Blade Assault | PC Review

Slice. Shoot. Die. Repeat. Team Suneat joins forces with Neowiz Games to take us on a joyride through a barrage of enemies on our way to vengeance in Blade Assault. Neowiz Games has brought us such gems as Unsouled, SANABI, and the game that shattered my distaste for roguelikes: Skul: Hero Slayer. I had the great pleasure of checking out each, and thoroughly enjoyed them all. (Read my reviews for each here, here, and here respectively.) When news broke that they were publishing a new roguelike in the same vein, I simply could not wait  to get my hands on it. The “one more run” drive has grown in me substantially since my experience with Skul: Hero Slayer, and Blade Assault looked like it was next in line to be my favorite indie game of the year. Could Neowiz really repeat?

Time To Die

Storytelling in roguelikes has not always been a thing, but is a growing trend. Blade Assault follows that trend. You start off as Kil, an escaped fugitive who finds himself rescued by the resistance after meeting his demise. The military forces of Esperanza have grown corrupt, and the resistance is the only thing left  standing against them. Looks like you found yourself a team. This eventually gives you paths to play as a couple of other characters as well, with the catch being that you need to use currency gained during runs to purchase the ability to use them. More on that later.

If you’re looking for any kind of story or background to dive into, you’re looking for love in the wrong place. Don’t expect to be blown away by a jarring plot here. While I wasn’t planning on any kind of emotional dive, I was hoping for at least a small nibble of allure. Team Suneat could have completely taken it out of the game, and I would have been fine with it. As a matter of fact, I might even have preferred it, as doing so would have also removed the numerous grammatical errors. Blade Assault’s presentation of its story beats, or lack thereof, left me wanting. Luckily, the rest of the game did not.

Check Your Head

Blade Assault is a 2D action platformer with action that runs at extreme speeds. The combat is very well done and is immensely enjoyable. Tight controls, fast-paced battles, and flashes of elemental attacks will have your thumbs aching for a splint by the time you defeat your enemies. Kil, your starting character, starts with an energy sword, and can eventually unlock an axe and a machine gun. Jenny and Darcy, both of whom you can unlock after a couple of runs, use a rope dart and katana, respectively. True to roguelike form, during each run you will come across different items that will improve your current abilities or add to your arsenal. These are all procedurally generated, so you will almost never get the same items at the same locations on subsequent runs. Some are very minor bonuses, such as raising your character’s crit rate by 3%, and others will be gargantuan improvements, such as raising the elemental attack of your weapon by a large amount. 

Which brings me to the next aspect concerning combat in Blade Assault: your character’s elemental attacks and defenses. While on a run, your character will be able to upgrade his or her weapon with an elemental core. The farther you progress on your run, the more opportunities you will be given to upgrade that elemental core or swap it out for another. With each character having different weapons, and so having completely different playstyles than the other two, this makes each decision you come across along the way all the more crucial. Each element comes with its own set of perks: Ice has the ability to sometimes freeze enemies in place, Fire has the ability to burn enemies, inflicting damage over time, and Lightning can shock enemies, causing damage, and also holding them in place at times.

The combat in Blade Assault is some of the most fun I have ever experienced. While slicing, dicing, and shooting dozens of your foes at a time is extremely satiating, the enemy properties such as shields and healing make you think on your feet. This combined with the action speed makes for an exciting and very pleasing experience. Everything about the action in this game just felt perfect.

16-Bit Cyber Dystopia

Everything in Blade Assault even looks the way it’s supposed to feel. Team Suneat did an absolutely fantastic job of keeping the visuals simple, yet involving. Character animations are smooth. Some parts of the environments are interactive and destructible. Numerous enemies being obliterated all at once is a beautiful salvo, but it doesn’t overstep the line into messiness. It simply looks the way it’s supposed to, which is an achievement I’ve seen many indie developers struggle with. The music helps to put you into the derelict neon environment as well. The level soundtracks are strangely mellow yet upbeat, which works well with the intense action of the battles.

Final Verdict

Blade Assault is an absolutely rioting experience. While there are some roguelikes out there that I would point to as being a bit better overall, the action in this one is fantastic, and to me, that’s the most important aspect of a game in the genre. It takes plain, simple, straightforward fun, and throws it at you with breakneck speed. If you’re a fan of classic platformers and thumb-blistering action, and so long as you’re not looking to get rocked emotionally, you can’t go wrong picking this one up.

To hear me talk more about Blade Assault, be sure to listen to Episode 382 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 1:22:29 time stamp.

This review is based on a PC copy of Blade Assault provided by Team Critical Hit for coverage purposes. As of the time of this writing, it is exclusive to this platform.