The Bard's Tale
Xbox
Descripción
Description
The Bard's Tale is an action role-playing game created by InXile Entertainment, and published by Vivendi Universal Games in 2004. Vivendi marketed the game as a humorous spoof of fantasy role-playing video games. It is neither a remake nor a sequel to Interplay Productions' Tales of the Unknown, Volume I: The Bard's Tale (1985).
The Bard's Tale was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2004. It was released for Microsoft Windows on July 28, 2005. The game was re-released on Steam in December 2009. A universal iOS version was released in December 2011 for iPhone and iPad. As of September 2012 the game was released for Blackberry Playbook.
The plot involves "a sardonic and opportunistic musician and adventurer, driven by carnal rather than noble pursuits. The Bard (who is never identified by a specific name nor addressed by anything other than "The Bard,") is not interested in saving the world, his humble motivations are strictly 'coin and cleavage.'" His quest is narrated by a mocking, biased man who cannot stand him (Narration is provided by Tony Jay.)
The Bard (voiced by Cary Elwes), ends up being recruited by a cult to help free a princess named Caleigh. As a result of this, the Bard finds himself being attacked by an assortment of fanatics from a Druid-like cult, sent to dispatch him by a being called Fionnaoch. (Many of the names and characters are influenced by Celtic mythology and the stories of the Orkney Islands.) On the way to complete his quest, the not so valiant anti-hero will have to overcome the truly terrifying challenges of three monstrous guardians, break-dancing corpses, spontaneously melodious goblins and a giant, fire-breathing rat.
Eventually, its revealed that the Bard is just another in a long line of "Chosen Ones," many of whom he finds dead along his path. Caleigh is revealed to actually be a demon tempting people to come free her for years on the assumption that eventually someone would succeed. If the Bard frees Caleigh, she gives him all his hearts desires while destroying the world. If he slays Caleigh, The Bard returns to the road in search of the next bar maid. Alternatively, he can refuse to fight either the Druid Leader or Caleigh, allowing the undead to overrun the world, a situation he is content with as they make good bar buddies.
An advertisement for the game prior to release showing The Bard following the path "Coin & Cleavage" as opposed to "Save the World".
Completely unlike the classic Bard's Tale games, this game is in a 3D environment with the player watching his only controllable character from an overhead vantage point, and it is better described as an action-adventure game than a traditional role-playing video game (i.e. there are no character classes or inventory management).
The player's character, The Bard, has magic and weaponry at his disposal to complete the task. The more the player accomplishes, the better his skills will become. The appearance and gameplay is much the same as the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series, which shares the same graphics engine.
The game uses a "snarky or nice" system of dialog that allows the player to change the outcome of many situations by deciding how they want to respond. Some choices, such as being snarky to the dog at the beginning of the game, have game-lasting consequences. The first decision is whether to be nice or snarky to the barmaid in The Drunken Rat. Being nice to her gives her the impression the Bard's a gentleman and she leaves him alone, being snarky ensures the Bard doesn't spend the night alone.
The game also contains several song numbers, including:
- Beer, Beer, Beer - sung by drunks in The Drunken Rat
- The Tale of the Nuckelavee - sung by a band of drunks in The Aiken Drum, lamenting the unleashing of the Nuckelavee (which, unbeknownst to the band, was set loose by The Bard)
- It's Bad Luck to Be You (The Chosen One) - a recurring song by the Trow Trio, with differing lyrics each time