Half Sword is to medieval games what Hell Let Loose is to the WW2 FPS – while Chivalry, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and Mount and Blade have excellent, larger-scale combat, in Half Sword, the difference between life and death is represented by a single slash. Get a clean hit on your opponent, or take a proper blow yourself, and it’s light out; combined with the meticulously designed blood and body physics, that system makes Half Sword one of the most eagerly awaited sword-and-shield brawlers on PC. We’re still waiting on the full launch, but after a transformative update, the stalwart Half Sword demo is suddenly bigger on Steam than ever before.
More than the best medieval games, the first thing I think of when I play Half Sword is Grand Theft Auto 4, particularly the almost-slapstick but still incredibly gruesome Euphoria physics. This isn’t a game about skill, grace, or perfectly timed combos. It’s a nasty, low-down, do-anything-to-win hacker and slasher where blind luck is often more important than ability. Set in 15-century Europe, you play a commoner turned knight who needs to prove themselves in a series of combat trials. Armor and weapons are period-accurate. You control your sword and shield using your mouse, so every attack is intuitive. A nice solid strike will finish an enemy instantly – but you’re just as vulnerable, and once you’re dead, it’s game over.
We’ve been looking forward to Half Sword for years now, but it has a provisional launch year of 2025, so hopefully it’s coming soon. In the meantime, suitably named developer Half Sword Games has just deployed a giant update for the existing demo and playtest. There’s a new mode called Gauntlet, where each battle awards you points that you can use to rank up. If you die, you’re sent to the Abyss, where you can battle to regain your progress. If you die in the Abyss, however, you lose your character and all their ranks for good.
The Abyss itself has been updated with new physics, armor, and weapons, and in Free Mode, you can now play using every rank, except for the top-tier baron. In response to the updated demo, Steam players have flocked to Half Sword en masse. The game has just hit a new concurrent user record: on Sunday April 6, precisely 9,181 people played Half Sword simultaneously. Based on records from SteamDB, the previous high was 2,559 back in November 2023, meaning Half Sword’s record has jumped by more than 250%. If you want to try it out yourself, just head here.
Otherwise, try some of the other best simulation games, or take a look at the best upcoming PC games on their way to you.
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