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Swordsman (Video Game Impressions)

Perfect World Entertainment and Arc Games have teamed up to announce the launch of Swordsman. The game is a free-to-play brawler based heavily in various schools of martial arts. Players will be allowed to choose from over 10 different classes that follows a typical progression system seen in many other massively multiplayer online games with characters learning specific skills and obtaining statistical ratings based on their chosen class. Swordsman is a unique game that is plenty entertaining to play online with friends and it offers a free-to-play model that doesn't punish players that don't spend money to play the game.

The story of Swordsman revolves around an ancient civilization made up of four major cities. Players find themselves the lone survivor of an attack on the character's hometown village, after a group raids the village and attempt to leave no survivors. The hero survives after being badly wounded and is given a sword by the village elder that is said to hold some magical properties. Later, players find themselves involved in a political struggle between the major cities while also still suffering from the troubled past. The plot is a bit cliché, but it does a fair job of setting the story moving forward and continuing to give players reasons to continue playing.

Players start up a session of Swordsman by first creating their character to use online. We were able to try out three of the ten different classes and found that each one offers up a ton of variety and replayability. The classes are divided into different job classes with weapon types specific to each class. The game includes all around warriors, defensive tanks and agile sword masters. Classes each have different skill trees associated to the character with any one class consisting of a skill tree with three unique sets of skills to choose. Customization goes even deeper with plenty of ways to change a character's appearance so that no one character should look totally like another.

Swordsman features brawler like gameplay with players hacking and slashing their way to victory. Each class in the game comes with different types of weapons equipped including the massive Claymore of the Wu-tang and the dual-wield swords of the Sun and Moon Cult. Each class has a very distinct fighting style that combines with the weapons for each class to give players a reason to choose a class very carefully. Once in the game, characters can progress and level up to learn new skills to utilize in combat that includes area of effect attacks or special attacks that deal heavy damage to a single target. This system is simple enough for newcomers to the genre to easily pick up and understand, but hardcore gamers will find enough depth to the system to want to test out and try many of the different classes with each of the three skill sets available to each class before investing a ton of time into the game.

Once players have a character that has reached level 20, the ability to join a Guild is unlocked. Guilds have their own unique level rating that shows the ability of the group, while a Guild also gets a certain type that shows what types of missions the Guild will specialize in. Players can join Guilds in order to unlock Guild bonuses, access exclusive Guild content and easily join up with other players from the same group online. Guilds are a neat way to encourage players to enjoy the game with other players while making the game more of a social experience that goes beyond the game. Some players may choose to stay away from Guilds altogether, and the game does play perfectly fine for those that would enjoy the game completely in solo play.

Swordsman is a pretty good looking game that looks right on par with other games in the free-to-play MMO genre. Character models aren't incredibly detailed but still look as good as many other last generation of games, while the game's environments aren't quite as detailed as the game's characters. The game controls well with mouse and keyboard, and players that have enjoyed any similar games in the past will have no trouble picking up Swordsman and playing the game right away. Other good qualities from the game include some catchy overworld tunes and easy to navigate menus that make playing the game as simplistic as possible.

There are several different ways to play Swordsman. The game is currently available in a free-to-play beta but also is available to purchase in Starter Packs and Hero's Pack. The Starter Pack for Swordsman includes some Scrolls, an Upgrade Pack, Boost Pack, a Big Goldstone and a Goathide Bag all for $9.99. The Hero's Pack for Swordsman will set gamers back a more hefty $59.99 but does include some great items for use in the game in order to get an advantage early on in the game. The items include the Blazing Stallion Mount, Ring of Valor accessory, the Blade Apprentice Scroll and some Mithril, Treasure and other consumable items. Players have the option to choose how much they want to spend on the game, and players won't find themselves at a severe disadvantage for not spending any money on the game.

Swordsman is an exciting title that offers gameplay like few other games have produced. The sword swinging action never really lets up, and though the game might not be the best looking ever or offer a narrative that gamers haven't heard a hundred times before, it's still a fun game to play. When playing the game online with friends and other players, the title can be even more fun. The game is available free-to-play but offers a few bonus items for players willing to spend a little extra money to enjoy the game. Swordsman manages to successfully use a free-to-play model that doesn't disrupt the balance across the game, and most players will find the sword fighting gameplay is entertaining enough to soak up plenty of hours to enjoy playing online today.

Swordsman is now available free-to-play online. For more information or to play the game for free, check out the official Swordsman website.

Game Features:
  • Massively Multiplayer Online
  • Free-to-Play
  • 10 Martial Art Classes
  • 3 Sets of Fighting Styles
  • Create Guilds and Earn Bonuses

Game Information:
Developer: Arc Games
Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment
Platforms: PC (tested) & Mac
Open Beta Release Date: July 3, 2014


Overall Verdict:  Must-Play


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