Infinity Blade
Infinity Blade | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | |
Unreal Engine 3 | |
Platform(s) | iOS |
Release | December 9, 2010 |
Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Infinity Blade was an
The game was developed by a team of twelve people, who took two months to make a
Infinity Blade was the fastest-grossing app in the history of iOS upon its release. It made US$1.6 million in its first four days, and over US$23 million by the end of 2011. It was well received by gaming critics. Reviews praised the graphics and compared the mobile game favorably to console games. Critics also praised the swipe-based combat system, but split opinions on the cyclical gameplay as either addictive or repetitive. Chair later released an arcade port and two sequels: Infinity Blade II and Infinity Blade III. Author Brandon Sanderson also wrote two novellas set between the games: Infinity Blade: Awakening and Infinity Blade: Redemption.
The game, along with its two sequels, was removed from the
Gameplay
In the primary portion of Infinity Blade, the
In addition to combat, there is also a mild
The game follows a cyclical narrative structure in which the protagonist and his descendants individually explore a castle in a quest to battle the primary antagonist, the immortal God King. In the game's introduction, the non-playable protagonist has just finished this quest, but is slain by the God King. The player then assumes the role of the dead protagonist's descendant as he starts his journey at the beginning of the castle. This cycle, called a bloodline, continues after the player finally faces the God King and either dies or wins.[3] The player may also choose to join the God King and terminate the cycle; upon doing so, the game resumes at the checkpoint before fighting the God King. Enemy difficulty increases with each bloodline cycle.[5] Another bloodline ending is unlocked after purchasing the Infinity Blade item: the sword is placed into a pedestal in the castle's underground dungeons and three doors open. After then defeating each of the three "Deathless"—immortal beings like the God King—of increasing difficulty found within, a final fourth door opens, and the player faces a mechanized warrior guarding the high-tech chamber where the God King is reborn whenever he is killed. Upon defeating the mechanized warrior, the chamber is revealed to be controlled by an ancestor of the player character, who chose to serve the God King.[2] After fighting the ancestor, the player character is told that the Infinity Blade can prevent immortals like the God King from resurrecting after death.[7] The player is then given the option of either starting the next bloodline as they do when defeated, or resetting the game and starting New Game+ mode, which resets all gold and item progression but maintains the character's experience level, letting the player remaster the items and level up even further.[8]
Expansions
Chair Entertainment released four expansions as free updates to the game. The first, released December 20, 2010, added a new enemy, equipment, and microtransactions. It also removed an experience level cap.[6] The second update, titled Infinity Blade: The Deathless Kings, was released on March 2, 2011, and added the dungeons as a second branch to the game's path. This expansion also added new equipment, enemies, and the second ending where the player character defeats his ancestor.[7] The third update, Infinity Blade: Arena, was released on May 19, 2011. It added the player vs. player "Arena Mode", a tiered combat game progression where one player fights as the hero and the other as an enemy from the game.[9] The update also included new equipment and a single-player version of Arena Mode called "Survival Mode".[10] On October 4, 2011, a fourth update added a new enemy and new equipment to coincide with the announcement of the forthcoming sequel Infinity Blade II.[11]
Development
Infinity Blade was created by Chair Entertainment, a subsidiary company of Epic Games. In July 2010, Chair had both recently finished the Xbox Live Arcade game Shadow Complex and been acquired by Epic. Chair was brainstorming Kinect and Wii games, including an idea similar to Infinity Blade,[12][13] and Epic was nearing completion of an iOS version of the Unreal Engine 3 graphics engine and in need of a "killer game" to show it off.[12] Epic had previously licensed the engine for use in numerous console and personal computer games.[14] They asked Chair to develop a game for the engine in five months, with a playable demo for the Apple Special Event conference in two months. The team decided within a few days to work on the Infinity Blade concept, codenamed "Project Sword".