Mirage: Arcane Warfare trailer discusses the comedy value of blood and gore

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Torn Banner Studios' new game Mirage: Arcane Warfare promises to be very much like its predecessor, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, but with magic, which gives players the ability to do all sorts of things they otherwise couldn't—like lifting enemies into the air and turning them into a thin, sticky paste, for instance. But all the old tricks, like chopping a dude's legs off, still work too.

There's something oddly charming about watching a bunch of grown men get so gleefully enthusiastic about sprays of blood and gore in their videogames, isn't there? To be fair, there is a point to it: The amount of blood that flies when you clobber an enemy indicates the amount of damage you've done, and a player's health is represented by the amount of it he or she is wearing. “If you see a guy who's drenched in blood, you know he's been messed up in battle,” artist Darin Walsh explains with obvious relish.

Physics are a vital part of the game as well, both for the way in which it gives melee combat “a sense of weight,” and also because it's funny. “When you hit someone, it's not like their body just limply falls down. You'll know the strength of that hit you just knocked them with, and their body will go flying across the room,” Senior Brand Manager Alex Hayter says in the video. And that, according to Torn Banner President Steve Piggott, “really adds a lot of humor to the game.”

Mirage: Arcane Warfare isn't expected to begin beta testing until later this summer but we got some hands-on time with in April at PAX East, and it's already looking good. It's currently slated to come out nearer the end of the year.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.