The Bard's Tale for Xbox Reviews by Gamers

For the first half hour or so, I was pretty thoroughly unimpressed by this game. The controls aren't terribly precise, which can really ruin a hack 'n' slash title.

I stuck it out, though, and suddenly found myself several hours into the game and enjoying (almost) every bit of it.

While the controls didn't magically improve, my character did, and his increased ability was enough to offset the disadvantage the clumsy controls had left him at. On top of that, he was aided buy, in my opinion, the games strongest feature: the summon system.

After the first few hours, your character will rarely fight alone. He'll find at his disposal a variety of creatures to fight along side him (up to 4 allies by the end) who fill a variety of roles. Essentially, you end up with a prototypical RPG-style party that work better than you might expect. While no AI is perfect, your allies to a generally decent job of helping you out.

The game's other strong point is the humor. While it sometimes feels like they're trying too hard, the satirical attitude will have you chuckling more than you might be used to with a game.

The game does fall flat here and there, however. As mentioned, the controls are very clumsy. You'll find yourself frequently swinging into a combo in the wrong direction, and sometimes the action resembles a little kids soccer match: everybody bunches up right in the middle, and it's hard to tell who's who.

Still, it's worth a rent, and it's worth pushing through the first hour or so, because the game really does start to shine.