Underrated hack 'n' slash Blades of Fire heads to Steam with a 2.0 update, bringing new game plus and 'expanded death and mutilation variations' for you sickos out there

Blades of Fire's hero Aran raises a large hammer as he prepares to forge a blade. — (Image credit: MercurySteam)

I was extremely excited for Blades of Fire when it was announced last year, mainly because it was clearly MercurySteam's spiritual successor to ye-olde hack 'n' slash Blade of Darkness.

At least, from my perspective it was clear. I was possibly the only person in the entire world eagerly awaiting a Blades of Darkness successor. This might be why Blades of Fire arrived to all the fanfare of a tax audit.

Blades of Fire - Official Steam Announcement Trailer - YouTube

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Indeed, MercurySteam has dubbed the (non-Mercury) Steam version "Blades of Fire 2.0" as it will introduce an armoury's worth of new features to the action game. These include a New Game Plus mode that will let players experiment with new weapon parts and skins, a new difficulty level referred to as 'Titanium', and a 'Boss Revival' mode, where players can replay boss fights to earn rewards.

The update will also make some improvements to how Blades of Fire functions. For starters, it introduces elements transmutation so players can change material types on weapons. But it will also smooth out animation transitions for combat and exploration, and fold in "expanded death and mutilation variations".

Blades of Fire slices into Steam on May 16, though there's also a demo you can play right now. PC Gamer landed on the warmer end of the game's reception on its initial release last year, with reviewer Kerry Brunskill being impressed by its combat and crafting system, even if it sometimes felt like a God of War knockoff.

"Blades of Fire may not be polished steel, but there is a shining nugget of something good in here," they wrote in their Blades of Fire review. "It looks beautiful, smashing skeletons to bits with a giant axe feels fantastic, and Aran and Adso are great characters when they're not slipping into some 'God of War via Marvel' routine again."

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

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