Former SWTOR Devs Introduce “The Banner Saga”

Lisa Clark bioware, News, other games, The Banner Saga

Star Wars: The Old Republic is easily considered one of the biggest games of the year. It has yet to make its debut in Australia and already we’re hearing about it all over the world. Those of you who have been following for some time now know that it is a game that has been many years in the making. Some of the people who were involved in the early days of developing SWTOR have now moved on to other projects.

Three of these devs in particular, are now introducing a new project called “The Banner Saga”. Games.on.net brings us the news about this new game:

Under the new studio of Stoic Games, the talented trio have created what their website calls a “role-playing meets turn-based strategy, wrapped into an adventure mini-series about Vikings.” I am sold already a billion times, especially when I saw the bits about “pain-staking hand animation.” It gets even better, though:

“It will include BioWare-style dialogue, exploration of gorgeously painted landscaped, and turn-based strategic combat,” Watson told The Indie Game Magazine. “The story is compelling and epic, and your choices will dramatically affect the outcome of the story.”

The Banner Saga’s coming out in two parts. The first will be free and focused on multiplayer battling, due in “Spring” (or should that be, “later in the year?”). The second will cost, and will focus much more on story and exploration, is due out in “Autumn” (or should that be, “much later in the year?”).

It sounds pretty interesting. I’m definitely curious about checking it out. Sure, it’s not the next SWTOR but anyone involved on BioWare’s team that helped created a mass success like SWTOR probably has a few tricks up their sleeve for this new little project. The artwork seems to be good in what I’ve seen of it so far and I’ve always been partial to indie games. What do you think?

Lisa Clark

Lisa has been an avid gamer since she was old enough to hold her first controller and a game writer for more than a decade. A child of the Nintendo generation, she believes they just don’t make games like they used to but sometimes, they make them even better! While consoles will always be her first love, Lisa spends most of her gaming time on the PC these days- on MMOs and first-person shooters in particular.