Game for the Weekend Shadowflare
Shadowflare right from the beginning reminds me of what is probably the greatest action rpg game of all time - Diablo 2. The perspective, game mechanics and even graphics look really similar and are really good for a freeware game. You control a nameless warrior who starts in a small remote village. A dog companion that can be commanded is always by your side and you receive your first basic tasks from the commander of that village.
The commander is nice enough to provide you with basic equipment which you should equip right away with a tap on the I button. Even the buttons are mostly the same so that Diablo players will feel right at home from the start.
Once you go outside the town you are attacked by the usual amount of low level enemies: namely Goblins, Orcs and bats.
You attack them with the left mouse button. Later in the game you can use the right mouse button to throw spells at enemies which have to be learned before you can do so. Pressing Space changes the activity level of your dog companion. There are two modes, inactive which is the default mode and active. Inactive means that your dog will not attack but will take no damage as well.
Active means that it will engage in combat and take damage. A nice feature is that you can choose between several dogs that all have distinctive abilities.
One of the most important things in early game play is that you can get healed by the healer in the town. Just talk to her if your health is low and she will maximize it again.
Shadowflare is a great game, lots of fun. It has an internet mode that I did not test yet.
Tips
- New players may want to read the manual that is posted on the game's website that helps you understand key concepts of the game.
- Take your time to get accustomed to key concepts such as using magic, placing mines or using healing during battles.
- When your character reaches level 5, you become a warrior. You can follow that profession if you use the sword, or switch to becoming a mage or hunter if you use magic or the bow frequently.
Update: Please note that the last game update dates back to 2009 which is an indicator that the game project has likely been abandoned by its developer.
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Shadowflare can be multiplayer or single depending upon your preference. I only use multiplayer for switching items over. The game is actually far more in depth than any of it’s genre at the time and it is still hard to beat for storyline even today. Today, we have prettier games, but pretty does not make a story. Shadowflare has a story and world that leaves Diablo 2 and even Diablo 3 dead for in depth storyline if you are not too damned lazy to go through the story and start putting it together.
My endless frustration is that I’ve lost all of my saved games including the one that meant I didn’t have to fill up an entire stash with annoying piles of gold.
Nope, not likely to try anytime soon. Multiplayer games are not really my cup of tea :) I much prefer single-player games.
A fantastic game, actually, and let me add that for some reason I just didn’t enjoy Titan Quest. Oh, and the save routine of Diablo 2 was quite irritating too….
Anyway. Great find!
Well we both agree that Diablo 2 is the ultimate game in the genre. Titan Quest is the only commercial game that comes to my mind that comes near it.
It is a good free game, did you try the multiplayer part ?
Yep, it’s pretty fun at the beginning but things start to become quite samey after a while. I stopped playing it after levelling up to around 13. The nice thing I like about this game is that you can play any style you like as a close combat, ranged or magic specialist without penalties under you switch careers after a certain level.
Nonetheless, still a good game – clean interface and easy to play – perfect when you need an action RPG fix other than Diablo 2 :)