- Publisher: Titus Software
- Release Date: Jun 27, 2002
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Indistinct characters, painfully hokey storytelling, poor AI, and a shallow combat system add up to a disappointing experience.
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Yet the action isn’t complex, and most enemies can be defeated within your first attempt by simply relying on rapid button tapping.
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The visuals are excellent, with the interactive backgrounds looking great and reacting perfectly.
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Electronic Gaming MonthlyIf Sapphire put as much emphasis on the combat as they did on conjuring gritty stories to back each fighter, Barbarian could have been a lot better. [July 2002, p.115]
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Game InformerLike Capcom's "Power Stone," Barbarian steps up to the plate, and whiffs. [August 2002, p.79]
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With just mediocre features, Barbarian weighs in as just an average brawler. [July 2002, p.76]
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The most entertaining feature in Barbarian is, without a doubt, the interactive environments.
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The gameplay mechanics are pretty basic and repetitive, and the storylines are so bland that there's not much value in finishing the game with every character.
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A repetitive game with pretty graphics that fails to inspire much of anything.
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Sadly this game runs out of steam way too quickly but it does have a multiplayer option worth the price of admission.
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Not worth your time...The problems with Barbarian are absolutely unacceptable for the fighting game that it’s trying to be.
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A refreshing change from the old 3D fighter molds we see a lot of today. The character's unbalanced strengths is definitely a weak point and can make this a frustrating game for some, so I give you that warning.
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A sometimes-enthralling mix of swords and sorcery and old-fashioned beat-em-ups, the Saffire-developed fighter definitely deserves a closer look.
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Though some of the button-smashing combos are tricky to execute, the multiplayer action is solid, and the quest mode stirs in puzzle solving for antisocial savages who prefer going solo.
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The quest mode can get boring once you unlock all of the powers for your character, but you may still want to keep playing it if you enjoy the controls and such enough.
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Official U.S. Playstation MagazineThe sloppy swordplay and imprecise magic attacks just make the game look like an alcoholic staging of Medieval Times. [June 2002, p.97]
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Play MagazineBarbarian wasn't all that I expected it to be, in terms of intelligent in-game evolution, but it delvers a lot of freshness never the less. [May 2002, p.50]
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PSM MagazineLLike an evolved "Power Stone." It's also pretty good. [Sept 2002, p.31]
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Much like the original "Legacy of Kain," this title's quest mode has a really cool, creepy story that kept me wanting to see more and more as I took my little demoness through.
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Playing the game is a bittersweet experience. It’s strangely diverting, but all the time you’re thinking of what it could have been with a bit more testing and tweaking.
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In the form of fine visuals and interesting gameplay, it has some redeeming qualities. It doesn't have the depth or character designs to make it a memorable fighting title.
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If you're looking for a new fighting game, don't mind simplistic controls and having volumes of tedious storyline read to you by a man with about as much vocal intonation as Leonard Nimoy, this is your game.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 3
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Mixed: 1 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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JimmyCricketSep 10, 2002It rocked Darrell Oville's world. It totally turned him out.