Any Newer Hack-&-Slash Games Similar to Rune?

madFive

madFive

metal[H]ead
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Ok – so I’ve been in the mood lately to crush some stuff! (a departure from my usual FPS diet) Rune was such an awesome game a few years ago – only game I’ve ever played where you could beat someone to death with their own severed limbs! \m/ Perfectly-responsive brutal combat system, crushing atmosphere, cool enemies to dismember, and a great story-line to boot!

I’ve been thinking about another Rune play-through lately, but considering the age of that game, it’d be nice if there were some with current-generation graphics to try out instead. Too bad Human-Head is working on Prey2 now instead of another Rune installment – I want Rune2 asap!

So… I’m wondering if there are any good PC games lately that are similar that I’ve missed. Looking for a medieval/fantasy type game that is all about the action. Preferably as little as possible in the RPG department (not interested in Elder-Scrolls, Witcher, Dragon-Age etc right now) – I don’t want a game where attacking someone just means picking something from a menu and clicking once on the enemy, I want one where you swing the axe and feel the crunch of the impact! Also, no Assassin’s-Creed style games that rely too heavily on stealth or acrobatics.

I’m aware of a few console games in this category, but I require a pc game with good mouse free-look support (1st/3rd-person; not overhead, side-scrolling, or crappy locked camera-angles). Anything in this category from the last 2-3 years with good graphics? Thanks in advance for the info!
 
Man I remember playing the Rune demo, it was THE shit.

I think Hunted Demon's Forge is similar to that. I think it's out today?
 
Dude, Rune is fucking awesome. I dont know of anything that comes close, sorry.
 
Severance Blade of Darkness is awesome but it was released about 10 years ago.

Die by the Sword is also too awesome but very old game.

On PS3 Demon's Souls blew my pants off. If there is any one reason to buy that console, this is it! Not to mention sequel is coming out later this year "Dark Souls", IIRC it is not in same world but very similar.
 
I played a little bit of Hunted this morning. It's not bad. I think it will scratch my hack and slash itch. You may want to look into it, OP.
 
Mount and Blade: Warband for some multiplayer? It doesn't have the combo moves though.
 
I think Overlord is a lot of fun... it's a little bit different and not as serious... but still a good time!
 
Oh, I should probably add that I'd prefer to stick to single-player games at the moment. Any that are MMO or require coop to complete may be problematic, since I'll probably have trouble convincing any of my friends to hop on the band-wagon for my quick-fix. :p


tuaarita said:
Man I remember playing the Rune demo, it was THE shit.

I think Hunted Demon's Forge is similar to that. I think it's out today?
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Cool - I'll have to check this one out. Looks like it's at new-release price at the moment, so not sure if I'll be willing to pay full price for a game I know so little about... will have to look for a demo I guess.

tuaarita said:
D&D Daggerdale for PC, XBLA and PSN.
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This is just a wild guess, but I'm assuming any game with D&D in the title will be a bit more RPG than the Hack&Slash in question... I'll be sure to look into it anyways.

Cmustang87 said:
I think Overlord is a lot of fun... it's a little bit different and not as serious... but still a good time!
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Oh, yeah, I've tried playing the Overlord games before. It was kind-of fun and had a great comic vibe to it, but I couldn't stand the game-play mechanics enough to get out of the intro levels. I'm not really sure what genre you'd have to categorize it as - somewhere between RTS and RPG with a heavy dose of puzzle-solving... in either case it's nowhere near the hardcore action gameplay that I'm looking for at the moment. :(
 
Dungeon Siege 1 is pretty hack and slash with VERY minor RPG elements. I'm assuming the second would be the same.

Third is supposed to come out very soon but it's made by Square Enix eww
 
thecrafter said:
Dungeon Siege 1 is pretty hack and slash with VERY minor RPG elements. I'm assuming the second would be the same.

Third is supposed to come out very soon but it's made by Square Enix eww
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It's actually made by Obsidian, Square Enix is just the publisher. Demo should be due out this week IIRC.
 
madFive said:
This is just a wild guess, but I'm assuming any game with D&D in the title will be a bit more RPG than the Hack&Slash in question... I'll be sure to look into it anyways.
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Oh I'm not recommending it as I haven't played it. I just answered TheBuzzer's question of what D&D. Moving on.
 
Torchlight was good. Try that one if you haven't. The Second one is coming out in July I hear and it has Co-Op
 
Guys, he doesn't want Diablo clones; if you've played Rune, you'd know exactly what he wants.

The most recent game I can think of that's similar is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Follow the Melee path and the combat is amazing.
 
AceCR42 said:
Guys, he doesn't want Diablo clones; if you've played Rune, you'd know exactly what he wants.
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Theres just nothing else like it, well at least until ESV comes out. Rune was very unique...:confused:
 
AceCR42 said:
The most recent game I can think of that's similar is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Follow the Melee path and the combat is amazing.
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Ah - good call! I do own this game, but never finished it. Last time I tried it kept crashing on me - hopefully it runs better on my current Win7 build.

