Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest asks players to pick up a plastic sword, wave it around, and pretend they are fighting skeletons in a castle. That premise sounds simple. It is not.
The 2011 game from San Diego Studio and Zindagi Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3, is a full adventure built around the PlayStation Move controller. It was shown at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 on June 5, 2011. The team behind it also made Sports Champions.
Trailer, via IGN.
The Setup
Prince Edmund’s castle has been taken by the evil Sorcerer Morgrimm. He raises an army of skeletons from beyond and plans to rule the kingdom. Players step in to fight Morgrimm and his followers, using swords, arrows, throwing stars and more, guided by the fluid motion controls of the Move.
The story is thin. Morgrimm invades, raises skeletons, and plots to take over. That is the whole arc. There is no shading, no character development, no political intrigue. Just a prince, a sorcerer, and a pile of bones.
The Controls
The Move controller is the star of the show. Players swing a plastic sword to strike enemies, aim and fire arrows, and throw stars by moving their arms. The game tracks those motions and turns them into actions on screen. It works, mostly.
There are moments when the system loses the signal. Arms get tired. The controller drifts out of position. None of it breaks the game, but none of it adds much either.
Combat
Fights against Morgrimm’s army are where the game finds its footing. Enemies come in waves, and players must keep swinging to stay alive. The pace holds attention for a while, but it never reaches a high point. Boss fights exist, but they are brief and easy to avoid.
The game offers multiplayer and co-operative modes. Playing with friends adds a layer of chaos that solo play lacks. Passing a controller back and forth changes the rhythm of a fight in a way the single player mode never manages.
Presentation
The look of the game is simple. Castles, villages, and graveyards fill the world, rendered in a cartoon style meant to feel both fantasy and historical. The art direction tries to sit between the two genres, and it lands somewhere in the middle, neither fully fantasy nor fully historical.
Sound design follows the same path. Music is cheerful and light, with occasional orchestral flourishes during boss fights. Voice work is limited to a few lines of spoken text, mostly to set up missions.
What Works
The Move controller is the draw, and it is the best part of the package. Motion tracking is accurate enough to make swinging a sword feel satisfying. Throwing stars and firing arrows require small gestures that the game reads well. These systems are the reason the game exists, and they hold up.
Multiplayer is where the game feels most complete. Friends can join in and fight together, sharing the chaos of a skeleton horde. The co-operative mode removes some of the difficulty spikes found in solo play, making the experience more relaxed and social.
What Falls Short
The story is the weakest link. Morgrimm’s plan is never explained. His motivations are never made clear. The kingdom he wants to rule is never described. There is no depth to anchor the combat.
Combat itself grows repetitive quickly. Once the novelty of the Move controller wears off, the fights start to feel the same. Skeletons follow the same attack patterns, and the game rarely shakes things up.
Modes
- Single player mode, where players fight Morgrimm alone through the story.
- Multiplayer mode, where friends join in to face the skeleton army together.
- Co-operative mode, where players work together to clear enemy waves.
- Motion controls, used for every action in the game, from striking to aiming.
Each mode serves a different purpose, but none of them reach the heights of the others. They are competent, not memorable.
The Verdict
Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest is a technical demo dressed as a full game. It shows off what the Move controller can do, and it does that well. As a complete adventure, it falls short.
The game is thin, the story is thin, and the combat grows dull. It is not broken, and it is not terrible. It simply does not leave much of an impression.
Players who want to see the Move controller in action will find what they are looking for. Players who want a deep adventure will find very little here. The game is a curiosity, not a landmark.
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