SWORDCAR

SWORDCAR is a silly concept that delivers with full seriousness. Rather than making fun of its absurd premise. It genuinely answers the question of "what if car had sword?" In a fun and enjoyable way that has immense potential. It has solid controls that allow for great maneuverability and offers the option of different weapons both ranged and melee which is a nice touch and gives you a reason to replay it. While the game is functionally a demo during the writing of this review, It gives you a taste of something amazing and gets you excited for more. While it needs fine tuning, the core gameplay succeeds impressively. As for feedback, i would add color coding to improve visibility on special enemies and perhaps some more unique models. currently a hoard of enemies can blend together when it includes different types, making it hard to tell them apart. I would also attach the slowmotion button to the mana bar to make it less overpowered, and give the ranged weapons ammo instead of a mana cost. Perhaps the ammo can be a drop from enemies? the ranged weapons would also benefit from better aiming. currently their lack of reliable aim makes them hard to use and easy to forget. Auto aiming at the nearest small enemy would improve this, without making it too easy to kill special enemies. especially if the special enemies are the only source of ammo. it would give ranged attacks the function of clearing a path while still requiring sword combat to beat special enemies. Regardless of what this game becomes, i look forward to see its evolution. Keep it up, you're doing great!

Overall, it’s very obvious that Sword Car is in early access. It seems uncertain of its identity, and uncertain in its controls, but nonetheless a fun concept that I can only hope the 1.0 release will be able to realize in full. The main concept of the game is in the title; you put the sword on the car, and you drive to puncture, drift to swipe at the enemies. It’s a really fun idea, and it’s what initially sold me on it. Add in a Devil May Cry-like stylish meter and a metal soundtrack and this game is everything I never knew I wanted. However the problems become quite apparent from the start. The controls of the car are not as tight as you want. The car accelerates almost instantly, gets knocked into the air far too easily, and for some reason the controls to turn the car reverse when you are boosting (also, major sad points for no inverted-X axis, since I have a weird brain from opposite land). When boosting you can spiral out of control if you want. You don’t really have a good e-brake. In a strange way, the car controls remind me more of controlling a person at full sprint, on ice, rather than a big hunk of metal. With these very loose feeling controls, and then poor feedback on your actions, PLUS lots of particle effects obscuring the screen, it’s hard to ever tell what is really happening and whether I am performing well in the game or not. I did find using the CHRONOBRAKE (wicked name, btw) made managing all of this way better, but I feel like laying on the Chronobrake isn’t a good solution to the poor controls. I sort of wish the Chronobrake was a reward for skillful play, much like Witch Time is in Bayonetta. This brings me to the identity crisis the game is suffering. Part of it seems to want to be tough as nails souls-like, while another part of it wants to revel in the absurdity of the concept and just be a complete power fantasy. I really would hope this game would land on one or the other (personally in favor of a Musou-style power trip). I feel like if this game made you feel like you are controlling a hunk of metal and ripping through crowds of enemies…with a sword, this would really reach the vibe the game is going for. On one last note; please, for the love of god, get some more music in this game that is also longer. There is like 1 song that is 8 bars long and just repeats ad nauseum. I streamed this game to my audience. If you want to see my initial impression with the game, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/UKO6pP79jU4?si=_XIVcNp4iMi74aJZ&t=240 Good luck, dev.

Veramente un capolavoro, un opera d'arte voglio stringere la mano all'uomo che ha detto "si, incolliamo una spada su una macchina e facciamoci un videogioco sopra". Sono questi i giochi che vanno supportati, belli e innovativi, mi spiace che sia poco conosciuto ma è veramente un bel gioco e ne vale la pena.

Devil May Twisted Metal. ♥♥♥♥ you, SWORDCAR! 10/10

God, we desperately need more ♥♥♥♥ like this from indie devs. This game is such an absurd spectacle to play and there's nothing else like it. Even though the current campaign is only about 30 minutes of playtime, Swordcar is totally worth dropping a few dollars on even just for how refreshing it is.

goes hard.