Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2021
Blade of Darkness
Developer Rebel Act Studios, Fire Falcom, General Arcade
Severance: Blade of Darkness is an action-adventure game developed by Rebel Act Studios and originally published by Codemasters. The game was released in North America and Europe for Microsoft Windows in February 2001, receiving generally favorable reviews. A remastered version was released on Steam and GOG in October 2021, and one year later on Nintendo Switch through the Nintendo eShop, marking the debut of this… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
206 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 6, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
75
LovedLoved
132 positive · 44 negative
95% range 68–81%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 132 | 44 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
30 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
2,343 of 2,608 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 206 · most liked firstYour grandfather's Dark souls. Here's what you'll get: + Controls and camera from the 2000s + Hellish combinations with timings + Complete dismemberment of enemies + A sea of blood + Different character classes + Great plot + There are secrets in the locations + Traps that don't spare + No mini map, no signposts + The achievement of "Speedrun without a single save" My favorite childhood game that killed all the life in me
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game came out over 20 years ago, there was never a game like it before and there has never been a game like it since. The best way I can describe the depth and satisfaction of the gameplay is to suggest it is like learning a musical instrument.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is flat out better than the new God of War, DmC 5 and Dark Souls. Someone please show me a game with better gameplay than BoD. I still play it after almost 25 years.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cant believe i found this game, i used to go over to my dad's best buddies house and play this on his PC with his daughter, this was 24 years ago and i never remembered the damn name of this game until I used ChatGPT to search for it. This game was incredible, This was game was so far a head of its time kids. True Nostalgia, from a far dead world.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bunch of kitties complaining about mechanics & difficulty. Game's atmospheric music and lighting system are beautiful. Makes it a really enjoyable journey. Mechanics are good, nothing to complain about a game from 2001. You just have to adapt and learn, which I find attractive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know how they managed to get a green checkmark for this. It absolutely does not function on the Steamdeck or my windows PC, and going by the discussions i'm not the only one with this problem. Apparently things have been like this for nearly a year and the devs/publisher are just ignoring their customers over it. Avoid this completely.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They say this game is Souls-like. I say the Souls games are BoD-like.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was released on 23/02/2001. I have been searching for it for 20 years now since I lost my digital copy, without ever being able to finish it. And a week ago, I see a speed-run of this game on my youtube recommendation and a link in the description to download it... on Steam. I breathe a big breath, will see more closely and apparently, it’s been three years now since the game is available on the platform. xD Between an old-school zelda and a more fun dark souls, this game fits…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →oldschool classic! souls game before the souls games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is great and I recommend it but there is a big caveat I feel the other reviewers ignore. This game is CLUNKY. Sometimes your weapon will just go through an enemy for no damage or you walk off a ledge because certain movement inputs make the character take two steps with instead of one. The clunk is not a deal breaker (especially since you have unlimited saves), but it was jarring after reading all the reviews that ignore the clunk. Like I said I still recommend and think it is a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As already established in many reviews on the page this is not a ''soulslike" game, since it has been originally published in 2001. At the time, these games were referred to simply as hack and slash which this title represents almost flawlessly, with just a sprinkle of RPG elements (and of course the juicy gore). The pivotal point of the game is its control/combat system that will either make you love this game or hate it. If you are a person who enjoys fighting games (SF, MK, KI etc.) then you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fathoms me how this game has received verified status for Steam Deck. It does not load out of the box. You have to rollback to most stable version, and install experimental proton for it to work. it's then a roll of the dice as to whether it will crash upon trying to save or load a game. Skip this one if you intend to play on Deck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Does not work anymore after the latest update and devs have abandoned it. Insane to launch a game that works (probably mostly thanks to the work of gog more than anything else), push an update that totally breaks it and then just disappear.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blade of Darkness, developed by Rebel Act Studios and later remastered through the collaboration of Fire Falcom, General Arcade, and publisher SNEG, is a dark fantasy action-adventure that feels both like a product of its time and a precursor to an entire generation of challenging combat games. Originally released in 2001 under the title Severance: Blade of Darkness, the game has been revived for modern systems with enhanced resolution, widescreen support, and technical refinements that allow…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only superficially similar to Souls games, the claim that it "pioneered the soulsborne genre" is a gross misrepresentation. This game suffers numerous technical issues if you try to run it on modern hardware, including crashes, animation bugs, subtitle timing problems, cutscene issues, and more. The controls have not aged well, even with the crude attempt at improvements in the settings.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another classic game from my backlog. At the beginning (the first two levels), the feeling of regret is total: clunky controls, empty scenarios, camera issues, rough gameplay, and bugs: enemies stuck in some walls, and weird character behavior after loading a save game (this is frequent, so, prepare to save in multiple points to avoid some disaster). Now, after reaching level 3 (Mines of Kelbegen), the game starts getting better and better, especially in terms of graphics (the real-time…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beware this game is broken on Steam Deck. It literally will not run. You will have to go into the beta branch and roll back to the previous stable version. This will launch but then you hit the second major issue. Controller support is broken. You cannot run. At all. Double tap does not work. Using steam input to remap to wsad does not work. Unless you want to slowly walk through the entire game it is essentially unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been playing this game Blade of Darkness from 2001 mostly because it's very Conan coded. But what it actually turned out to be is a very fun souls-like game from before Souls games existed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBQn...