[12][15] Instead of normal initial game development, where working prototypes test gameplay ideas, Chair spent the first week of development refining the gameplay concept on paper before beginning to code. Many of the core gameplay ideas were developed in their first few hours. Geremy Mustard, Chair's co-founder and technical director, estimates that the team cut two-thirds of that initial design due to lack of time. Refining the complex touch-based interface was complicated due to the Unreal Engine's incomplete status and the native iOS code library's lack of support for fast touch-based gameplay.[12] The five-month development was completed by a team of twelve people from Chair, with assistance from Epic.[16] In addition to Geremy Mustard, the team was composed of Chair co-founder and creative director Donald Mustard; Simon Hurley as producer; Joshua Andersen and Scott K. Bowen as programmers; Adam Ford as art director; Orlando Barrowes, Bert Lewis, Mike Low, Scott Stoddard, and Nathan Trewartha as artists and animators; Joshua Akers as composer; and Brandon Raul Campos as lead tester.[17]
The game's swipe-based swordplay was based on Donald Mustard's desire for unique gameplay based on nuanced sword fighting and parrying.[12] He described the game's influences as the combat of Karateka and Prince of Persia combined with the "lonely epicness" of Shadow of the Colossus.[18] Chair sought to develop an experience that could be picked up and played for a minute (a single battle) or half an hour (a bloodline). They felt that many other developers accustomed to consoles were wrong to make iOS games that required long-playing experiences to feel meaningful, and so Chair developed the bloodline concept as a natural breakpoint.[12] They also felt that mobile games like Infinity Blade with constant action elements went too long without giving the player time to relax and resulted in player exhaustion, and so Chair kept their battles short with brief cinematic pauses in longer battles.[18] Chair showed their playable demo at the Apple conference on September 1, 2010, after weeks of rehearsal, and attracted much attention to the game.[12][15] It was released on December 9, 2010. While Chair itself spent little on marketing, Apple used the game extensively in advertisements for its devices.[18]
The music for the game was composed by Josh Aker, who had written the music for previous Chair games. The soundtrack was intended by Aker to be "intense" during combat, but to vary between "serene" and "otherworldly" outside battle. It is a mixture of live and synthetic instrument performances. Cello and nyckelharpa were the primary instruments used. Aker wanted to have "avant-garde performances" for the recordings. The soundtrack was sold as a digital album, Infinity Blade: Original Soundtrack, through several online music retailers.[19] Chair began to develop the game's first update before the initial game was released. They intended only to add new monsters and features, but added the ability to purchase gold due to customer requests. Chair did not rebalance the game to incentivize in-app purchases. Work on The Deathless Kings update began immediately afterward. Chair felt that releasing several large, free updates to the game would increase their overall user base and result in more total sales due to word of mouth.[18]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | B+[5] |
Edge | 8/10[21] |
Eurogamer | 8/10[4] |
GamePro | 5/5[22] |
IGN | 9/10[3] |
Pocket Gamer | 9/10[23] |
TouchArcade | [24] |
Infinity Blade was noted for its sales at launch, selling more than 270,000 copies and making over US$1.6 million in its first four days—the "fastest-grossing app" ever released for iOS at the time.
Infinity Blade was reviewed by several major gaming sites in addition to mobile game-focused sites. Critics praised the game's graphics heavily. IGN reviewer Hilary Goldstein said that it was "an absolute stunner for any handheld device and ushers in a new era of possibility for high-end graphics."[3] GamePro's Ryan Rigney called the game "downright gorgeous" and said that the graphics were almost at the level of an Xbox 360 game, which was echoed by John Meyer of Wired, who claimed that it had the best graphics of any iPad game.[22][28] The reviewer for Edge further praised the art direction, especially with regards to the enemy and armor designs.[21]
The gameplay was generally praised by reviewers, who typically found the combat engaging, but were split on the repetitive aspects of the game.
During the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Infinity Blade for "Portable Game of the Year".[30]
Sequels and spin-offs
On October 28, 2011, Epic Games and Adrenaline Amusements released an arcade version of the game, Infinity Blade FX. The game is played on a 46-inch screen rigged with optical sensors to mimic a large iPhone or iPad screen. Each arcade stand contains up to three screens, and players can play against each other or in the single-player game.
