Half Sword is currently one of the most popular demos on Steam. MeinMMO author Ody has also played it – and for much longer than he actually intended.
Actually, I wanted to try out several demos last week: to expand my horizon a bit and perhaps discover a game worth writing about. After all, my job at MeinMMO is to find and present exciting games for you.
So I downloaded three demos right away:
- Morgenstern: A dungeon crawler with quirky humor and a heavy metal soundtrack that really blasts against your eardrums.
- Sumerian Six: A tactics game that fascinated me mainly with its setting – lost civilizations like the Sumerians always get me.
- Half Sword: The only one of these three demos that I have really played so far – for over 10 hours in just 2 days. And that, although I just wanted to have a quick look.
You can see a trailer for Half Sword here:
Brutal battles with surprising depth
Half Sword is a physics-based combat simulator and currently the demo with the second most players on Steam (via steamdb.info). In it, you throw yourself into an arena with medieval weapons and armor, where you battle exhilarating duels and group fights.
In the current demo on Steam, there are three different game modes:
- In “Gauntlet Mode”, you climb your way up a ranking ladder from the bottom. With each level, you receive better weapons and armor, but you also face tougher opponents.
- In the “Abyss”, you face waves of enemies that become increasingly dangerous over time. Along the way, you collect gear to stand against them.
- In “Free Mode”, you can play as whoever you want – whether a skinny beggar or a noble knight. You only need to unlock the Baron by winning the Gauntlet first.
Those who have gotten used to the somewhat clunky controls will be rewarded with an outstanding combat feel. This is also due to the extremely realistic damage model in the game: If I hit my opponent’s main artery with my sword, every fight ends in a few seconds – whether it’s a simple foot soldier or a boss enemy.
Pain, frustration, and pure fascination
At the beginning of the Gauntlet, you are a beggar and only have your fists. Occasionally, the game hands you a knife or you can pick up items from the ground to use as weapons. Your goal in this game mode is to collect points: Duels give one point, fights with multiple opponents give two or more.
Once you have collected enough points, you face a boss: If you defeat him, you unlock the next level. If your character dies in battle, you must start all over again. From the second level on, you can save your character if you clear some fights in the Abyss. However, this will become harder the further you have progressed.
And you will die: very often and sometimes very quickly. An (un)fortunate hit to the head can make the battle end in just one stroke. The controls are very clunky at the beginning, but once you’ve learned them, the fights feel incredibly satisfying.
I suffered for about 80% of my time in this game and cursed it severely. However, the remaining 20% were so good that I just can’t be angry at Half Sword. Although it is still only a tech demo, it has already developed a pull that I find very hard to resist. So it will hardly stay at the 10 hours I currently have in the game.
Since Half Sword only ranks second in the list of most played demos, you might now be wondering: “Who is in first place?” That would be an unexpected PS5 hit that has finally made it to PC. You can read more about it on MeinMMO: You can now try Stellar Blade on Steam and keep your save