Krenum said:
Theres just nothing else like it, well at least until ESV comes out. Rune was very unique...:confused:
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Yeah, I just figured there might be a few titles I missed in the last few years. I definitely enjoyed Oblivion, and am looking forward to Skyrim, but was just looking for something simpler without the complication of RPG elements this time.
 
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I remember a hack-n-slash game from a few years ago called "Dungeon Lords", which got bad reviews at the time. I've read that the "Collector's Edition" is actually a fairly decent game, and fixes many of the horrible problems with the initial release. The graphics aren't great, but it looks interesting from watching Youtube gameplay videos. It's cheap, and may be suitable for what you're looking for.
 
Pyrocles said:
I remember a hack-n-slash game from a few years ago called "Dungeon Lords", which got bad reviews at the time. I've read that the "Collector's Edition" is actually a fairly decent game, and fixes many of the horrible problems with the initial release. The graphics aren't great, but it looks interesting from watching Youtube gameplay videos. It's cheap, and may be suitable for what you're looking for.
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I remember that game. It was broken to the point of being unplayable on release.
 
I LOVED Rune, I remember getting it for free because I had a problem with Heavy Metal FAKK2 and while talking to a customer service guy in chat I fixed it myself then came back in and told him "Hey I found how to fix it" and he's like "cool, most people wouldn't come back and tell me that, so pick a game from our company out now or one upcoming and I'll send it to you for free."

I picked Rune, got in in the mail and it was awesome from the start to the finish. I loved going into multiplayer games, like the Arena level. My friends and I would take turns playing it and would randomly just chuck out som eweapons into the arena at the guys fighting, was hilarious and fun.

A few years down the road I played a game that to me, took the crown for the BEST melee combat system, even over Rune/Jedi Knight, etc. That game was Severance (Aka Blade of Darkness).

I know you say you wanted somethign newer, but if you have never played Severance this is THE game right up your alley. IT's all about the combat/storyline, with BRUTAL combat. IT even has the feature of being able to pick up someone's limbsi/head, etc and throwing it at them like in Rune.

However the combat controls/system just worked so much better. It felt more realistic and fights were not ismply about attacking, but defense. Knowing when to roll outof hte way or to block was the key. Enemies would do the smae to you and they even have friendly fire. So if you see an enemy coming to swing at you, you roll, his attack can and will hit anything in the path, even another enemy and can kill them.

The game features a full dismemberment system, for both the enemies as well as you (nothing like dying and seeing your head go flying off). Plenty of blood/gore like in Rune. Even goes a bit futher and ties your "health" to a damage model, so the more damaged you are the more damaged your character actually looks, with cuts/wounds on his/her body.

The game has 4 different characters to play through it as, the Barbarian (my favorite, a more two handed/giant weapon focused guy, with little armor that relies more on dodging for defense). The Knight, a more heavily armored guy, focuisng more on one handed weapons and shield for blocking. The Amazon, a character focused on polearms mainly and dodging. Then the Dwarf, who's suited for a more jack of all trades.

The character you played has various affects. Such as the armor you can wear, the weapons throughout the game, some suited toward one character or others, certain weapons you just odn't use well if it's not for your character, and you'll knokw this by how strange you handle them/slowly, etc. It also affects how you start the game and the first level (which ar edifferent for each character).

I highly recommend you give the game a try if you haven't played it. It was also one of the first games to feature real time lighting/shadows (even before Doom 3).

Textures look older, but th egame still has it's charms and you should love it if you liked Rune.
 
Rune was fantastic and so was Blade of Darkness... That game was brutal :D

I think Darksiders would fit the bill here as a more recent Hack'n'Slash 3rd person action game, maybe even Prototype?
 
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mr_zen256 said:
Rune was fantastic and so was Blade of Darkness... That game was brutal :D

I think Darksiders would fit the bill here as a more recent Hack'n'Slash 3rd person action game, maybe even Prototype?
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If any recent game fits the bill, it's Darksiders. I enjoyed that game quite a bit, definitely worth the OPs time if he hasn't played it yet.

Rune was an excellent game by the way, the multiplayer was a blast as well. For some reason I can't think of Rune without thinking of Heretic 2's staff battle servers either. Tons of fun with that as well :D
 
thecrafter said:
Great overview, I think I'll get that for my 3dfx gaming PC :D Wiki says that the code and storyline was unfinished in the game. Do you agree?
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While it may have had something cut to be finished, the game felt "complete" in terms of the storyline and gameplay. Didn't fell like anything was missing really, aside from net multiplayer (it only had lan). Severnace would have been so damn fun to play online.

Really, any game I play with melee combat in it, from current fun games like Mount and Blade to others I use Severance as the setting stone, sadly not have even came close to it.
 
Turns out one of my friends had a copy of Blade of Darkness and gave it to me.

