While I was casting around for stories this morning, I came across TheGamer’s Andy Kelly reporting on a new VR game called Broken Edge. I became enamoured with it immediately.
It’s a VR game about fencing and sword fighting, one that requires accurate footwork, positioning and finesse. Here, look:
Broken Edge feels perfectly suited for VR — taking a very tactile, physical, and (maybe a little) dangerous activity and making it a fun digital experience. There’s a reason people loved the lightsaber dojo in Vader Immortal! Everyone loves waving a sword around in VR.
Where Broken Edge introduces wrinkles and complications to combat to keep every battle lively. Players can choose from several classes to match their preferred playstyle. The Barbarian is a two-handed sword class about heavy slashing and unpredictable swings. The Samurai is a two-handed sword class all about rhythm and stances. The Tyrant uses a single, heavy, two-handed blade in the half-swording style (gripping the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other for more powerful thrusts). The Knight deploys a standard sword-and-board shield combo but requires technical proficiency. Finally, the Duellist uses a high-finesse, piercing and fencing setup.
Depending on your style and how crafty you are with it, you can carve up your opponent’s gear. Swords break, shields shatter, and armour can be broken or pierced.
Like real-world fencing, the core of the game’s combat is identifying a gap in your opponent’s defence and landing a hit before they can do the same to you. Modern fencing is generally a style match to ensure a more even playing field. Broken Edge makes things interesting by playing different styles against one another. Is a samurai’s patient defence a match for an unpredictable Barbarian? Can a Duellist dance around a Knight’s shield to get a strike in?
All of this, and it has a competitive online scene? Are we taking fencing online in 2022? I will need to convert my office into the Holodeck to facilitate this.
Anyway, it all seems like very good gear, and Andy’s write-up has only made me more intrigued. I knew I held onto my Quest 2 for a reason.
Broken Edge has a tentative release window for November-December this year. You can check it out on Steam over here.
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