En Garde! Review (PC)

The prison escape is over. It took quite a few tries to get through the big fights that featured cannons and captains, but I am now out, following a short run through the sewers and some careful use of bombs and brassier. A whole army tried to keep Adalia imprisoned unfairly and failed. I’ve reached the surface and my sword arm isn’t even tired.

But there’s smoke in the city and the Count-Duke seems ready to burn it all down. It’s a big boss fight and this burly man has four health bars to fight through. He also isn’t alone, flanked by some capable armored guards and I’m sure he’s also preparing reinforcements. I started the fight off by launching some barrels into the enemy group, knocking them out. It gets me a chance to get a few easy thrusts in, eliminating one of the guards.

The Count-Duke is fast and hits hard, so I dodge back a few times. A gunpowder barrel gives me another stun and I take down all the henchmen. I jump up to a ledge to get some breathing time. I need to dodge and parry at the right time to have any chance of defeating this boss. I hope there are more barrels and bombs all around to help stun him. En Garde! is developed and published by Fireplace Games. I played it on the PC via Steam. As the name suggests, the title is focused on sword-driven combat, with an emphasis on environmental interactions and quick thinking.

The game’s heroine is Adalia de Volador, an impressive swordswoman and acrobat. She lives in a version of Medieval Spain that takes its cues from picaresque novels as much as from actual history. The main antagonist is called the Count-Duke, which doesn’t really make sense as a title, and he twirls his mustache as he executes tyrannical plans. The people are oppressed, the cities are sun-drenched, and Adalia is the only one that can stand up for justice.

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The game doesn’t aim for historical realism and almost every line is a little over-the-top, which adds to the sunny, carefree atmosphere. En Garde! wants its players to have fun, even if there are a few dark moments. Adalia is opinionated and confident, which is exactly the attitude gamers need to carry into combat. And all defeated opponents are quick to quip once they're down (the ones complaining they didn’t have time to train are the funniest ones).

The focus is on big sword fights, played from a third-person perspective and with an emphasis on quick decisions. One-on-one, the protagonist is more than a match for any opponent, even bosses. In duels, players can mix parries and fast strikes to keep their foe off balance and take him out of the fight quickly. But the Count-Duke has many henchmen and isn’t afraid to throw them at our heroine in big groups. When one is engaged in a duel, the rest are ready to launch attacks that players cannot directly parry.

And this is where En Garde! shines. Adalia can dodge out of the way of group attacks, as long as players watch for the red flash that precedes them. Then she can use objects in the world to separate enemies from one another and temporarily stun them. Kick a table and then engage the armored opponent unlucky enough to be standing on it, while the rest of his group recovers. Jump from a high point to temporarily surprise three enemies, then kick one into a weapons rack before dueling the other two.

The system is strong and delivers cinematic results, especially in the bigger arenas and when a boss joins the deadly dance. It’s easy to get caught in a series of attacks that quickly deplete Adalia’s health. But that makes a hard-won victory, build on careful dodges and many environmental interactions, feel extra sweet.

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The game also features short classic platforming sections. This is not an open world, and they mostly exist to add a little variety as the player moves through the four chapters. Adalia might swing from a pole or two, but what she really wants to do is duel as many goons as possible.

All the game’s other elements exist to support the fun, dance-like engagements. Not many action titles manage to generate this kind of flow state. Players have to think tactically and adapt quickly to isolate armored opponents, quickly eliminate the less capable ones, and find and then exploit the movement and attack patterns of bosses. En Garde! is played from a third-person perspective.

The theme is Medieval Spain filtered through popular books and movies, with plenty of sunshine for the outdoor areas and some beautiful art thrown in here and there. The game makes good use of visual cues to guide players through fights, allowing them to parry and dodge at the right moment. The combat is fluid and it’s a real pleasure to use the camera to identify environmental elements that can help Adalia gain the upper hand. More details for the rooms and maybe a more interesting visual identity for enemies would have added to the variety.

The sound design is equally solid. The voice acting is a little over-the-top, which suits the fiction just fine, and combat sounds complement the visual cues to give players a clear idea of the tactical situation. The lines that defeated or stunned enemies deliver are especially well-crafted. The soundtrack is also solid, although some more variety wouldn’t have hurt.

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The Good

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Conclusion