It kind of sucks honestly. Combat is identical to Demon's Soul on PS3 but stiffer and buggier. I also couldn't get the combo moves to work like it says in the journal (made sure I'm the correct level for them).

No strafe keys. Basically making left and right keys useless since you use the mouse for that. Lock on system is useless. If you turn more than like 45 degrees away from you enemy by accident during battle you lose the lock-on. Movement is very... stiff and choppy as well.

There also isn't a save function apparently.. No save option in the menu and no save/quick save hotkey. The starting level starts you off in the castle. It took me like 30-40 minutes to get to what seemed to be the level's boss (some big brute with a huge shield and sword that shoots some iceballs at you...) and got smothered. Instead of throwing me in a checkpoint, it starts me off at the very beginning of the level. Uninstalled it and returned it to my friend, lol
 
Only game that comes close to Rune is Darksiders, but it sucks compared to Rune.


Rune was one of those rare games that was under-rated and totally awesome.

Best use of the UT engine too as far as I was concerened at the time. I remember going to LAN parties and playing just UT99 and Rune
 
FrozenLiquidity said:
Guess I need to check out Severance.
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This! Thx for the info Stiler. No idea how that one flew under my radar whenever it was popular. Sounds like Severance might be a bit of a rarity these days though - if it's not on Steam, I'm not sure if I'll bother tracking down a hard copy. (part of the reason I haven't played through Rune in ages is I don't feel like digging out my disks) :p

Vittra said:
If any recent game fits the bill, it's Darksiders. I enjoyed that game quite a bit, definitely worth the OPs time if he hasn't played it yet.
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Cool - thanks for the rec. A newer one like this might be more what I was looking for. I forgot there was a PC version of this.
 
A game that just came out is called

Hunted The Demons Forge

played it a little yesterday. seems fun.

loved the wall effect in the first level.
 
thecrafter said:
Turns out one of my friends had a copy of Blade of Darkness and gave it to me.

It kind of sucks honestly. Combat is identical to Demon's Soul on PS3 but stiffer and buggier. I also couldn't get the combo moves to work like it says in the journal (made sure I'm the correct level for them).

No strafe keys. Basically making left and right keys useless since you use the mouse for that. Lock on system is useless. If you turn more than like 45 degrees away from you enemy by accident during battle you lose the lock-on. Movement is very... stiff and choppy as well.

There also isn't a save function apparently.. No save option in the menu and no save/quick save hotkey. The starting level starts you off in the castle. It took me like 30-40 minutes to get to what seemed to be the level's boss (some big brute with a huge shield and sword that shoots some iceballs at you...) and got smothered. Instead of throwing me in a checkpoint, it starts me off at the very beginning of the level. Uninstalled it and returned it to my friend, lol
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You use W/S/A/D to move.

The lock on is EXTREMELY useful, in fact it's a MUST if you want to be good in combat.

You see, you lock on to an enemy, and then you use a/d to strafe them, once oyu are locked on the a/d keys circle strafe around your target, letting you side-step attacks or rolling out of th eway.

Your mouse isn't needed to "move" around, it's your w/s/a/d keys that you should b eusing, not arrow keys.
 
Stiler said:
You use W/S/A/D to move.

The lock on is EXTREMELY useful, in fact it's a MUST if you want to be good in combat.

You see, you lock on to an enemy, and then you use a/d to strafe them, once oyu are locked on the a/d keys circle strafe around your target, letting you side-step attacks or rolling out of th eway.

Your mouse isn't needed to "move" around, it's your w/s/a/d keys that you should b eusing, not arrow keys.
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I was using ASWD. And by lock on being useless I meant being broken. Either it locks on the wrong guy and you have to cycle through to get to the right guy or the lock on breaks off when you don't want it to.

The game just felt really rugged around the edges and wasn't very enjoyable. Cool gore for the first handful of kills and then the controls ruin it all.

What about the save in any case? Did I just miss it somehow or do you really have to finish an entire level for a checkpoint? These levels are long
 
It's been a while since I have played it. I couldn't get it to work for me on WinXP (had a speed bug, where thing smoved way too fast).

I don't remember at all having to finish lv's, I remember being able to save whenever I wanted to but I could be mistaken, I do remember the "Save/load" in the menu.

If you have problems your best bet is to post here:
http://www.arokhslair.net/forum/

It's the main fan-forum that I've used when I played it years ago again, very helpful there and some people still post from time to time helping new players.

That also reminds me of another Gem of a game.

Drakan: Order of the Flame.

It was a very fun action-adventure game, that featured something many others don't, A dragon. (which you can fly around on, etc). It had a decent story as well, but unfortunatly for some stupid reason, the sequel to the game, was only on the PS2 and thus pc players never got an actual ending for the series or anything.

However if you alwyas wanted to play an acltion adventure game while riding around on a Dragon, then Drakan i sthe most fun imo. Definitely worth checking out.
 
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