Mechelom / Swordbreaker (2015) PC

A domestic indie project from the DuCats game studio with high-quality three-dimensional graphics. The gameplay consists in choosing between several possible answers in the dialogue, which will dramatically affect the further development of the storyline.

Main features:

• the karma of the hero depends on his actions;
• role-playing system for leveling up a character;
• a large number of high-quality illustrations;
• dynamic battles;
• meeting with NPCs of different attitudes towards Mechel;
• change of armor and weapons;
• using magic to fight evil spirits.

The main character

His name is Mechelom because of the presence of a grappling device on his hand. One day he witnessed a quarrel between two men in a tavern. One stabbed the other with a knife and ran away before the people realized what was what. The guy offered to help the wounded man, he just handed the guy a scroll and went to his ancestors.

It was a map that showed the way to the castle, where, as the hero suggests, untold riches or something equally valuable are hidden. Therefore, he began to move towards the abandoned building.

How to play

The gameplay is an alternation of colorful pictures with a description of the terrain, nearby NPCs, including opponents. Each scene involves a choice of two or more behavioral reactions of Mechelom: which way to go, what to say to the counter. All actions reflect on the karma of the hero, making him a brave hero, a coward or a murderer.

It depends on the result of the meetings whether an unfamiliar character will come to his aid, throw him in trouble or wait for the moment when you can stab a guy in the back. It is better to kill the latter immediately, without spending much on conversations, the temper of people cannot be changed by a word.

To get to the castle, you will have to accept death many times, and always in different ways. There are a lot of bloody scenes prepared. In the end, it may turn out that making the right decision is almost impossible due to the fact that it is contradictory with common sense.

Interactivity allows you to interact with inanimate objects, for example, to pick up and use for your own purposes the objects that come across: cards, weapons.

Game design

Illustrations for the game do not cause any questions: beautiful, detailed, rich, diverse. The number of paintings exceeds 4 hundred. The medieval atmosphere of deserted places remote from settlements and a castle filled with undead is sustained. The picture brightens up with monotonous melodies, of which there are few in t