This post was produced by UploadVR in partnership with Sinn Studio.
It’s no surprise that medieval games are popular – they allow players to immerse themselves in fantastical worlds that they’d otherwise never experience. The team at Sinn Studio aims to change how you immerse yourself with the single-user, physics-based combat game Swordsman.
With Swordsman, be prepared to enter a world of knights, Vikings, Mongols, Samurais, and pirates. Some may help you along the way while others are ready for a brawl. The Jötunn recruits captains from around the globe and gives them godly weapons that allow them to command mighty armies. Without your intervention, medieval Earth will change forever.
“Swordsman's goal is to give you the sensation that you're engaging in a real sword fight. This meant that we needed a specific animation style and AI decision pacing to create real opponents that want to defeat you as much as you want to defeat them.” confides the studio’s co-founder and CEO, Alek Sinn. “We don't want combat in these worlds to feel like an afterthought. We want you to be fully immersed in a grounded and physical experience challenged by realistic and lifelike AI.”
While some other VR games focus primarily on sandbox mechanics, rules-based combat, or making a player feel unstoppable, Swordsman's creators prioritize trying to create an authentic feeling that immerses you in a do-or-die-style situation. Designers are fixated on realizing the subtle nuances of actual melee combat, and for players that means it’s essential to start strategizing. Your enemies are armored and physically simulated to parry, riposte, step, and dodge at any given time.
For players already familiar with Swordsman, you’ll notice that the arena will be replaced in September 2023 with a new space for your battles. You’ll also find a carefully curated tutorial, updated AI, as well as performance improvements and bug fixes from previous live builds.
Team up with an Armorer, a Blacksmith, and a Skill Master to help you build your character, equip weapons and armor, and guide you throughout your travels. This allows for player progression, utilizing RPG elements, and using multiple weapons and shields.
The studio boasts many key features, including but not limited to campaign and sandbox modes and in-game modifiers like Chronokinesis (slow time down), Doomfist (punch really hard), and Hardcore Enemies. Expect to see epic boss weaponry like Solis (weapon of Baltok The Disgraced), Stormbringer (weapon of Björn The Savage), Tombstone (weapon of Batu The Executioner), Kodoku (weapon of Yagami The Warchief), Hellfire (weapon of the Jötunn, Leader of them all), and more.
Swordsman has been available for PCVR and PSVR for three years but just released for the first time on the Meta Quest platform. Want to stay in the loop as Sinn Studio works toward developing the next generation of VR combat? Follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, as well as join them on Reddit and the official Discord server.
