Blades of Fury

Blades of Fury is a surprisingly good fighting game quite similar to Soul Calibur. Created by Gameloft, Blades oozes quality in every category, from the sweet visuals to online play. It even features a decent storyline! After being defeated 20 years ago, the evil Faust has risen again to reclaim the holy suit of armor. You start the game by choosing one of 6 characters (more are unlockable), both good and bad, each with unique moves and interesting motivations for wanting the armor.

The graphics package for Blades of Fury is very impressive. Everything is 3D and the detail is phenomenal. Some of the backgrounds are so cool I kept running around the stage just to see all of it. Even with all of the special effects the game never slows down and you can always tell what's going on. Loading times are surprisingly short and after a particularly awesome fight, you can even save a replay file of it to watch whenever you want! Oh man, this game looks good.  

For directional controls, Gameloft provided two different schemes: a "joystick" mode and a "button" mode. There's not much difference between the two, but I felt like the joystick was a little smoother. There are horizontal attacks, vertical attacks, magic attacks, and grabs. There's also a block button, but Gameloft added an auto block option if things get too complicated for you. Moves are based on tapping the right combination of buttons. If you're familiar with Soul Calibur, this will feel very comfortable to you. Fights are won by knockout or ring out and matches are defaulted to the best 2 out of 3 fights. There's an excellent tutorial included and if you pause during a fight, you can look at a detailed moves list for your character. One thing that sets Blades of Fury apart from other fighters is the magic attack. You build up your magic gauge by giving and taking damage. The higher your gauge, the more devastating attacks you can use with the magic attack button. Holding down magic attack when your magic gauge is full will launch a huge attack, great for turning the tides of battle or for finishing off stunned enemies.

The music for Blades of Fury is excellent. Every track sounds epic and fits well with the level backgrounds. The default settings have special effects louder than the music, but the music is so good, I lowered the special effects and turned the music all the way up. As great as the music is, Gameloft went the extra mile and added iPod support! During a fight, you can press a music button in the upper right hand of the screen and start a playlist. Oddly enough however, this does not pause the game, so watch out!

This game has some serious replay power. If story mode is getting old to you, you can try your hand at arcade mode, or switch to survival mode and see how many enemies you can defeat with a single health bar. If the single player experience is too easy for you, you can play against a real human opponent via bluetooth or online if you have WiFi. Game options are also fully present. There's the previously mentioned multiple control schemes, including a lefty switch option, multiple languages, 5 difficulty settings, sound level settings, and even battle count and length settings. With so much gameplay/replay value, Blades of Fury is a great buy at $4.99, but if you're still not convinced, give the free version a try. I doubt any fighter fan will be disappointed!