Iron & Blood

"Ignore the sourpusses, this game is fun"

OK, I'm not a big fan of fighting games. I own very few. I picked this game up cheap when I first got my Playstation about 6 years ago, and my brother and I had loads of fun with it. It's one of those games I didn't want to get rid of. So after reading a couple of negative reviews about it recently, I had to look at it again to see if it was really that bad. And the answer is NO. This game is well worth the ten bucks you might pay for it, if you're lucky enough to find it.

This game was released in 1996. That's a long time ago, and the graphics show it. The characters are indeed more pixelated than I expected (they were very vivid in my memory), but they are NOT like stacks of blocks. Do not let the hate-mongers fool you. Though the pixelation may be bad by today's standards, it soon becomes a non-issue as you play. It is pretty much canceled out by the animation of the character models. And despite what other reviewers have said about that, the animations are superb. One of many things I like about this game is that it has a unique look about it. It reminds me of those old Rankin-Bass Christmas specials (you know, Rudolph and Kris Kringle), because the characters look like 3D claymation figures running around. Only they are swinging five-foot long swords and splashing blood everywhere. Yeah, its very cartoony, but very neat, and very cool.

As far as sound, one of the things I like about this game is the voices. They give each character personality, and at times can be extremely funny. The paladin's righteous cry of ''For the Order!''(among many righteous cries) is especially hilarious when interrupted by an opponent counter-attack. ''For the... ugh!'' ''Feel His... UGH!''. Man, that's funny stuff. (Yes, laughable can be a good thing). And again in the sound department, no, the music is nothing to write home about, really, but out of the sixteen tracks there (one each for each of the sixteen playable characters' home turf), you might find something you like. Also, sound is crucial in aquiring artifacts which can be used in future battles, as you must input a certain button sequence when you hear a certain audio signal on each character's turf (look for a faq for more details).

I've read reviews where people have bashed the control of this game, and complain that you can count 1.5 seconds between you mashing the button and the end of the animation. I've checked this, and I suppose that might be true, in cases where the animation involves 3 or 4 sword-swings. But come on, the animation BEGINS practically instantaneously. What the **** do these people want? Also from reviews I have recently read, I must refute an outright lie about load times: In the past two hours of play I can count no load time longer than 12 seconds, and most times they are much shorter. Back on the subject of control, though, I must state that you DO have to wait for a long animation to completely end before you expect to have any additonal controller input recognized. Is that unreasonable? Maybe it is to some, but if you accept the rules here, then play by the rules and enjoy. (For example.. Xenobia's hit-em-while-they're-down animation is exceptionally long--use it at your own risk). And another thing I must state--you cannot maximize the enjoyment of this game unless you study the complete moves of your character, and they are NOT available in the book that came with the game (if you even got a book). Go online and find them, they're probably right here at this site. One other thing that is never mentioned which makes this game so cool and so unique is that you have complete freedom of movement. You are not trapped in a straight-line-looking-at-your-opponent orientation like most fighting games I have seen. If you want, you can jump/roll/cartwheel to the side to dodge an opponent's projectile attack, or just go for a jog aroung the perimeter of the arena, running like a coward. You can even run backwards. Ever seen that?

You've got a maximum variety of gameplay options here. 5 levels of difficulty, team sizes 3 to 6 members. Match Time 60 seconds to infinity. You've got a Training Mode, Head to Head (your 1 character against player 2 or CPU), and Campaign (Group of ''Good'' vs. Group of ''Bad''). Outside 2 player Head to Head, my favorite is Head to Head against the CPU onslought of opponents. This must be mentioned--all moves are not available right off the bat. New moves/abilities are won in the arena. (This might explain some reviewers punching in a sequence and getting squat--maybe their character hasn't earned that combo yet). And what has never been mentioned is that you can save your developing-to-maxed-out-character to memory card and bring them to your friend's house and pit them against THEIR favorite saved character.

Replayability is HIGH. You have sixteen unique, individual warriors with their own unique moves right off the bat, plus four unlockable ones. That's twenty characters altogether, more than most fighting games offer. (I've only beat the game with the Paladin, that's why I still have it). Strangely though, I want to beat it with the Paladin again; maybe I'll get to Xenobia some other time.

Bottom line, this game is unique, and this game is fun. I THANK the developers of this game, and I HIGHLY recommend this game to anyone who is interested enough to be reading this. If you see it for ten bucks at your local used video game store, you have found a real gem.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/02, Updated 10/24/02