Blackguards Previews

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Written by BuckGB on July 1st, 2013

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Each turn players can move, attack and use skills in a fashion similar to the recent XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Although born from one of three class archetypes warrior, hunter and mage each character in the demo we saw had their own set of skills, special attacks and spells that appeared to offer plenty of options beyond merely swinging a sword. You can also set in the inventory how aggressive or defensive you wish a character to be when using each weapon. For example, your warrior may sacrifice defence when wielding a staff in order to boost its damage output. However, in a nod to the realism that pervades the Dark Eye system, you can't access items in your backpack during battle, just those you've readied in your quick-item slots. Another really nice touch is the ability when moving to set a specific path across the grid via a series of waypoints.

Battle maps aren't simply static backdrops either. Some examples of interactivity we saw included: chests that can be looted mid-fight; barrels you can roll into enemies; beehives and swamp holes you can lure enemies into; even a heavy chandelier you can drop onto enemies. Some battle maps have optional objectives beyond defeating your opponents. One fight we saw took place in a prison where you're able to free prisoners from their cells to fight on your side. The developers say that fleeing from battle can even be a valid option in some situations.

Certain scenarios in the game will play out differently depending on how the player approaches the combat encounter. At one point, you are given the chance to save a woman from being hanged who will later join your party if you can rescue her.

The difficulty in rescuing this character comes from the time limit and the enemy AI. This scene is not scripted meaning each time you play it, the enemy can behave differently. Players have no chance of rescuing her if they merely try to hack and slash their way through; they must use objects in their environment to save her life.

The protagonist, unlucky as he is, will be joined by companions as Blackguards progresses, giving him access to more spells and skills that are required to solve a particular situation.

The turn-based fights have many environments and players will be able to use various objects in order to stop their enemies from attacking or create tactical scenarios that they can use to their advantage.

There are three character class templates, but the devs ensured us that this isn't limiting. Indeed, these three classes are merely blank slates, and there are something like 75 different archetypes known in the Dark Eye universe, and players can develop their character along one of these lines. Of the warrior, hunter, and mage, I chose the warrior for my demo, although the player controls all party members, so this isn't a damning choice.

We saw a variety of battles, all of which highlighted different aspects of combat, most of which involved the environment or battle structure. In one, cutting a rope brought a chandelier down on the heads of two prison guards. In another, the characters released prisoners that proceeded to seek revenge upon guards. There are swamp holes to fall into, enemy spawn points to destroy, and plenty of destructables as well.

Your party and the enemy party take turns moving, attacking, casting spells, etc. in a tactical overhead view with up to seven party members at one time. I only got to see the battle system functioning with three party members (since this was early in the game) and a handful of enemies but I was told that, later in the game, battles will get huge with 10+ enemies at a time. The most interesting part, however, was how the environments feature a degree of interactivity. Most prominent was that tables and furniture can be destroyed by combat, and doors can be opened or closed. I also got to see a cool scenario where the player party cut a rope holding up a chandelier and sent it crashing onto the heads' of their enemies. Even better, these options aren't only open to the player; enemies can and will use these interactive elements against you if given a chance. The combat system is also based off of Dark Eye, and it constantly rolls a virtual dice in the background to determine all facets of battle. By default, you can't see this but, at any time, you can open the console to see the results of each and every roll.

Finally, I was shown the world and town maps featured in Blackguards. They're mostly non-interactive, with the world map existing merely as a map of points that can be traveled to and the town maps as a graphic of the town overlaid with a list of important people and shops. The world map opened up more as more villagers were talked to and quests were acquired, allowing the player to essentially choose their own path through the game.

The turn based combat on the other hand is tactical, meaning that if you flank someone you will get bonuses to hit, and it also transparent, so you can see exactly what your characters are rolling for their attacks or actions. One thing that they showed that was surprising, is the inclusion of optional objectives that had an effect on characters and battles that don't have to be won.

One battle that they showed us that showed off the intelligent AI, interactive objects, side effects and party interactions was one that involved saving someone from being hung. You only had a certain amount of turns to get to this person and if you failed to they died, which made one of the characters in the party emotionally affected and that would have ramifications on their relationship with the main character. Each time they went for to save this character, we saw them try twice, the AI reacted in a different way and often used the interactive objects to their benefit.

Blackguards uses a grid based, turn based system for battles, drawing similarities to the main series Might & Magic games. A circular menu appears when your turn begins, giving you access to various combat options. For example, you can choose to perform a feint instead of a regular attack. There's a huge number of battle maps in the game, and you'll need to explore each map carefully, as there are objects that you can interact with, in order to take out your enemies and find items. Both exploration and battles use the grid for movement. Battles start naturally, as you walk around, enemies will engage you if you get too close to them. You can choose to fight every enemy you come across, or go for a stealthier approach.

The game is heavily based on the pen-and-paper system, behind each attack is an invisible dice roll. The game was created in the Unity engine, and it actually looks quite nice visually. Gameplay is very smooth. You can visit towns where you move around freely, interacting with other characters. As for the plot, The producer claims that you can't play this game as a good guy, even if you try to, you'll turn to evil at some point. And for quests, even if you fail to save someone, the game will still continue. Your failure has repercussions, but it does not interrupt the game's flow.

Where the innovation comes in is the game's use of choices to decide how the battle will play out. Scattered throughout you will find objects that you will be able to interact with or characters to converse with that will affect the course of the game.

Visually, Blackguards is a decent looking game with rich environments filled with details both large and minute. The soundtrack is, of course, rather epic and really sets the tone of the dark world rather well. The character dialogue is also poignant and fits the universe perfectly.

There are three initial classes, but vast customisations are possible so this is definitely not as restrictive as it might sound. You (of course) earn experience points and can tweak the strengths of each party member through the easy to use interface.

Depending on the choices made, and the outcomes of battles, the story can branch off, providing multiple possible endings. Party members killed in battles can be resurrected at towns, in exchange for gold. Towns are also a good place to trade and barter for goods, as well as offering quests.

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