Swords and Sorcery is a new iPhone and iPad adventure game from the developer who brought us Critter Crunch and the surprise hit Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. I nearly missed my demo with Swords and Sorcery, and I am so glad that I did not. Swords and Sorcery is easily the most intriguing game I saw at E3, and were I to pick my, “best playable iPhone/iPad game of show” this would easily take the prize.
Before I even laid eyes on the game, Capybara co-founder and president, Nathan Vella, explained the story behind the game’s title. Superbrothers: Swords and Sorcery EP is a title that indicates the three separate groups that are collaborating on the game. Superbrothers are the artists behind the game’s visuals, the programming for Swords and Sorcery was done by Capy, and the game’s music is essentially an EP for Canadian artist Jim Guthrie.
The game opens with the image of a record, and the game is even split into a Side A and B just as an EP would be. During my time with Swords and Sorcery, I didn’t get a feel for how each record side affected the game. Nathan Vella explained that the different sides of the game indicated thematic shifts and changes in the music, so in my brief demo I wouldn’t be able to fully explore this aspect of Swords.
Swords and Sorcery is very plainly a point and click adventure game, a genre that is just now experiencing a bit of a revival. Swords is different from most adventure games I have played, leaving behind the comedy of the Monkey Island series in favor of the mystery surrounding games like Shadow of the Colossus. The player is thrust straight into a strange world. The foreign landscapes catch the eye, the music is otherworldly, and not every character encountered will speak a recognizable language. Players find crosses placed across the game world, and at these crosses the player can meditate to hear a vague hint. These hints are much like the riddles spoken at the start of every quest in Shadow of the Colossus. Swords and Sorcery features a combat system that is reminiscent of Punch Out, but most battles can be avoided if the player so chooses. Deciding whether or not to fight a character will have an impact on the story.
One element of Swords and Sorcery seemed that it had the potential to annoy. The game tracks the lunar cycle and changes areas based on the phase of the moon. Mr. Vella made sure to note that one can still progress through the game during any part of the lunar cycle, but I am not sure that I would want to drag a two to three hour experience out over 30 days. If I am able to beat the game in one or two sittings, I am not sure how motivated I will be to revisit old areas, or if the game will even allow it.
Describing Swords and Sorcery, it is hard to separate it from the rest of the adventure games pack. It wasn’t until I actually sat down with the game that all of its elements formed a cohesive and new experience that I cannot wait to complete. The game does plenty of little things right: Swords will not feature item combinations, players can press the home button to save and exit, and the inventory is accessed by rotating the device.
We will hopefully see Swords and Sorcery on the App store in late August for both iPhone and iPad. The game looks stunning on iPad, and the screens in the gallery below are from that version. Since the game uses large pixels on the iPad, it should scale down nicely to the iPhone. Be sure to check back in the coming months for more Superbrothers: Swords and Sorcery EP coverage.
