The Christmas elves at Daedalic are hard at work preparing their fantasy RPG Blackguards for release in the New Year. You can see how far their work is coming along through Steam's Early Access.
If you've already jumped in with both feet into the Early Access situation here, then you'll see your copy of Blackguards update to chapter 3.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/249650
After an exhausting time in the arenas of Mengbilla, the Blackguards are getting closer to solve the mysterious disappearance of the heroes’ best friend Lysander. This could also be their chance to clear their names in regards of Princess Elanor's murder and thus saving their own hides.
Everyone who already has entered Early Access will automatically receive an update via Steam adding the third chapter.
Early Access allows players to play the first chapters of Blackguards months before the official release and to have a chance to influence the development process through their feedback based on pre-release builds.
Blackguards will be published chapter by chapter while in Early Access. As of now, the first three parts of the game are available. All five chapters will be made available in the upcoming weeks.
Daedalic Entertainment offers several packages for interested Early Access participants. In all cases, players will secure access to the final version of Blackguards by paying a lower price compared to purchasing the game after its official release.
Additionally, they have the opportunity to buy exclusive extras that will only be available before the official release. For $24.99, players receive the Standard Early Access Edition of Blackguards, including all chapters for PC at their earliest availability, and the full PC & Mac version of the game after the official release. For $34.99, players receive the Blackguards Early Access Deluxe Edition, an approx. 150 page artbook, and access to developer interview videos and six exclusive wallpapers. For $49.99, the Blackguards Early Access Contributor Edition additionally includes an appearance of the buyer’s name within the game’s credits, as well as the first Blackguards DLC and a copy of the The Dark Eye point & click adventure Chains of Satinav for free.
All additional content will be accessible once it has been completed.
The official release of Blackguards is scheduled for late January 2014.
About Blackguards
Blackguards is probably one of the bleakest stories ever told in the universe of 'The Dark Eye':
What if the only remaining hope of a world is not a company of virtuous heroes, but instead a bunch of outcasts and criminals? Blackguards will answer this very question. The player takes on the role of a convicted murderer, accompanied by a group of no less dubious characters.
They may spare the world its grim fate, but their good deeds are neither acts of kindness nor heroism, but according to their roguish nature rather a result of their attempts to save their own hides.
Staying alive is a feat of its own, since not only the long arm of the law wants their heads, but there are also other, mysterious powers with much more sinister intentions on their trail. As if all this wasn't enough, Aventuria's south is crawling with dangerous beasts and monsters...
Blackguards is a turn-based RPG with strategic combat and combines the studio's high standards of storytelling and unique characters with thrilling action and an elaborate 3D environment.
Challenging quests lead the player through a dark story of doubt, treachery and loss.
