Bound by Flame Previews

A fistful of new previews for SPIDERS’ Bound by Flame have recently emerged on the ‘net, and they’re mostly fueled by the information and content made available to journalists at the Game Developers Conference earlier this month.

IGN:

Vulcan, who can be played either as a male or female, has two main combat styles: heavy and light. Heavy weapons, like axes and hammers, are great for landing strong attacks on single or multiple enemies, and can be used to break enemy shields. If you block at the right time while using a heavy weapon, you’ll be able to perform a critical counter attack. When using the light style, Vulcan equips two high damage daggers.

With these bad boys at the ready, Vulcan’s mobility increases, making it easier to dodge enemies. By performing a successful dodge, he’s able to counter attack for critical damage. In addition to being able to switch between fighting styles any time, Vulcan’s also equipped with ranged weapons like crossbows and his demonic fire powers to take out enemies from afar. The mix of combat styles, spells, and abilities is fantastic, and goes quite deep.

Destructoid:

During his quest, Vulcan becomes possessed by an ancient demon who imbues him with demonic powers. These powers come at a cost, as the more Vulcan relies on these abilities and make choices that benefit his own personal standing, the more his demonic presence will be drawn out and leave a visible mark. With many different choices to make, Bound By Flame features several different endings that will reflect the influences you’ve had on every character you interact with.

As an action-RPG, combat takes a more twitch-based and reflex approach to battles. Similar to titles like Dragon Age and The Witcher, Vulcan moves around in real-time and battles groups of foes with a variety of unique abilities. Utilizing active block and dodging along with quick attacks against foes, combat always moves at a brisk pace. At any time, players can bring up an ability menu which shows all of the skills and moves available. When the menu is up, combat slows to a crawl and players can take their time and pick their next move.

OXM:

You won’t need to compromise your good nature to vanquish evil, but being bad has its clear perks. In Bound you’ll have to make a choice in the first chapter that will shape your journey, and throughout the game you’ll face decisions aplenty that will determine how your adventure plays out. Rousseau points out that some of these branching paths in the main story and during side quests force you to make tough calls, such as deciding whether or not to sacrifice safety or neglect your companions in exchange for more power.

Decision-making is only one part of Bound’s puzzle, though; you’ll also have to juggle combat and RPG-like skill-trees. For instance, according to Rousseau, the (hunter skill tree allows. quicker gameplay with a two-dagger combat system giving out more hits, but with less power.) And your ol’ demon friend can also grant you upgradable fire spells, such as the ability to summon a defensive fire sphere.

And PlayStationLifeStyle:

The game has a good character customization area, allowing you to play as either male or female, and gives you the opportunity to make the character more your own. This will of course have an influence on the demon’s appearance as well as how the characters armor may fit.We were briefly shown some of the armor choices, and the selection was pretty vast, each with their own attributes as far as damage and types of protection given. Keep in mind that the more you use your demonic passenger the more evil your character will look, so two people, playing with an identical character but different play styles, may end up with two totally different looking characters by game end. Interesting system that can give the game quite a bit of replayability, at least in theory.

Several companions will join the player during the quest, and will, depending on the player’s actions, develop friendship, romance or rivalry. The depth of play is open to a wide var1ety of experiences, all determined by what you decide.