Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire

July 5, 2007 11:31 AM

Wii owners have noticed that much of the third party content available for the innovative console consists of ported titles and mini-game collections that barely make use of the system's motion-sensing controllers. With less impressive graphics capabilities than its rival consoles, Wii's potential is hardly showcased by its current lineup. D3 wants to answer this call for original content by introducing a brand new hack-and-slash action adventure game entitled Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, that utilizes the Wii's controls to mimic the real-life movements of melee combat. I was recently shown a demo of Dragon Blade, and although I was not able to get any actual hands-on time, the person behind the controls looked like he was having a lot of fun.

Developed by Land Ho, a studio formed by members of the Panzer Dragoon team, Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire presents the story of a young man who must traverse dangerous lands scorched by dragons in his quest to unite the renowned pieces of the mighty Dragon Blade. Each piece is infused with the soul of a guardian dragon and offers supernatural powers, based on dragon limbs, to whomever wields them. One piece gives the player the ability to summon a dragon head that floats over the player, spewing deadly fireballs with a flick of the Wii remote. Another summons a giant dragon talon that protrudes from the adventurer's side, ready to swipe at enemies at the player's motion-initiated command. When the second talon is collected, both of them can be summoned at once, thereby letting the player alternate left and right swinging motions with the remote and the nunchuk to create devastating combos. There is even a powerful 'clap' attack that uses both talons at once to put the smackdown on enemies. Initiating this move is as easy as performing a clapping motion with both controllers, and is a great way to finish a combo. The last power that I saw--although there will be more in the final game--used the dragon's tail to change the hero's normal sword into an impressive-looking flaming whip. The player swings this fire-infused weapon overhead and to the side to shred through enemies at a greater distance, sending the main character into intricate spinning and slam attacks.

When dragon powers are not active, the players swipes with his character's sword using similar motions that mimic real-life attacks. Swing the remote forward from the right, and the character swings his sword from the right. Swing it forward from the left, and the character swings his sword from the left. Uppercuts are initiated by swinging the remote up, and slams require that it be swung downward. Holding the B button locks onto opponents, so players can focus their attacks, and dragon powers are initiated with the D-pad. In addition, players can switch between dragon powers on the fly to create original combos or deal with whatever threats might arise. Since Dragon Blade is attempting to accommodate casual gamers, the developers wanted to make the controls easy to learn while still giving player the freedom to create custom combos. This is a welcome concept, since it can be difficult to remember several motion-based moves in the heat of combat.

The game is basically a linear path. Fortunately, that path leads to lots of ass-kicking.

Throughout the adventure, players acquire new dragon moves from mid-bosses in certain levels, and then must face gigantic boss dragons at the end of those levels. While any moves and combos can be used to fight them, the dragon power gained on a given level tends to be the most effective at depleting the health of its end boss. But it's not just a simple matter of attacking until the dragon dies, as these boss battles are multi-stage encounters. To begin with, the player must first wear down the giant dragon's health to expose its power crystals. After they are destroyed, a 'Corebreaker' move must be performed using specific motions to finish off the beast and, if performed successfully, an impressive cinematic displays the colossal reptile's dismal dance of death.

Although the addition of dragon attacks fills the screen with impressive visual effects during combat, the rest of the game looks rather average. In fact, colors seem to be a bit muted, but since the game is still in Alpha stage, lots of time remains to work on the graphics. That said, every dragon is intricately detailed and they all sport varied and attractive designs, so each new encounter does not feel like the same old dragon in a different skin.

Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire seems to be a pretty straightforward game, forgoing side-quests and tedious item collection for intense action. While there will be twenty unique environments spanning six worlds, you won't find yourself getting lost in maze-like areas, as the game is basically a linear path. Fortunately, that path leads to lots of ass-kicking! With the focus on little more than melee combat, I just hope that my body tires out before my interest does.

Jeb Haught

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Games: Console