Hack N' Slash Games Of Old

Right now is about the time I would be talking to you about Bloodborne, but I'm still sinking my teeth into it, so that will be a tale for next time. I haven't done a TBT in a while, so I thought why not? I was reading a magazine and it had an article about that old arcade game Golden Axe in it. Back in those days, there were so many 2.5D beat'em up action games: Battletoads, Double Dragon, Fatal Fury, Turtles in Time, etc. And when the hardware got more sophisticated (and we moved away from the arcades) this style of game evolved into the hack and slash, at least that's my opinion. My friends and I played so many co-op hack and slash / dungeon crawler RPGs over the years, here are some of my favorites!

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 1 & 2

Man oh man was Balder's Gate on console fun! If you didn't have the luxury of playing either of these games when they originally came out, you missed out. The original Baldur's Gate on PC was developed by Bioware and plays similarly to any other game they've made; a pseudo real-time action game where you can pause and plan your party's actions. On console, it was just a straight up hack and slash RPG...with co-op of course!

Since the gameplay of these types of games is mostly the same—run through a dungeon slaughtering minions until you reach the boss—aside from the co-op, the main draw to them were player progression and the loot; can't be forgetting about all that loot. The skills were always fun, and the fact that finding and equipping new loot would change your character's appearance, it was amazing. I'm not sure if it would hold up today, but I will always have fond memories of these two games.

EverQuest: Champions of Norrath

My friend Richard, who joins us on the podcast from time to time, is a huge fan of EverQuest. He and I used to play the MMO back in high school when there weren't any other MMOs around to play. So already being big fans of Dark Alliance, when Champions of Norrath came out, we were all over it! Coming equipped with all the features a co-op hack and slash needs, Champions did one better than Dark Alliance: You could play 4-player co-op! I remember beating this game a few times with my buddies and once it got old, they released the second game, Champions: Return to Arms. Rinse and repeat.

Untold Legends Dark Kingdom

Once the PS3 came out, the amount of hack and slash games sort of diminished. Untold Legends was a launch title in North America for the PS3 and being a fan of the genre, I bought it. I wouldn't say I regretted my purchase, but let's just say there are way better games out there. The combo system was pretty weak and the skills you got were linked to the combo system. Doing a 3-hit combo with a special would do one move, while doing a 2-hit combo with a special would call another. It was pretty weak to be honest, and it didn't leave room for your characters to progress is any meaningful way. Secondly, the loot system was pretty bad too. Unfortunately the majority of equipment looks the same on your characters, which sucks because getting cool looking loot is one of the best parts. Alas that's the problem you get with rushed launch title games, they tend to be underwhelming.

Sacred 2

Much later into the life cycle of the PS3, Sacred 2 came out. I have no clue what system Sacred 1 was on, or even when it originally came out, but I got Sacred 2 again because I was starved for any co-op hack and slash. It was incredibly fun. I put a good 30-40 hours into this game. The map was open world—unlike every single other game on this list, all being pretty linear affairs—and it was astronomically huge...and I mean huge! The loot was varied; the skills were cool; and there was local and online co-op. the only thing that really brought this game down was stability issues. Lots of frame rate drops and bugs plagued Sacred 2, but besides those issues, there was a fantastically fun game there and if you're a fan and haven't played a game like it in a while, I would try to find a copy.

Look at the size of that map!

Coming out of the blue, Sacred 3 was released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 around the time of the PS4/Xbox One release. I had no clue it was even announced and I actually would have bought it...if it was released on the latter consoles. Unfortunately it was not. Regardless, I heard the bugs that plagued the second game were fixed, but that it lost some of its flare...whatever that means, I'm still sure I would have enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts

It saddens me that not many of these games come out anymore. Of late the Skylanders series has been extremely popular and not just with kids; I know a number of adults that play and enjoy it. Now all I need is for a company to get off their ass, look at Skylanders and make an adult-oriented high fantasy hack and slash game. Use the same model with the figurines and I'm sure people will eat it up like no tomorrow. People love collecting stuff, I know I do. Just make a fun game, support it, and just sit back while you print money.