My copy of the Henk Nieborg/Bitmap Bureau project Battle Axe arrived the other day, and I've been giving it a few shots over the last few days. It really is an excellent game — and in some respects not quite what I expected. In a good way.
For the unfamiliar, Battle Axe is an arcade-style game designed to evoke distinct feelings of nostalgia for around about the 16-bit era of gaming — specifically, it looks (and plays) like a lost Neo Geo game. In it, you take on the role of one of three characters as you fight your way through several fantasy-themed top-down levels, rescuing hostages, battling enemies and destroying enemy generators.
Each character has their own distinct "feel". Iolo the druid has the most powerful shots, for example, while Fae the "Drizzt, but female" character has the fastest melee attacks. All three characters can attack up close or at range — and you'll need to use both abilities throughout the game, especially during boss encounters.
Lazy critics have described Battle Axe as "Gauntlet meets Golden Axe", and this is not really an apt comparison. If anything, it's closest in execution to something like Shock Troopers on Neo Geo — but it has its own distinct feel all of its own. Fluid, responsive combat, satisfying visual and audible feedback and plenty of goodies to grab along the way — it really is one of the best arcade games that never existed.
And one thing I particularly love about it is that it's been very much designed with home play in mind. You have no continues; you just have to play as far as you can get before you run out of lives. And if you don't beat the game? Well, tough luck; you better go back and try again. Some might argue this is a cheap way of adding longevity, but if you really want to wuss out and/or just see what the later stages look like, there is an easy mode to play — plus there's also a separate "Infinite Mode" to enjoy, as well as a New Game+ option that presumably unlocks after you beat the arcade mode once.
So far Battle Axe has been a real pleasure to play. Some pillock online somewhere is probably whining about it being "too short" or "not having enough content" or "needing updates", but this really is one of the most unashamedly complete-feeling, self-contained games I've played in a long time. Bitmap Bureau are masters of what they do — just look at Xeno Crisis if you need further proof beyond Battle Axe — and they have done the unthinkable in the modern age: they've put out a game that is finished. And I love it!
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