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Let me just go into a little more detail on those "bloody good looking" graphics. Personally, while it has some validity with some titles, I'm sick to death of the tiresome "graphics versus gameplay" argument, so it's rather satisfying to see that the graphics in Severance actually contribute more to the overall experience than making you go "ooh, that's kinda pretty," thereby rendering the "graphics versus gameplay" argument irrelevant. Firstly, yes, a well-placed swipe of your sword (or naginata, or spear, or axe, or mace or... well, you get the picture) could well remove an enemy limb and send it flying or even bouncing down a set of stairs realistically thanks to some particularly nifty physics code. If it bounces off a wall it will even leave a blood trail that drips realistically down the wall and the spreading blood pool will form wherever it lands. Sure, it's gruesome, but if you turn off the gore and then hack straight through an enemy's arm with no visible effect it just doesn't feel quite as satisfying somehow. The light in Severance is also, in a word, stunning. Every single light affects every single object in the game in real time. You can pick up a torch and suddenly your shadow will be cast onto the floor or even realistically up a flight of stairs. If you then lob the torch down a tunnel it will light the surrounding walls on its way, leaving you in darkness. Arrows that sink into walls will even cast their own thin shadow. It's not just for show either as the designers at Rebel Act took advantage of the lovely lighting system in some cunning ways.
At one point a giant shadow appeared in front of me, portending death at the hands of a monstrous beast, or so I thought. Then, a few seconds later, a mere goblin wanders out carrying a torch, the source of the huge shadow. Of course, for scaring me like that the little blighter didn't last more than a few seconds. Interestingly enough, and most likely because of the no doubt system resource intensive lighting system, the levels in Severance are pretty low polygon affairs, but you're unlikely to notice it for a good while as the level designers have done such an excellent job of hiding the fact. You'll visit locales such as volcanic forges, knight's castles, mines, temples, and fortresses, all of which look great thanks to some wonderful level design and texture work, not to mention the added bonus of the great lighting system of course. Oh, and the reflective water ripples look particularly realistic too, but that's just a nice extra, really. The only thing that lets these lovely graphics down is the odd silly animation - the way most characters look when running looks a bit silly, but then again the combat animations such as sword swings, stabs and swipes look great, so it's not all bad. The sound in Severance is also top notch. In particular, the macho grunts and roars of your character (yeah, even the Amazon) are perfect and serve only to ease you further into the adrenaline-fuelled action.
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