But the real beauty of this game is in the poise and power of the sword play. Motion captured and wonderfully fluid, it is played out in real-time through a series of simple combos where timing matters more than bashed buttons. And to re-enforce this considered approach to combat, a stamina bar restricts your most ferocious attacks. But your opponent has one, too, demanding that you carefully select the moment to deploy your own devastating blows.
This way, each swipe and slash demands precision, each block requires care and, yes, a measure of grace. It is already a world away from the flurry of frenzied and yet random clicks that constitutes combat in most RPGs.
And to add a further tactical edge to the already considered fighting, there are four classes of weaponry: sword, dagger, spear and bow. While each discipline can be studied and followed until totally mastered you can also mix and match, softening up the enemy with a volley of arrows before switching to daggers for the close range work.
