I owe a great debt of thanks to both Catalina and Nathan for reuniting me with my beloved Redguard Game., thanks to their directions I will once again be cutting a swash across the sands of Stros M'Kai with my trusty saber. When I found my new computer could not play Redguard I began a long sad wait for Sea Dogs II, hoping that the sword fighting features in Redguard would be incorporated into the new game.
For those of you who are not familiar with this game I will insert this caveat, I read many reviews for the game that complained about a number of things within the game that hold an irresistible appeal for me.
One thing I recall the reviews complained about was the combat system and the only reason I can figure this could be is because Redguard's set up is a lot like real fencing which, as anyone who actually does fencing knows, is pretty hard. Attacks that you make in a fencing bout don't always hit, (even if you think they did) your opponent tries to close distance on you when you're running out of room on the strip, even on bouts you win you wind up realizing that you still have a lot to learn.
The game out of the box doesn't make it any easier because it sets you up so that you are playing the game watching Cyrus sword fighting in profile. It is only when you figure out that you can adjust the point of view so that you get a view similar to sword fights in POTC, third person, directly behind your character, will you gain an advantage for dealing with your opponents.
In Redguard you can direct your attacks so that you either thrust, lunge, or initiate a cutting attack consisting of either one, two, or three strokes that you can use to setup as feints and time a hit against an oncoming opponent. In POTC the attacks look really nice, but I have no say in whatever attacks Nathaniel chooses to make.
The other thing that Redguard had that POTC doesn't, is footwork. In POTC I rarely use the short retreat feature because the universal parry, depending on the caliber of blade that my opponent has, keeps me safe and warm. I also avoid backing up because I will usually walk into something and the camera shifts can sometimes confuse me and slow down my reactions. In Redguard the foot work is very good because it helps you to get a feel for better timing your attacks and keeping an awareness of the distance between you and danger.
That being said, one of the things I do with Redguard, having finished the game long ago, is draw my sword and run to locations where there are a lot of Imperial soldiers. When they see me running around with a sword they realize that I am trouble and run over to me to try and put a stop to my shenanigans. I then try to get the soldiers to chase me to where there are more Imperials, this is not really easy to do because if you get to far ahead they tend to run back to their starting spots. When I have good group of them 8 – 16 on average, I then turn and go into a Redguard Rampage taking them all on at once and leaving their bodies strewn about the island. A true Redguard Rampage wipes out every guard on the surface of the island who will fight with you. (Some of them will not fight you no matter what you do.) If you kill everyone and want to do it again, just go into any building and come back out again and they're all back ready for a rematch.
Then it's time for Redguard surfing, but that's another email.....
For those of you who are not familiar with this game I will insert this caveat, I read many reviews for the game that complained about a number of things within the game that hold an irresistible appeal for me.
One thing I recall the reviews complained about was the combat system and the only reason I can figure this could be is because Redguard's set up is a lot like real fencing which, as anyone who actually does fencing knows, is pretty hard. Attacks that you make in a fencing bout don't always hit, (even if you think they did) your opponent tries to close distance on you when you're running out of room on the strip, even on bouts you win you wind up realizing that you still have a lot to learn.
The game out of the box doesn't make it any easier because it sets you up so that you are playing the game watching Cyrus sword fighting in profile. It is only when you figure out that you can adjust the point of view so that you get a view similar to sword fights in POTC, third person, directly behind your character, will you gain an advantage for dealing with your opponents.
In Redguard you can direct your attacks so that you either thrust, lunge, or initiate a cutting attack consisting of either one, two, or three strokes that you can use to setup as feints and time a hit against an oncoming opponent. In POTC the attacks look really nice, but I have no say in whatever attacks Nathaniel chooses to make.
The other thing that Redguard had that POTC doesn't, is footwork. In POTC I rarely use the short retreat feature because the universal parry, depending on the caliber of blade that my opponent has, keeps me safe and warm. I also avoid backing up because I will usually walk into something and the camera shifts can sometimes confuse me and slow down my reactions. In Redguard the foot work is very good because it helps you to get a feel for better timing your attacks and keeping an awareness of the distance between you and danger.
That being said, one of the things I do with Redguard, having finished the game long ago, is draw my sword and run to locations where there are a lot of Imperial soldiers. When they see me running around with a sword they realize that I am trouble and run over to me to try and put a stop to my shenanigans. I then try to get the soldiers to chase me to where there are more Imperials, this is not really easy to do because if you get to far ahead they tend to run back to their starting spots. When I have good group of them 8 – 16 on average, I then turn and go into a Redguard Rampage taking them all on at once and leaving their bodies strewn about the island. A true Redguard Rampage wipes out every guard on the surface of the island who will fight with you. (Some of them will not fight you no matter what you do.) If you kill everyone and want to do it again, just go into any building and come back out again and they're all back ready for a rematch.
Then it's time for Redguard surfing, but that's another email.....