freedom & complexitiy in it's control. Most people want to kill at the mash of a button, this game makes you work for every victory hard!

I still enjoy his rants at the games ending...truly inspiring!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lame plot, incredible technical genius, April 19, 2000

By 

Charles E. Podles (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Die by the Sword (CD-ROM)

This game won't win any prizes for original plot or dialogue, but its virtual swordfighting control is unparalleled. The VSIM engine is incredibly detailed in its tally of the effects of a sword blow; a small standing cut will usually have little effect, while a massive leaping, spinning slash can behead your opponent right off the bat. I also liked the way all injuries inflicted show up on the character and how it's possible to lop off limbs left and right (few things are more hilarious than an Orc with his axe arm gone at the shoulder vainly trying to bump you into the lava :). There were a few flaws, however. The VSIM controls are extremely bulky, and it's extremely difficult to effectively execute any type of attack more complex than a high, medium, or low horizontal slash. Also, I found the lack of weapon choice in the basic game very irritating. Other than that, the game is excellent, and I highly recommend it.