This First-Person Sword Fighting Game's Combat is 100% Physics-Based
Solo developer HyperMad Interactive is building Bloodfall's first-person melee combat around direct mouse control and physically simulated weapons that collide, rebound, lock, deflect, and interact with the environment in real time.
Physics-based sword fighting often comes with a tradeoff. Simulating the actual weight, momentum, and collisions of a weapon can produce wonderfully unpredictable interactions, but it can also make combat feel intentionally awkward.
Bloodfall: The First Temple is attempting something different by combining fully simulated weapons with the speed and precision of a traditional first-person action game. The mechanics are explained in detail over on the developer's blog.
Developed by solo developer Hayk Amirbekyan of HyperMad Interactive, Bloodfall uses what the developer calls a 100% physics-driven combat system. Rather than pressing a button and triggering a predefined sword swing, players directly reposition their weapon by holding a mouse button and moving the mouse. The sword can be placed anywhere on screen, while pushing it beyond the screen's edge causes the character and camera to rotate with it.
The interesting part is what happens when that control meets the physics simulation. Weapons maintain physical contact with the environment and other objects rather than passing through them, while the intensity of collision sparks and audio changes according to impact strength. HyperMad says its underlying Harmonic Resonance Model also accounts for properties including stiffness, elasticity, and energy dissipation, allowing weapons to rebound, vibrate, interlock, and stabilize following collisions.
That simulation consequently becomes part of the combat design.
Two weapons can enter a deadlock if an attacker continues pushing into a block. Players can physically push against the opposing weapon to force it away, freeing their sword for another action. Stabbing attacks can similarly glance off an improperly positioned block, encouraging players to physically deflect the blade through a precisely timed directional parry instead. Even the sword's crossguard participates in the simulation and can catch, block, and redirect incoming weapons depending on its position and angle.
HyperMad's goal is essentially to make the geometry of the weapons matter. Blocking isn't determined solely by entering a defensive state, and parrying isn't an animation triggered during the correct window. Where the player physically puts the sword determines what happens next.
The system extends to the player's body through jumping and ducking, while an unlocked camera allows players to freely change targets during encounters with multiple enemies.
Bloodfall: The First Temple is currently planned for PC and has a Steam playtest available for players to request access to. The developer says the game is targeting a 2026 release.
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