On one hand it's reassuring to see that Bound by Flame shows developers have stayed true to their own brand of RPG, as previously expounded upon in my reviews of both Mars: War Logs and Of Orcs and Men, and yet I think increased scope and ambitions in this particular case really put a spotlight on what doesn't work for Spiders and their formula.

We have a doomed world of Vertiel where Ice Lords lead armies of dead walkers set on destroying civilization and become supreme overlords of the frozen hell that would remain. Last-ditch resistance comes in the form of a scholarly order known as Red Scribes. Their objective is to attend an ancient Temple and enact a ritual supposed to infuse them with power to match Ice Lord's own so they can end the struggle, achieving what everyone else has seemingly failed at. It is for this purpose that they hire the Freeborn Blades mercenaries who are in turn supposed to guard their back while the long ritual is underway As befitting every quality RPGs things don't go exactly according to plan leaving our protagonist aka company's powder master Vulcan to inherit the mysterious power and after fending off a surprise attack by the Deadwalker army it is quickly revealed he now has a fiery demon residing within as sort of split personality. One that's desperate to take over and realize his own agenda. By all accounts this jacked as hell demon appears to have some ownership over the world and old grudges to settle with Ice Lords themselves.

While I'm on the subject of Vulcan I was surprised to see our lead is actually customizable. Not only visually, but also in the male or female department. Considering there are four romancable companions in the game it would appear the split goes 2/2 plus one weird immortal corpse-looking dude that doesn't count. Part of me almost wishes I played as a female because male Vulcan has this weird, I don't know how to describe it honestly, edgy doofus quality to him. Someone playing up the “hardass mercenary in a grim dying world” act without necessarily having the emotional range or direction to guide the voice acting performance. There are moments of brilliance with Vulcan vs Demon interplay and how during some scenes you can't exactly tell who's in charge, though.

I'll get around to my problems with companions and how they tie into game's lack of certain systems as such later on, but they weren't created equal narratively either. Your “normal” side has a cute mage, outcast ranger and stoic warrior to fill the niches you can imagine on your lonesome and they're not BAD in any real sense. They simply don't have much to work with beyond the archetype along with their blink-and-miss-them side quests. On the “weird” side you have a wild mage and aforementioned immortal spirit/thing/being currently inhabiting a decrepit body. Edwen and Mathras respectively are way more interesting simply due to their knowledge of relevant matters going beyond the immediate “oh no, Lords of Ice are going to kills us!” panic mode. Also, if you wanted even bitchier Morrigan you'll be pleased to hear our silver-haired witch fits the role. Regardless of whether you like the cast or not you'll realize they run out of things to talk about real fast and devolve into enemy distractions.

As far as the story and plot structure are concerned I have to echo the same thoughts you'll hear throughout the rest of the review – it simply suffers due to there not being enough of it. You have to keep in mind this was, more or less, an action take on Dragon Age and having ~15 hours to work with just isn't enough. Prologue and Chapter 1 are alright as after a bombastic opening you're left in the swamp to gather your bearings, learn about the world, pick up most of the characters, etc. As you move forward you can tell on a gut level things were cut or fast forwarded through. If not for some side missions and enemy roadblocks Bound by Flame could almost be finished in under ten hours. This is ESPECIALLY obvious as you reach the final Chapter when game starts throwing earlier bosses as regular enemies at you and there's barely any story threads to follow up on before you're in front of the penultimate bad guy to whoop his ass with ease. Then you reach the final boss and... well, that should be reserved for a talk about mechanics.

With previous experience with Spiders' game design in mind I can say it's still in the same ballpark. You have your light and heavy charge attack, but this is the kind of combat system where button mashing is discouraged simply due to over-committing usually ending up badly, especially early on when you lack statistical benefits of investing in skill trees. Doubly so when you factor in clear enemy types to dispose off. Archers are almost always a priority if only because they go down easily, but the likes of sword & board shield users ended up being the bane of my existence because they just won't die. Speaking of which you have three skill trees to work with; Warrior, Ranger and Pyromancer. Whichever you choose just keep in mind no matter what you're still in the thick of it wading among enemies. This isn't really the type of game where you stay back nuking while leaving your companions to occupy enemies. Unless you really enjoy burning through mana potions and leaving them on guard duty hoping specialized enemies don't wreck them. Problem being you can give your companions instructions on how to act, but that's it. There's a lack of fine, direct control over their abilities/equipment so they are what you see in terms of combat capabilities. Usually I was content with just setting them in defensive mode if they kept dying too often. Spellcasters were generally more useful for their gimmicks. This is one of those things that could be game altering on high difficulty with levels usually leaning on somewhat tight quarters only rarely open enough for positioning to factor in and dagger-based “stealth” merely functioning as a free opening attack, though.

Somewhat controversial decision game went with was to only include cumbersome two-handed weapons and lightning-fast daggers as options beyond pyromancy and crossbow, for those once-in-a-blue-moon situations. On my own end I made a conscious choice that hopefully hasn't embittered the game to me when I choose poorly. Basically, daggers are superior and it took me until the finale to realize that fact after I'd already mastered the Warrior tree. Whether you go with great swords, warhammers or axes it's never fast enough compared to stabby-stabby combined with poisons and crazy critical rates. I dread to think what a fully upgraded Ranger tree is like so maybe there's replay potential there? This feeds into what I mentioned earlier about the final boss and how I almost threw my controller across the room. He's like nothing you've faced in the game up to that point and seemed like a counter build for my great sword wielding half-demon Vulcan. I ultimately remembered I was, in fact, the powder master and smoked his ass with some previously built traps.

So yeah, there's crafting and much to my own surprise it's actually meaningful. Outside of health and mana potions on top of bolts and traps, you will primarily be using crafting to modify weapons and armor pieces. Seeing as there are visible as well as property changes this is indeed neat and makes it truly YOUR gear. I got the impression it was sufficient to increase damage/armor on normal difficulty to get by, but the potential to really customize your character is there as integral part of the game's gear progression system. You won't be swimming in loot and weight limit ensures you'll be doing away with excess whether by recycling or selling off. This does raise an interesting ongoing question – do I keep my upgraded stuff or replace it with newfangled finds considering they're so rare? Number crunching usually resulted in replacing so I could subsequently upgrade those bits, but being bleeding edge wasn't top priority. Which sadly also made shopping a distant afterthought.

Far from being an ugly game when you factor when it came out and all, I'd say certain uneven elements bring the overall impression down. Where lip sync fails dramatic action cutscenes don't, for example. Standout participant for me would have to be the soundtrack, though. From acoustic atmospheric tracks to vocal showstoppers played at vital parts they all manage to give, as kids nowadays say, soul to Bound by Flame. If wishes were horses I'd ask for more tracks overall.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Worthwhile action RPG offering continuing developer's efforts to do Bioware with mere fraction of their budget. Bound by Flame is definitely not perfect making this a middling recommendation because I still liked the overall package. As Ice Lords rampage across the world and last hope to resist goes bust our unlikely protagonist gets the power of an ancient demon to stem the tide. Real question is who controls whom and what does “saving the world” mean. Combat built upon the foundation of methodically wearing enemies down versus button mashing and extensive gear customization for that personal flair are diminished by game's rushed story that needed more time to breathe. Companions getting more than token mentions at the finale would have helped as well.