Company / Developers – Codemasters / Rebel Act Homepage Genre – Third-Person Adventure / Hack ‘n’ slash Note: Game is Rated for those of 18 years of age and over
Introduction
Very little was heard about this game until a few months before release, the screenshots showing a game with excellent graphics and a very standard third person view kind of look, but nothing really else gripped you. It was just enough to gain my attention though and when the demo came out I quickly installed it.
It didn’t run particularly well on my system at the time and was frustratingly difficult at times. Other people looked at the demo, and were immediately put off. But somehow I managed to see through the bad points of the demo and enjoy it, and after reading a review in a magazine went out and purchased the game regardless.
This title certainly was a shocker as the game itself was far better than the demo ever was or tried to show! And it really outshone itself in so many aspects. For here was the game that was set to breathe some much needed life into the fantasy third person adventure genre.
When you say third person adventure everyone immediately thinks Tomb Raider. Now that might not be a bad thing if you like the series, but for people like myself who don’t then why is Severance going to make you change your mind on this genre? Especially as it features no guns and features only hand to hand combat, something that has been attempted so many times before and failed so miserably?
Well after playing the game you quickly see why I highly rate this game, and eagerly await a sequel, or a tide of new games using the same formula as Severance.
Compatibility
My last system exceeds the CPU requirements by quite a way now, but otherwise matches the recommended settings, and I hardly get any slow down at all. Even on the larger battles there is no real serious slow down. With areas of extreme graphical pleasures like lighting, shadows, water effects and especially large open spaces there is some strain at times but nothing to really lower your enjoyment of the game if you have a high spec system.
If you have a lower spec system, well I used to run the game on a PII 300 with 16 MB Voodoo 3 and it did run but obviously on lower settings and with certain aspects turned off. How it fairs on the larger battles or more demanding levels I wouldn’t know as I only got through the first few levels before I upgraded. I imagine it doesn’t run too well at all seeing as it is quite demanding, but saying that the minimum specs are true enough to there word.
