So with a healthy 3D engine, this leaves Blade's other half of the marriage- the RPG style gameplay. Instead of utilising a long-range 'fire and forget' styled arsenal, Blade's combat will consist of mostly short-range weapons. Personally we see nothing wrong with letting rip with a few missiles but then again we're not exactly a subtle crew at Sharky Extreme. Gamers will either love or loathe the Hexen II (Quake in tights) style of combat. Each character (there are four to choose from) will have a combination of five attacks, five defences, an assortment of combos and finally a special ability. Nevertheless, the combat system might resemble something from the RPG genre but it's not going to be overly complex, thus not alienating mouse happy trigger-hippies too much. So hat's off to Rebel Act for being a little bit risqué- we hope it pays dividends.

Bearing in mind Blade's medieval theme, you can expect an array of swords, axes and spears to be at your disposal. A total of 60 different weapons to hack 'n slash with. And in keeping with the RPG genre, 30 of them will consist of magical spells. Such an array of weaponry will be necessary, as there will be a total of 25 different enemies baying for your blood. These will range from Orcs, Ogres and Sorcerers. Choosing from one of four player characters will also prove to be a tough decision. Each one of them will pertain varying strengths and weaknesses. Finding the right balance for multiplayer melees will also be possible via a LAN or indeed across the NET.

The enemy characters' AI promises to be fairly sophisticated. When we say sophisticated, we're not sure how 'sophisticated', when compared to anything that the lads from Texas can come up with when they are mostly located only 100yards from a Hooters bar (that's where id and Ritual get their inspiration). Nonetheless, enemies will set traps, tactically retreat and/or give chase. They also react to sounds made by player movements. Enemies also react differently when being attacked. For example, a blow to the side with a sword will result in an arm falling off (a nice touch indeed) and a blow to the head... well you get the idea right? But the NPCs aren't just cannon fodder, in the midst of a fight they can also defend themselves with shields.