unlabelledView post →i can't believe this game has smoother gameplay than today's AAA game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It took me 2 days straight to get the game to work running and another day to be able to play with the controller. After reaching map 4 and saving in the sewers, my save file got corrupted... I'm done playing this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the game Dark Souls WISHES it was. Better level design, infinitely better combat with dismemberment and player effects, and it values the player's time. While there are many instant kill spots (bridges, traps, etc), you can usually sus them out just by looking. It leads the player to be hesitant and constantly looking for the next thing out to get them when not in combat. By design! Combat is absolutely brutal but 100% fair. This strange fairness will be immediately noticed by players…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The GODFATHER of Dark Soul.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR: An amazing cult calssic though with some flaws that can be a deal breaker to some. Let’s start with positives first. Blade of Darkness has some nice visuals, especially in lighting department. The dynamic shadows look gorgeous, create nice atmosphere and are used in some cutscenes to great effect. I don’t think any game could match it in this aspect until Doom 3 came out years later. The levels are varied and there are some nice vistas. The water also looks great, although it’s not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game does not launch on steamdeck idk why it says verified
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Is this a janky game? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Again yes. I love my jank ass rpgs. A friend of a friend described this game as "playing the video to Ronnie James Dio's Holy Diver." and they are 100% correct. To put it short, this game ♥♥♥♥♥.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game only means something for those of us who played it in the past. graphics are too bad for any youngling to try it now. For us old rocks, it brings back so many good memories. I still enjoyed playing it as if i was a high schooler again. such a good game. the HD revision and QoL upgrades for controls are necessary tough. There is an in-game option for playing the the old version but when you try it, you quickly remember how bad it was during the ancient times. I wish they also…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blade of Darkness isnt a terrible game, but it is a game which main selling point is the gameplay, and that is something that aged. So this thumb down is more a "Should you play this game now if you have never played it?" and to that I would answer that there are plenty of modern, bigger and indie titles, that deserve your attention more than this game. A few comments: - The game has a unusual setting, partly classical European medieval, but partly also middle eastern stuff. - I played as…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shoddy work of a remaster that introduces input lag not present in original.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Says Steam Deck Verified It does not run on Deck without altering settings. Once the game is able to run, it runs poorly. This is NOT worthy of a verified tag. This has been a known issue for over a year with no fix.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played the game somewhere back in 2001 or something, from a demo that was distributed in pc game magazines and I would always be thinking about this one. Other games where good and players outgrew them as they got older, other games went from point A to point B and were streamlined, other games followed the trends of their time and remained as products of their time. However "Blade of Darkness" managed to capture some very specific and impressive game design values. The Impressive Parts: •…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even though it bears resemblance to a few games, its one of the most unique games i've ever played, nothing quite like it at all as a complete package. It's got one of the most exploitable save systems despite how unforgiving the game can be but has a save rating system that sort of shames you for micro saving. Thoroughly enjoyed it despite how clunky it could be at times and absolutely deserves to have the cult following it has, so good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blade of Darkness was released 8 years before Demon's Souls.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember playing this around the time it came out. Was super hard, but I loved all the heroes and their different weapons and moves. Finally beat it with everyone again after 20+ years and unlocked all achievments! Fun times. :))
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bought this game to support the studio to payback all good old time i spent 20 years ago on this game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Take your picks from these two. Some of the best melee combat I experienced was from these two games. Also Blade of Darkness was made by the people who would go on to make Metroid Dread.
unlabelledView post →A brilliant old-school classic with combat and mechanics that impressed me especially considering it is a two decade old game .
