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> Results: Silverfall
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The ESRB Says
Blood: GamerDad saw cartoon-ish blood stream from our characters and our enemies during battles. Violence: We ran around the countryside killing, well, everything. Quick version - this game is easily dismissed as just yet another Diablo clone, and not even one of the best. You could go from start to finish and never really learn anything about the story and characters and not have missed much. You have to WANT to get more from the experience than just a simple hack-n-slash. Certainly that is true with any of the games in the genre, but the reason I point it out here is that if you already like the action-RPG genre and decide to dedicate yourself to getting the most from every corner of Silverfall, there is a lot to do and discover. The usual caveats are present - given that this is clearly in the mold of the Diablo / Sacred / Dungeon Siege games, consider liking those a prerequisite to liking Silverfall. Like every other game in the genre, you move by clicking on the ground and attack by clicking on an enemy. Click, click, click. There are a load of issues - terrible camera control system, a lousy map and direction system, laggy multiplayer and awful balance between different character types. So there has to be *something* there that kept me going, right? I stayed in for the character advancement and the really cool skill system. I loved when my melee character had so many points in speed and special dual-wield attacks that a right click would close proximity fast enough that it reminded me of the Force Jump attack from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I loved tossing out spells that would decimate a whole crew of Ghost Knights. But there are so many little things that are wrong - and more than a couple of major ones - that it is hard to recommend Silverfall for anyone who didn't absolutely love the demo (and if you haven't played the demo, definitely do so before considering spending for the full game). If the controls frustrated you then, they will continue to grate on you in the full game. Getting to flesh out your character skills is very nice, but it is not enough to carry the game. The plot is also fun to see through but as is often the case it is more of an excuse to carry on than a driving force for the game. With some good and some bad elements, the overall picture is decidedly average. Compared to other recent games in the genre, it is better than some but definitely worse than others.  
The ESRB descriptors for the game are Blood and Violence. They are perfectly described and an accurate description of the core content of the game - every action-RPG is centered around combat, and usually very visceral and challenging battles on a grand scale across the entire game. Silverfall is no exception, with respawning enemies that scale to your level and constantly try to attack you in mobs. It is full of tense action and little else - except for blood. When your character or any other humanoid takes damage from blades or projectiles there is blood strewn all over the screen. The blood is done in the same cel-shaded style as the characters, which makes it less realistic in appearance. But the intensity of the battles alone make this game worthy of a T rating and a 14+ GamerDad Seal.
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