When AoD came out, I was intrigued by it and played a demo. Didn't really like it, but combat seemed promising so I decided to wait for a (hefty) price drop. I watched the combat tutorials for it, and all this heavier vs lighter weapon stuff, DOTs, criticals, destroyable armours, targeted attacks etc seemed too good to pass up. So, now they put it into a game of its own, I jumped right in. Knowing what to expect, I made a character carefully - a dexterous dodger also able to lead. Turned out good, because I got good complementary escorts - meaning, all with different skills and weapons, good for getting a feel for it. Few hours and dozen battles later, one thing is clear - all the good stuff I mentioned still doesn't translate into good, juicy, convincing fights. For one simple reason - in spite of all the AP values and stuff, there's NO BATTLE LOGIC APPLIED. No battle stances - so no way to put near-dead char to defense, let alone have him feint and retreat. Damage doesn't prevent anything - 1 HP soldier still moves, dodges, hits as if completely healthy. Knock someone to the ground with a maul - he spends few AP to get up and that's it - no confusion, no blur, nothing. Positioning means nothing except reach - attack (engaged enemy) from behind, attack from side, you get same chance to hit as frontally. You can target legs, head, arms, even artery - but it doesn't take enemy type into account, its there for humans and ants equally. Shield-bash an ant, anyone? Oh well. All in all, it plays pretty much as a spreadsheet or something - have 8 AP after movement? I'll try two 4 AP hits... So, battles are bland. Story, dialogues etc - didn't see much of it, scenery is meh, animations also, but they would all do. Especially for 10$ - I do not expect a cheap game to be at, say, Blackguard level. But combat just doesn't do, for me - especially because I played better free varieties. As is, I gave it 3 stars - low price, indie and all - but even that might be generous.
