Lichdom: Battlemage is an outstanding, well designed, single-player indie action game that gives you the ability to become an overpowered killing machine without cooldowns, mana, health, or stamina stats. This is a first impression about the unorthodox mechanics developed in the game, keeping in mind that this is a pre-Alpha, and you can only get early access to experience the wrath of a true battle mage.
How it feels
Developed by Xaviant Studio, with CryEngine technology, Lichdom: Battlemage looks like an AAA game quality material. This is an extreme leap in indie game marketing, since it is easier now to use improved video technology and give birth to creative new ideas.
Every fight has its unique moments and trains your dodging and kiting skills, rather than grinding for experience points or loot. Indeed, you only have a limited number of spells and game mechanics that are still being polished, but the game has a huge potential and the developers are focusing their work on the feedback of the game testers, who acquired the pre-Alpha.
Now many people confuse this game with Skyrim, which is understandable, because at first glimpse both games pose visual similarities. First of all, Lichdom: Battlemage is an indie game, with no open world features. The game does have limited content and is still rough around the edges, but it is a stable platform and performs well on most standard gaming desktops. Also you require a noticeable amount of system resources if you want to play the game with hight visual effects.
The background theme music fits perfectly with the mystical environments and ancient ruins that hide unexpected surprises and dangerous foes.
Cast or Spam?
The mechanics of the game are very simple: you cast spells and dodge the incoming enemy attacks. What is interesting about the dodge/strafing effect is that, while you press Spacebar and move in a direction, time freezes for a brief moment.
The battles feel immersive and responsive as you duel in a death dance with powerful creatures. The fights feel unbalanced at times, since you are practically cheating as you don’t have any casting cooldown, mana stamina or health bar. Basically you can continuously run away from enemies and spam your magic buttons like crazy. This is not necessarily a game-breaker and it does bring a fresh air to gamers that are action-RPG oriented.
Boss fights are not particularly hard, but are entertaining and they always keep you on your toes, since if you get hit you restart from the last checkpoint you activated.
Spell Perks
Fighting is not enough if you can’t get better magic spells to put down your foes faster. Throughout the game you will find collectible orbs which can be used in the Crafting system to create Synthesis. This is useful when crafting new spells which can later be equipped in your casting inventory pallet.
There are enough combinations to create different types of magic effects such as barriers, AOE spells, and projectiles. At the moment, only fire and ice spell derivatives are available, but there will be more soon.
End of the Road
For a first impression, Lichdom: Battlemage is an amazing fast-paced first-person fantasy RPG packed with lots of fun and action. The breath-taking level design will captivate you along side with the fighting system, which is immersive and very adaptable. Don’t be shy to investigate it, as the game will improve over time and it does show a lot of promise.
Published: Mar 23, 2014 08:52 am