MercurySteam, the Spanish studio behind games like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and the critically acclaimed Metroid Dread, has announced its next tentpole title: action adventure outing Blades of Fire. It’ll launch on the PS5 from 22nd May for $59.99/£49.99.
The press release reveals: “Step forward Aran de Lira, the last hero who can wield steel, and Adso, a young scholar whose knowledge of lost myths and sacred tongues may shape their fate.
“Learn how to craft near limitless weapon variations in the game’s unique ‘weapons forging’ system and bring the Queen to her knees. Combine countless alloys, hilts, runes, blades, and pummelling edges to craft and perfect the ultimate evil-slaying weapon. Every enemy type will pose unique challenges – every weapon you create will meet those challenges!”

As the blurb teases, crafting is a key component in this game. You’ll need to consider carefully the materials you use, your weapon’s weight, durability, and more. Each type of armament you design will be suitable for a different circumstance.
In addition to concocting the right weapon, you’ll also need to consider your approach to combat: “Slash, stab, or bludgeon enemies depending on the situation and what the enemy is equipped with. Only the right weapon will allow you to overcome the enemy’s armour.”
So, there’s almost a puzzle-like aspect to the combat system here, as you’ll need to design the right weapons and wield them correctly in order to overcome your aggressors.
More gameplay and information will be revealed in the coming weeks, but if you’re already convinced, pre-orders are open now. Will you be cooking up a full playthrough of this campaign? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 32
Just watched the trailer with my wife on YT, wondering if I had ever heard of it before. Guess not.
Kind of has a GoW Elden Ring thing going on. Kratos Souls.
Guessing it will be too difficult for me. I’m fighting my way thru GoW: R on normal but there’s been a lot of yelling. And I won’t even test the tombstones anymore. 78% there, hopefully I can cross the finish line without having to turn it down.
Looks pretty neat. Definitely keeping an eye on this one.
Looks promising. MercurySteam did excellent work with Metroid Dread, hopefully this game will be as good.
I love MercurySteam’s output but this doesn’t really appeal to me much unfortunately. Guess that means they aren’t partnering with Nintendo on a game to be revealed in April too!
This REALLY has a GOW feeling to it. The combat, the bodies proportions for the camera, the art direction of some enemies, the rage, the axe ... looks cool. Mercury's Castlevania Lords of Shadow was fun and their Metroids have been also good so this should be a good game.
GOW, Returnal, TLOU, Ratchet, Helldivers, Horizon, Spider Man, doesn't matter what people think about PS games, devs are always looking for cool concepts/features to get inspired and work in their games, they can see true value and the generation of PS Studios games that started with the PS4 is leaving its mark.
The gameplay parts of this trailer do not look good to me.
Looks awesome!! Hoping they don't emulate the bland corridor like level design of the new GOW titles. Im in a huge minority where I enjoyed ragnarok, but thought it an inferior and far too bloated sequel.
Banishers had a great story but the same boring tedious Design.
Here's hoping this one doesn't follow the same.
What a pleasant surprise. Looks right up my alley!
Looks like the kind of game I've seen a thousand times before 🥱
Feels like Lords of Shadow x GoW. It looks pretty nice though.
Shoutout Spacelords 😂. Only 7 people played it, but I wish it got a little more support.
@GymratAmarillo I'm tempted to say it looks too God of War from that trailer. On top of the camera, character movement and combat style, that moment around 0:47-0:48 looks and even sounds almost exactly like Kratos activating his rage mode.
Hopefully this is a little misleading and it's not as derivative as it looks.
I really hoped they would do a Metroid Dread sequel, that game was best 2D Metroid in a looooong time (as since Super Metroid).
But I'm willing and looking forward to checking out what they can offer in GoW alternatives world. Looks right up my alley!
EDIT: While it undeniably takes inspiration from GoW, I also felt some Immortals: Fenyx Rising, and BotW vibes. Am I crazy?
Dig the concept. Hoping you can craft some broken combinations. Will keep an eye on it.
Looks pretty cool, if a bit derivative, yet so are most games. But i'm fine with that if they can execute. Mercurysteam are a talented studio, if a bit hit-or-miss, hoping this is more Lords of Shadow & Metroid Dread than LoS2 or Jericho. Hopefully it's brilliant.
Just got the platinums on Lords of Shadow and it’s sequel last year… I was wondering what these guys were up to as they were more than decent.
This one looks interesting
I hope the game is good, and their next games is metroid dread 2, since I enjoyed the first one 😃
Very fitting that it looks like the new God of War games, since Lords of Shadow was basically a (very good) rip-off of the old ones.
Could be excellent, but looks somewhat generic in terms of artdesign.
Looks pretty good, but only Epic Games and no Steam release on PC is probably not a good idea.
@homelesscretin Spacelords was a lot of fun!
Loved Lords of Shadow, hopefully this is more GOW than Souls like.
Definitely keep an eye on this game. MercurySteam are the Devs behind Castlevania: Lords of Shadow an amazing game, which I would buy again in a heartbeat if remade or remastered for the PS5.
underrated developer, mercury steam. but this... looks quite a bit cringey. i was expecting more to be honest.
@PuppetMaster I seem to remember people calling Lords of Shadow a God of War clone back in the day, tho'.
The protagonist looks generic af, but the concept, combat, and creature design look fantastic. So… definitely interested!
@themightyant What? I enjoyed Jericho. I was sick and tired of cods and battlefields so it was a breath of fresh air.
@z0d15g0d Nothing wrong with that, we all like different things. But on PS3 it was a 60 on Metacritic which suggests plenty of people didn't enjoy it so much. I thought it had some good ideas but was poorly executed. ymmv
@themightyant Varied mileage indeed. For that reason I don't care for reviews besides the technical performance aspects of a game (Pre-order Cyberpunk L still fresh in my memory). I do agree it could have been executed better though, same with Legendary.
You lost me at weapon durability, if there is 1 game mechanic I cannot stand it's that. Hope it turns out well for all those interested though.
@dancingstar93 Yeah Lords of Shadow along with Dante's Inferno are GoW clones. But they are high quality clones. This game looks like inspired by GoW 2018.
@z0d15g0d Agreed. Reviews sometimes only tell a bit of the story. A game like Scorn (68 on Metacritic on XSX) remains in my memory far more than many games in the 70-85% range. But it can still be a useful tool.
Damn. I was excited when I hit play. But this looks incredibly mid to me.
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