The Ben Review: Bound By Flame from Spiders Studios & Focus Home Interactive (Played on PS4)

A fantasy by any other name…

Bound By Flame is a fantasy RPG that has you playing as a mercenary possessed by a demon. You have demonic powers within you, and your basic human powers. You must decide to either repel the demonic influence and develop more human based skill set or become the demon (Sort of Hellboy-ish type philosophy). As you fight enemies which are from deeper points of hell, you can also choose to become more demonic.



It is not an open world game, you play through linear stages which is a fairly nice fit for the 3rd person play style. You have a choice to switch between 3 abilities and fighting styles: dagger wielding fighter, heavy two-handed weapon user, and a fire warrior which you can level-up via a basic skill tree system.

The story attempts to play up to the usual fantasy tropes, especially ones from Game Of Thrones; including extreme betrayal, pointless cursing, and naming (see Deadwalkers vs. White Walkers). There is some player choices and player agency through out the story, though it is unclear if those choices make substantial changes to the overall story.

You can craft your weapons and improve them by finding various elements and metals. You can also recycle your weapons to use them as scrap for upgrading new weapons. I feel that this is one of the strongest and most fun parts to have in the game.

The overall feel is OK, the game suffers from not having that much variety to level, with lots of repetitive battle action. The limited paths of each level works, it just that you feel you have been through a level before… it just has a different paint job. It is a game stuck in monotony: “Whatever power be the origins of these possessions, it be ours” indeed.

Triple Bottom Line:



Social: The commentary of good and evil is pretty generic, but I like how you can counter your inner thoughts and push agendas on your character, though I am unsure if my choices made any difference. Tons of gratuitous cursing in this game from the main character, which at times was off putting and breaking the scenes/character. Environmental: The graphics are not “Now Generation” on the PS4. There are lots of glitches in the cutscenes. You can recycle your weapons! The story is fairly weak. The game as some fairly positive ideas on nature. Game is available via download (low carbon footprint) Economic: The $49.99 US dollar price point is a bit of a tough sell. The PS4 is obviously a very modest port. I recommend buying it on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 due to $39.99 price and graphic quality. If you are into Skyrim, Demon’s Souls, etc… and are really anxious for that type of game on a PS4 then buy it on that platform… 6 out of 10 Suns.

Bound By Flame is currently available on PS4 ($49.99 USD), PS3, PC, and Xbox 360 ($39.99 USD) in North America. (and is available in many other regions at comparable prices). A PS4 review copy was generously given to Sustainable Gamers by the developer and publisher, Spiders Studios & Focus Home Interactive