I have been keeping a close eye on SPIDER Studio's  work. They seem to have a lot of ambition for such a small studio, and with some more experience could really put forth amazing work. Bound by Flame is SPIDER's 3rd console venture (Of Orcs and Men, MARS). It is a shabby package that seems to hide a rather refreshing experience.

Story

The game is not exceptionally long, probably about 20hr playthrough for the speedy player. Yet it boasts a few reasons to travel different paths in subsequent plays. You can choose to be either a Man or Woman. The character customization is....basic to say the least. All the preset faces and hairstyles don't really offer much of variety, and you cannot adjust body build at all. Personally I find the voice acting of the female to be entirely attrocious so I recommend male which is really what the developers expected in the first place. Dissappointing, yes but not really a game breaker for me.

After you name your roughneck you are thrown into this fictional desolate world that is rich with lore. All dialogue is voiced which makes for easy following of what is going on. Vulcan, the main character, is a mercenary recruit who specializes in powder bombs/traps/etc. You are a bit of a rascal as a member of the Freeborn Blades. Conversations are for the most part pretty entertaining, as Vulcan is a true sarcastic asshole. The setting stages you and your mercenary brothers in the employ of some scholars/aspiring sorcerers known as The Red Scribes. Together you are attempting to find a way to take down an Alliance of powerful Sorcerer Dictators known as The Ice Lords. Now I know what you are thinking. "How lame, its a simple Ice vs Fire plot" which on the outside looking in you would be right. Yet the game ends up offering so much more than it's first impression. I ended up finding the story to be earnest and intriguing after putting further thought into it.

Most of the characters are highly entertaining. I loved listening to Vulcan get chewed out all the time by his Captain(who sports a really thick scottish accent). The Demon's elitest and condescending tone is always fun. Companions like Edwen(Morrigan in DA Voice Actress), Rhelmar and Mathras are so cheeky and full of personality, I always wanted to listen to what they had to say. Each character, including the demon inside of you has their own motivations and will plead to Vulcan to pull him in one direction or another, none of them seem to be black and white but many shades of gray. What I really like is how actions are not specifically cast into a Good/Bad catagory. Your decisions simply are and they each have their own consequences.

Gameplay

The game's combat is fun and active. Vulcan can switch between his two main fighting styles on the fly, Warrior and Ranger. Warrior Stance allows you to use long swords, axes, and maces to take off massive damage in a single swing. Warrior weapons also boast a higher "interupt" stat which can hinder enemies from doing their moves. Warrior has the capability to kick enemies which can break their guard. This is very useful against enemies who seemingly never come from behind their shields. Lastly Warrior can Defend against most attacks with it's weapon, except strong attacks from large/boss like enemies. Then there is the Ranger stance, which has Vulcan dual wielding short swords/daggers. This stance is quick and agile, you can unleash a flurry of attacks that wittle down enemies health very quickly, then you can dodge out of the way just in time with Ranger's exclusive evade mechanic. Dodging or Blocking in their respective stances will trigger an auto-counterattack.  As you get more skilled with the timing of enemy attack patterns you will be able to destroy their health meters with little effort using counters.

Vulcan can pull up a Skill Wheel ala Witcher or Mass Effect. From this point the game action slows down to a crawl to better allow you to choose your moves. The Wheel holds Healing Potions for HP or MP, Traps to lay , Crossbow Bolts, and your host of Fire based spells. You can also assign your 4 top picks to be macro with Trigger + face buttons for easy access. 

I found the combat to be rather easy to grasp and fun to execute. It is not the depest system but for the amount of time needed to finish this game, it is more than appropriate.

Leveling is done traditionally. Kill enough enemies, gaine exp, level up. For every level you increase you gain 2 Skill Points and 1 Feats Point. There are a lot of Warrior/Ranger/Pyromancy skills to choose from, and you will want to carefully decide which ones suit your playstyle best. For instance in most games I flock to the Warrior like builds but in BbF case I tend more towards the Ranger/Pyro build. Warrior has a few essentials like the ability to regen health faster when holding sword, but the rest goes to the others.

Bound by Flames also sports a host of customization and crafting. You can alter the hilt and handle of most weapons to give them new attributes. You can also adorn your armor with all manner of additions to suit whatever you are fighting. Most equipment have 1-3 slots to add on attributes. One of the coolest things is that you can de buff any armor/weapon to salvage some of the parts you used....then use them to buff something else. As one of the trophies points out "We don't throw things Away" around here. Almost everything can be broken down and salvaged for smaller parts that can be used to rebuild something else. There are many base items used for crafting like Tainted blood, and raw metals. Running low on a material you need and don't feel like grinding for loot? Simply craft any base item from your current account of money. This feature is a life save when you realize you didn't stock enough of a particular thing and need to craft something on the fly. 

The game has several difficulty modes to choose from at the start. I say most vet gamers should start at the top 2 in order to truly enjoy this game. On lowest difficulty the game is a breeze. If you just want to get the Story then go for lowest one and nothing will really stand in your way. On Captain Difficulty (Highest) you will get the challenge you so badly wanted, as every enemy can kill you with ease. You pretty much have to be a master of Dodging and Timed Blocking to survive anything and level your character with any buff perks ASAP. I had most fun on Captain........till I fought the final boss -_-

The game's AI for Companions (Of whom you can only bring one at a time) is completely useless on Captain difficulty. You cannot directly control Team member's actions, only manipulate them in some very basic Tactical choices(that they don't even follow all that well). This is one of the game's biggest shortcomings. I wish BBF at least allowing you to trigger Party actions ala Mass Effect to at least give the allusion that they are listening to you. At least when Sybil is in your party she will heal you after battle, which allows you to jump into the fray faster. Beyond that their is little reason to play with others in your party other than story based requirements.

Graphics

The game has some ok visuals. The special effects are a bit lacking for me but the 3D models are competent. You will occasionally run into issuels like your feet sinking into the ground but not a big issue for me. Honestly, I watched BBF side by side to The Witcher 2 on 360 and BBF looks better overall graphically.

Performance

This game definitely has a few bugs to nail out. One of note I experienced was right before descending into a very dark dark cave mission..... my flashlight crystal thingy stopped working entirely. I could not illuminate for the rest of the game. Very frustrating as in this particular dungeon everything is pitch black and I was forced to basically pay attention only to the map for guidance and watch out for FX sparks to know when enemies were near. The occasional chug happens but not very often.

Overall

I really enjoyed this game. I understood from gate that it was not AAA quality. It is a small studio doing a small/mid budget title. The game released at a budget price as well ($40) and can now be found as cheep as $18. For this price it is really a gem. The story was intriguing and some of the characters like Edwen, Mathras, Rhelmar and The Demon are a treat to converse with. Combat was engaging, especially seeing as my first playthrough was on the hardest difficulty. Would love to experience more from this studio as I am sure they are getting more comfortable with larger titles with each new release. Shoddy party AI and lackluster graphics do little to dent this game's overall charm.

8/10