A
A Chinese version of the game for Xbox One and Android was published by Tencent Games on November 28, 2015.[37]
A day after Epic Games removed the Infinity Blade trilogy from the App Store, the titular weapon made a
References
- ^ "Infinity Blade Trilogy Says Goodbye". Official Infinity Blade Website. Archived from the original on 2018-12-11. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
- ^ a b c d e f Chester, Nick (2010-12-09). "Review: Infinity Blade". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Goldstein, Hilary (2010-12-08). "Infinity Blade iPhone Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ a b c d e Brown, Mark (2010-12-14). "Infinity Blade Review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the originalon 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ a b Totilo, Stephen (2010-12-20). "Infinity Blade Update Tomorrow Lets You Buy Gold, Adds Santa". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ a b Reed, Chris (2011-03-02). "The Deathless Kings Haunt Infinity Blade Update". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ Buchanan, Levi (2010-12-08). "Updated: Infinity Blade Review". Slide to Play. Archived from the original on 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
- ^ Nichelson, Brad (2011-05-19). "'Infinity Blade' Gets a Reduced Price and We Dive into the Arena". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on 2014-05-03. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
- ^ Nelson, Randy (2011-05-17). "Infinity Blade 'Arena' update adds multiplayer, survivor modes this Thursday". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ Davis, Justin (2011-10-05). "App Store Update: October 5". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Making Of: Infinity Blade". Edge. Future. 2013-04-21. Archived from the original on 2013-07-08. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
- ^ McElroy, Justin (2010-12-14). "Infinity Blade conceived as a Kinect game". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (2010-12-14). "More iPhone Games Will Soon Look This Good". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ a b McWhertor, Michael (2010-09-01). "Project Sword Is Epic's First Unreal Engine iPhone Game". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ^ McElroy, Justin (2010-12-14). "First Infinity Blade update next week, multiplayer coming soon". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ Chair Entertainment (2010-12-09). Infinity Blade. Epic Games. Scene: Credits.
- ^ from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ "Infinity Blade II – Interview with Composer, Josh Aker". Epic Games. 2011-11-28. Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- CBS Interactive. Archivedfrom the original on 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ^ a b c "Infinity Blade Review". Edge. Future. 2010-12-13. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ^ a b Rigney, Ryan (2010-12-09). "Infinity Blade Review from Gamepro". GamePro. IDG. Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
- ^ a b c Erickson, Tracy (2010-12-09). "Infinity Blade Review". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media. Archived from the original on 2013-09-01. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
- ^ Hodapp, Eli (2010-12-08). "'Infinity Blade' Review – It Doesn't Get Much More "Must-Have" Than This". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
- from the original on 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ Brown, Nathan (2012-01-05). "Infinity Blade series grosses $30 million". Edge. Archived from the original on 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (2012-06-27). "Infinity Blade is Epic's most profitable franchise ever". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
- ^ a b Meyer, John Mix (2011-03-02). "iPad's 10 Biggest, Baddest Games Reviewed". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
- ^ Geist, J. Nicholas (2011-05-20). "Review: Infinity Blade". Kill Screen. Archived from the original on 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
- ^ "2011 Awards Category Details Portable Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John (2011-10-13). "Exclusive: Infinity Blade FX Interview". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ Gaudiosi, John (2011-10-04). "Chair Entertainment Talks Infinity Blade II". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ Davis, Justin (2013-07-11). "Infinity Blade: Dungeons is Officially Canceled". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
- ^ Davis, Justin (2013-09-17). "Infinity Blade III Review- The Paramount iPhone Epic Concludes". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
- ^ Sanderson, Brandon (2011-10-04). "Infinity Blade Awakening". Dragonsteel Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
- ^ Sanderson, Brandon (2013-08-20). "Infinity Blade: Redemption". Dragonsteel Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
- ^ Jou, Eric (2014-11-24). "The Xbox One's Getting an Infinity Blade Game... In China". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
- ^ The Fortnite Team (11 December 2018). "Fortnite v7.01 Patch Notes". Fortnite. Epic Games. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Thier, Dave (14 December 2018). "Fortnite' Is Vaulting The Infinity Blade, And Epic Is Sorry About It". Forbes. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- ^ Binkowski, Justin (16 February 2019). "Infinity Blade returns to Fortnite in Sword Fight LTM". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
External links
- Media related to Infinity Blade at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Unofficial PC port of the game, via the Internet Archive