Bound by Flame, the RPG developed by #Spidersstudios and published by #FocusHomeInteractive, has #released on Linux with a fierce 80% discount on Steam until December 7th. Players can create and customize their character before launching into an epic quest in pursuit of the Ice Lords. All gameplay choices in Bound by Flame will impact on your adventure and also on your hero’s appearance!
Players take on the roll of a a mercenary of the Freeborn Blades, possessed by a flame demon at the start of the adventure. When starting a new game, choose your character’s look: gender (which will affect some of the dialog, particularly with companions and potential romances), facial features, ethnicity and hairstyles.
But your character customization continues from there; players will find and create new items of armor during their quest using the in-game crafting system. This will have an impact on your combat tactics using the bonuses you have been granted but it will also alter character appearance, because each armor item can be customized with various extras, i.e. shoulder pads, knee pads and a range of other protective features, each having a particular style. The combinations are infinite, so each character will be unique.
Last but not least, players will be faced with many choices and dilemmas during their adventure. Depending on your decisions, performing heroic actions to reject the demon’s influence or be consumed by the power of the flame by allowing yourself to be controlled by the demon’s will. This demonic influence will be shown in the different stages of your characters transformation, and you will become increasingly demonic and less human!
How does this all play out on Linux, not too bad actually. First it was a matter of setting up the video resolution, as the game kept launching on the wrong monitor during start-up in Fullscreen mode. Therefore, gameplay was conducted at 1920×1080 in Windowed mode, which would be frustrating for someone new to the platforms.
The Steam Controller was not detected in Big Picture mode, but the Xbox 360 controller worked flawlessly. Making it easy to see how this was in fact a console port. Otherwise the gameplay was smooth and responsive, with somewhat mixed reviews on Steam, holding at a solid 66% positive.
Either way, spending that $5.99 USD with an 80% discount for Bound by Flame, normally $29.99 USD, this is a solid deal for Linux and Windows PC, but only until December 7th.
System Requirements
- OS: UBUNTU 12.04 LTS/SteamOS
- Processor: AMD/INTEL DUAL-CORE 2.2 GHZ
- Memory: 2048 MB RAM
- Graphics: 512 MB SHADERS 4.0 COMPATIBLE ATI RADEON HD 4850/NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GT OR HIGHER
- Storage: 6 GB available space
