Battle Axe

This is a pretty basic "arcade-y" hack and slash that is (a) bit clumsy, and (b) waaaaaaaaaay, waaaaaaaaay over-priced for what you get. Like....If it was a fiver I'd think okay, but £25? That is insane. It's a very limited experience, with three characters who have pretty samey move-sets. A short-range slash, a dashing attack and a ranged attack, and...uh...well, nothing else bar special items that give you health or some area-of-attack type effect. The tasty graphics and decent music are doing a lot of heavy lifting for the simplistic action on offer, though in the case of the former are also a bit of a weakness. Everything is large and detailed but takes up too much screen-space, so you can sometimes have an enemy you can't see that will quickly charge you with no way of dodging the attack. There's a bit of fun to be had here, but at less than an hour to finish and with nothing truly special about it, it's in no way recommended at full-price. Even with it currently on sale at £6.24 I'd say it's not worth it for what you'll get out of it. When the likes of HollowKnight and Silksong are £20, or excellent similar games like Hyper Light Drifter and Tunic offer more than an hour for the same price, this is just too average overall. You'll get a longer experience buying the original Chaos Engine, which might be just as clumsy but at least has the excuse of being around thirty years older than this game and has a price-tag reflective of that age.

The game is fun, but $30 for this is criminal. Glad I got it on sale, I hope for $10 or less.

Fantastic brawler / hack and slash arcade style game! The beautiful sprite works propel the graphics to the fore front but the game play is not to be overlooked. You have a standard melee attack, a projectile attack, and a dash / teleport attack that has a little bit of invincibility frames to help you in a pinch. You earn money as you progress through the stages and can purchase a number of items / upgrades with the currency you've collected. The upgrades really go a long way towards keeping the adventure fresh and engaging. There are stat buffs like heath, speed, strength and more. As well as healing items, bombs, and magic attacks. There are three characters, all of which play very differently. Everything from attack speed, mobility options, health, and more differ between characters which further enhances the depth and replay value of the experience. All in all Battle Axe is a wonderful throw back to classics such as Gauntlet and Golden Axe, albeit a bit faster I'd say. The gorgeous graphics, and tight arcade game play make for a great package. Cooperative play is an option as well of course. I highly recommend this game! The default difficulty is "Hard" and it is not kidding. There is a very steep challenge at that difficulty but it is definitely doable with a fair bit of practice and memorization. There are also two other difficulty settings if hard is too much to deal with.

I don't see what all the crying is about, it's fun, especially if you're in the over 40 club and have fond memories of wasting quarters at the arcade. If you paid full price I can see the gripe but I paid around $7 and was well worth it. And if the challenge is too much just set it to game journalist mode (casual) and you could probably beat it in an hour or two.

If you want an arcade style gauntlet game then you can't go far wrong with this. A few other reviews complain that the game feels unfinished or lacking content. Everything here is extremely polished and the level of content is what I would expect for an arcade game of this type. If you enjoy the immediacy and polish of a well crafted arcade experience you will love this game.

The game is fun enough, if you go into it with the right mindset. Don't think Gauntlet or Diablo. Think Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Pocky & Rocky. Think SNES: not just the look and feel but features and gameplay. Wait for a sale, but yeah it's a fun, short little game.

i think this may be the first or second time i've played an arcade game, it's okay, i like the music, or that occasional voice in the main menu. i got bored just a bit while playing, gameplay is probably not too much for me, but it was okay, campaign is short (which i understand) since there is an "infinite mode" which i think mostly how the game is intended to be played. i got the game through a bundle at a very low price, though i think the price of the game is way too much for what it is.

Kurz, aber cool. Schönes Arcade Game. Ein 5. Level hätte ich gerne noch gespielt.

Charging $27 for this game feels unreasonable, and I can't recommend it at that price. While the pixel art is beautiful and evokes a nostalgic retro vibe, the gameplay falls short. And with only 1-2 hours of content, it feels more like a throwback to the past without the refinement needed to make it truly shine.

First off for the regular story length, $30 is a little.....err...a lot nuts to ask if you look it as a beat once and move on game. This game can be finished in like 30-45 minutes. But if you grew up in the days of Gauntlet, which this feels like, then it feels like an arcade style experience. And to me that changes everything. It isn't a one and done game. It is a "get a friend and play together over and over" game. Also it does have infinite mode too. For a Gauntlet style game, it is actually a blast to play. There are some enemies that are pretty cheap the way they attack....but that adds to the arcade feel. So to put it simple...if you want a top down hack n slash that brings back the feeling of the 80s and early 90s, but feels modern...this does a very good job of that. If you just want to beat it and move on, you won't be happy after paying full price.