Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage is a wonderfully gory, fast-paced, no-nonsense action game that incorporates frenetic action, quality cutscenes, and QTEs. Newcomers to the Berserk universe will quickly adapt to the dreary medieval fantasy and villages stricken by the Mandragora, a plant-based disease that effectively turns people into disfigured zombies.
The combat of Guts' Rage is akin to Devil May Cry, in that the player cheerfully smashes buttons to slide, jump, and swing Guts' giant buster sword to eradicate the Mandragora. Combat is fairly shallow, but it's fast, mindless, and overall satisfying. Enemies hit hard, and the only elements that slow down the combat are when Guts' sword hits an object, resulting in an underwhelming "clink" or when enemies overwhelm and knock Guts to the ground. For tougher battles, such as the battle against Zodd, players will need to be swift and precise, but this is where Guts' Rage falls short in that the controls simply can't respond fast enough, resulting in additional hits the player shouldn't have to take to imprecise movement. Fortunately, Guts' "rage meter" fills often enough, casting temporary invulnerability and increased damage with a faster swing. A full rage meter can be a real lifesaver and is perfect for quickly clearing out weak enemies.
In addition to occasionally shoddy controls, many of Guts' Rage's linear segments will lead the player down cramped corridors, requiring the player to put away Guts' monstrous buster sword and fight with his fists. This is an underwhelming alternative to swinging around a giant sword and spraying Mandragora blood, so it would have been nice to provide the player with a smaller, more visceral weapon for these situations.
Aside from hand-to-hand and giant sword-swinging action, Guts' also carries local explosives and a repeater crossbow, which are useful in sticky situations. Healing items are also found by breaking crates, restarting a section of a level, and by clearing a stage.
There are approximately five stages in Guts' Rage, each of which take roughly 40 minutes each to complete and consist of a number of sections. In certain sections, you simply have to reach the end of the linear path; otherwise, kill every enemy on screen. The player can save only after each stage, so saving is a bit sparse, which can be troubling for quick-play. Each level starts off the player with ten continues. Fortunately, if the player dies in a section of a level, then Guts' item inventory replenishes, which includes two healing herbs. Healing herbs are essentially unnecessary at the beginning of the game but become crucial halfway through. If all ten continues are used, then it's back to the beginning of level.
The custscenes are fairly cinematic, but the voice acting is laughably bad. Even so, one of Guts' Rage's finest aspects is its sense of adventure and insatiable violence, which the gaming industry has reveled in since this game's release. In this sense, it's easy to see how Guts' Rage could have inspired games like Devil May Cry, God of War, and Bloodborne. Its mechanics are not fine-tuned, and the game is fairly short with no extras, but it's fun while it lasts. Just have patience with the controls and enjoy the ride. Plus, if the game becomes far too frustrating, then the player can always opt to the Easy difficulty setting.