Now Playing: Blade & Sorcery (VR)

Blade & Sorcery is a VR medieval fantasy combat sandbox. It’s not, admittedly, much of a ‘game’ at the time of writing, but it’s still one of the most popular VR games on Steam. And honestly, I don’t expect B&S to ever be much more than it presently is. I’m not expecting a grand story or quests. If anything, B&S serves as an excellent template for melee combat in future VR games, because anything less would feel like a step back from what B&S has established.

Unlike many VR games, B&S simulates your entire body in VR – arms and legs included. Once you pass the limited character creation tool, you’ll find yourself standing before a mirror in all your virtual glory. Thanks to the controllers tracking the motion of your hands, your virtual arms react and move surprisingly well, but the legs . . . well, it’s best not to worry about those.

There are 4 combat maps – Arena, Ruins, Market and Canyon. Within these maps you can explore (free locomotion, so be sure to get your VR legs ready) and spawn various enemies to fight from a limited selection of modes. I prefer the 1v1 ‘Classic’ mode, because group fights can get a little . . . messy – although these do become easier to manage once you’re more familiar with the combat system. There are also options for team based fights, but unless I’m missing something obvious, it’s hard to tell friend from foe.

Combat in B&S is physics based, with the game simulating the weight of each weapon. Daggers, for example, are fast and light, but a two handed axe is heavy and slow. Because you can’t really simulate ‘weight’ with a VR controller, you have to role play a little depending upon what weapon you have equipped – and there’s a decent selection available from swords, spears, bows, axes and shields.

You can’t just waggle your controllers and expect to connect a strike – you need to take the weight of your weapon into account, so if you’re using a heavier weapon, your movements should reflect that by being more slow and deliberate. Once you wrap your head around this notion, the combat suddenly makes a lot more sense.

In addition to weapons you also have magic – well, 1 magic spell, at the time of writing, at least. It’s an electric burst you can use to stun your opponents. You also have a telekinetic ability that allows you to pick up and collect weapons at a distance – even using them to attack en route. It basically makes you a Jedi – and it’s no surprise that the most popular mod for B&S is a Star Wars mod.

B&S isn’t very difficult once you understand the combat and you’ll be happily chopping your way through multiple enemies with ease. It makes you feel like the ultimate wizard/warrior badass. But with limited modes and maps, and a lack of difficulty, why does it continue to be so popular? What makes you want to keep playing?

I suppose the answer is the same for any physics based sandbox experience – it’s to push the system to see what you can do. It’s to experiment with different weapons or attack combinations. It’s to see just how cool you can look taking down a group of enemies in a variety of creative and brutal ways. Like Pavlov, B&S is another VR game that is enhanced by community mods and content – but I’d say B&S isn’t as reliant upon them as Pavlov currently is.

Before I wrap this up, I need to give a warning about the size of the play area B&S requires. I don’t have a massive VR play space so I had to be very careful when playing B&S. It’s true that you don’t need to physically ‘move’ all that much from one spot if you use the free locomotion/snap turning to get about, but it’s not half as fun if you do. B&S is a game that certainly benefits from having as much space to move and swing your arms about as possible.

Overall, B&S may only be a limited sandbox but it’s also some of the most fun you can currently have in VR. It’s not much of a ‘game’ but, as I’ve said, it is the perfect template for other VR games going forward. It’s established how virtual combat can and should be handled and for that it should be commended.

6/10