DeathSword (aka Babarian)

Title           DeathSword (aka Babarian)
Game Type	General Action
Players		1
Compatibility	All
Company		Epyx (Palace)
HD Installable  No
Submission	Chris Vella cvella@specdata.com Profiled Reviewer

Review
   This game is one of the first hack & slash games that I can remember. I
believe the Pal version is known as Barbarian.

   You control a warrior and must kill the opposing warrior by draining
his energy. You have a sword as a weapon and attack with a number of
different moves. You can jump over an enemy attack as well as do a
blocking move by positioning your sword correctly. You can also pull off
the hilarious but gruesome decapitation move where one swipe of your sword
will instantly kill the opposing warrior by beheading him. The head will
then fall to the ground with a thump and then a creature will come out
and kick the head across the screen cleaning the arena for the next match.

   The graphics are pretty basic but the sound is very good. The gameplay
leaves a lot to be desired however. You fight and kill the enemy warrior and
then face another one who is slightly more intelligent and harder to kill.
That's basically the whole game. Kill all the warriors, and the boss
warrior, and you will rescue a girl and you've completed the game. I must
admit that even though you only fight one warrior at a time, it is fun.
You will constantly try to pull off the decapitation move but be careful,
they can also decapitate you.

   In conclusion, a fun game the first couple of times you play, but you
will soon get tired of it due to the lack of variety. Playing against
another human will add to the lastability somewhat but even this will get
tiring. I can't really recommend this game but I don't feel that it's
terrible either. If you like doing battle, one on one against another
human, then this is the game to get, but if you like a lot of variety in a
game then forget it! This game led to the excellent sequel Axe of Rage
(aka Barbarian2) get that game instead and start Hacking away!

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