Release Date: September 18, 2018
The fourth installment in the legendary RPG series launched back in the mid-80s. The title was developed by inXile entertainment thanks to the funds raised at Kickstarter, and its production was overseen by Brian Fargo, the creator of the initial entry of the franchise. The action takes place in the fantasy world known from previous installments of the series. The city of Skara Brae is its center.
The Bard’s Tale IV for PC is the fourth major installment of the famous dungeon crawlers series that began with the release of The Bard’s Tale in 1985. The title was developed by inXile entertainment, the creators of Torment: Tides of Numenera, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, and Wasteland 2. The Bard’s Tale IV goes back to the roots of the series which date back to the mid-80s. The project, which came to existence thanks to the fundraiser at Kickstarter, was overseen by Brian Fargo. The developer started his career at Interplay and worked on such titles as The Bard’s Tale, Neuromancer, Dragon Wars, Fallout, Fallout 2, Stonekeep, Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.
In The Bard’s Tale IV, the players are taken to the original fantasy world, which is clearly inspired by Scottish and Celtic culture and mythology, known from the previous installments of the series. We start the adventure in the vast city of Skara Brae and thence set out to numerous and dangerous ruins and dungeons. The players create their own party of adventurers, choosing from many available races—such as elves, humans, or half-orcs—and classes. The composition of our company is not meaningless and influences NPC’s attitude as well as the quest and dialogue line availability. The list of plot surprises goes on, though. Many decisions we will make in the course of the game may significantly change the image of the world and Skara Brae.
The gameplay is similar to many classical dungeon crawlers. The players traverse non-linear labyrinths, dungeons, and ruins, all of which are full of various traps as well as logic puzzles. Some of the latter also use the complex physics engine. The available locations are grid-based in design—every character and opponents moves through its boxes. inXile entertainment decided to implement a phase turn-based combat system. What it means is that the party members perform all activities simultaneously. Thanks to this, we can make use of the synergic skills because some attacks and abilities affect one another. The magical music of our bards is also of great import for it can rapidly change the situation on the battlefield. What’s interesting, the developers value authenticity and therefore the ballads we hear were recorded in the actual Gaelic accent of the Scottish language, solely for the purposes of the game.
The Bard’s Tale IV for PC is powered by Unreal Engine 4 which gave the developers significantly bigger technical possibilities than when they worked on their previous games. What’s interesting, the photogrammetry technique, which allows to scan real object and turn them into photorealistic 3D models, was used to design levels and scenography elements.
Platforms:
PC Windows September 18, 2018
PlayStation 4 August 27, 2019
Xbox One August 27, 2019
Developer: inXile entertainment
Publisher: inXile entertainment
Last update: September 18, 2018
The Bard's Tale IV Barrows Deep Game Guide is a set of guidelines for all players which deal with character classes, skills, and spells available in the game. Our walkthrough describes every quest and puzzle of this role-playing fantasy adventure.
November 22, 2016
„The Golden Age of RPG is upon us”, said Brian Fargo and got busy working on three separate projects. There are, however, many more RPGs worthy of attention out there, so we’ve cooked up a list of the best titles yet to come.
June 1, 2015
During the latest edition of Digital Dragons gaming conference that took place in Kraków, Poland, we had an opportunity to chat with Brian Fargo. The legendary developer talked about his current and future endeavors.
We've learned the new release date for the large 2.0 update (also known as Director's Cut) for The Bard's Tale IV. According to inXile Entertainment, the patch will debut on August 27, in a little over a month.
video games
Milosz Szubert
July 12, 2019
inXile Entertainment announced that the planned 2.0 update for The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep has grown in size so much, that with its release the game's title will be changed to The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut.
video games
Adrian Werner
February 19, 2019
Until now The Bard's Tale IV Kickstarter backers hoped to get the remastered versions of the original trilogy. Unfortunately, there may be a problem with that, as the publisher believes the works on the project have stopped.
video games
February 14, 2017
So far, we haven't seen any actual combat from The Bard's Tale IV. Until now, as inXile Entertainment has just published this new gameplay video.
video games
February 8, 2017
In case you're wondering how is The Bard's Tale IV doing, inXile Entertainment has shared a new game trailer, which shows off its fantasy world and some unique creatures.
video games
September 29, 2016
A video was published online showing off the capabilities of the engine utilized in The Bard’s Tale IV, the sequel to the legendary cRPG parody series for which a Kickstarter campaign was launched several days ago.
video games
June 5, 2015
Top downloads for The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut Video Game:
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - v4.18.3 +6 Trainer - October 1, 2018
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - +12 Trainer (promo) - September 20, 2018
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - v4.20.1 +15 Trainer (promo) - August 30, 2019
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - 01.09.2019 +12 Trainer (promo) - January 10, 2019
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - 10.11.2018 +12 Trainer (promo) - October 11, 2018
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - 09.22.2018 +12 Trainer (promo) - September 23, 2018
trainer The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - 10.02.2018 +12 Trainer (promo) - October 2, 2018
mod The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut - The Bard's Tale - Tales of the Unknown English Translation v.1.0 - February 4, 2024
System Requirements for The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3 GHz, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 2 GB GeForce GTX 760 / 3 GB Radeon HD 7970 or better, 29 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/8.1/10 64-bit.
Recommended System Requirements:
Intel Core i5-4590 3.3 GHz, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 4 GB GeForce GTX 970 / Radeon R9 290 or better, 29 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/8.1/10 64-bit.
Game Ratings for The Bard's Tale IV: Director's Cut Video Game.
GamingTrend: 50 / 100 by Bryan Lawver
The Bard's Tale IV could be a fun — but seriously flawed — game if it weren't hamstrung by technical problems. Its frequent framerate drops, bugged combat abilities, and crashes are compounded by an archaic save system that makes it far too easy to lose progress. Though it features some great combat and challenging puzzles, they're not without their own flaws, and become extremely repetitive over the game's 30–40-hour playtime.
IGN: 7.9 / 10 by T.J. Hafer
At its roughest edges, The Bard's Tale IV shows its retro revival roots in some not so positive ways. It may not be special enough for me to easily overlook these technical shortcomings entirely, but it's an RPG that's brimming with enjoyable, challenging fights, elaborate and entertaining puzzles, and plenty of visual and musical flair. And that was more than enough to keep me humming along contentedly to its tune more often than not.
TrustedReviews: 2 / 5 by Malindy Hetfeld
Without the bugs, The Bard's Tale IV is okay at best. With them, it's perhaps best to preserve your nostalgia and play the HD remaster of The Bard's Tale I to III instead.
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![[2:03] launch trailer](https://cdn.gracza.pl/galeria/filmy/640x360/171095609.jpg)