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Nostalgic trip I first played Blade of Darkness around 2002 when I was a kid, and I loved it back then. The brutal combat and dark atmosphere really hooked me, even though I didn’t know it would later lead me to enjoy Souls games from From Software. Coming back to this game now feels like reuniting with an old friend. The controls are pretty rough by today’s standards, but my muscle memory from 2002 kicked in, and it still felt good. The combat is still challenging, and the atmosphere is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The combat in Blade of Darkness is REALLY cool, especially for a game from 2001… It’s a lot about side stepping and dodging and then using directional attacks at the same time to pull off different moves It’s tough, but feels SO good once you start to get the feel for it!
unlabelledView post →A gem from my childhood, a gory and very weighty slasher game, big emphasis on positioning, and "fighting game style" combo attacks for massive damage. Keep in mind it is an OLD game, with not a gargantuan budget, the controls will feel off at first, but make perfect sense after a while (think old Gothic games), the combat feels great, but enemy variety is lacking just a little bit for the runtime, plus you need to keep track of your health, HP potions are not treated like candy, the health…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game offers surprisingly decent combat system, one of the best throughout the whole game history. This is achieved basically because you can feel the weight of every swing of the sword with a combination of detailed enemy injury system. This is a real mystery, how the game from such distant time does those basic fighting mechanics better than many today's games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The original game is great: a linear action-adventure with 4 different heroes who have their own fighting styles, weapons, and even starting level. Visuals and sound are enjoyable even today. Blade of Darkness is a challenging game (especially if you play as Dwarf), but the challenge is rewarding. It is quite simple in terms of game mechanics but addictive and entertaining nonetheless. The port, on the other hand, is lacking: gamepad controls and navigation are quite horrendous, and the and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is not souls like, this is waaaaay before any Souls game, so if anything, its souls is severance'like. Good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best Game Ever , Best Weapons and Finishing Moves , Fighting , Maps and Puzzles. Old But Gold
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The true forefather of Dark Souls.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still the best hack and slash game of all time. The Reforged mod makes it so good even today.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is an interesting old-school TPS with a fight system that is now called soulslike. It is a bit clunky, but it is worth playing as a little piece of gaming history.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →5/5 so far it is just as good as other giants of the genre: Die by the sword and Dark souls. Where it is much better than DS, is the music, which is among the best I've ever heard, minimalistic compared to DbtS, but most effective. I could not enjoyed it in previous 20 years, because of it's compatibility and technical issues, however steam version on steam deck works flawlessly. You just need to select older most stable version in betas and proton.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →should've gotten the old version for free off steam...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolute master pieace of the olden times a game full with intresting weapons and "weapon arts"designed to make every character quite uniqe feeling i can easilly call it the father of the souls like and the souls series them self if you are looking for raw fighitng that doesnt like to hold your hand and make u spill guts and blood in a old retro style graphic this is the game !
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🗡️ Brutal, Brilliant, and Ahead of Its Time!! "Severance: Blade of Darkness" is one of the most underrated gems of the early 2000’s, a true cult classic that was way ahead of the curve! It delivers a gritty, dark fantasy world filled with deadly enemies, brutal combat, and a serious sense of atmosphere... You choose from four unique characters, each with different strengths, weapons, and paths through the game. Whether you pick the knight, the barbarian, the dwarf, or the amazon, the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Late 90's dark fantasy aesthetic with little exposition dumps before and after each level (and when picking up a rune) offer a familiar adult action adventure setting. The controls are very dated and there are issues with the combos. Ending a combo with a directional input means it gets triggered when you try to hit something and then move your character or the camera depending on which of the 3 camera control options you select. Then there's the moveset animation that the combo will activate;…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blade of Darkness has awful controls, and an exhaustive tutorial introducing way too many mechanics, buttons, controls at once.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →far ahead of it's time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its old but the graphics are insane for a 20 year old game and the story for each character is insanely good its very good i swear please try it i am flabbergasted.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well everyone knows games Dark Souls, Elden Ring and Sekiro or Lords of the Fallen etc. But not everybody knows that long time ago there was a game that started it all and what we call now Souls like genre. Ladies and Gentlemen Blade of Darkness!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This has been one of my favorite games since my childhood. Amazing atmosphere, amazing gameplay.. hands down... I used to play it a lot with my father and recently completed it again with my wife.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the rest of the dream had me flipping between a weird ancient Egyptian themed Myst game (where I was seeking out information about giant doorknobs and copies of National Geographic in a book store), and a "Blade of Darkness" clone played by my brother, where he'd chosen an Orc as his character.
unlabelledView post →Good ole classic, being able to play properly again is great.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an old game with a combat style that feels new: you are going to miss lots of attacks because the aim, animations and hitboxes are very wobbly, but there are no other games with this combat system. Give it a try!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blade of Darkness is perhaps best remembered as a pioneer in the "soulsbourne genre" I best remember it as THE GAME THAT HAS SUCH ♥♥♥♥ HITBOXES I SOMEHOW MISS THE ENEMIES AT POINT BLANK AHHHHHHHHHHHH Hello all, PurplePike here. Blade of Darkness is a fun game, and one that I might even consider to like. It has interesting ideas and is an intriguing merge of older hack-and-slack game mechanics, RPG elements, and what would now be known as the "Souls-like" genre. Despite this, I would hold off…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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