A recommendation with provisos. Online not well populated and content thin on ground, but If you can surmount these points, an exciting, well designed, competitive arcade experience to master. Just maybe not enough.

The keyboard layout displays itself helpfully at the bottom of the screen alongside the countdown for the hundredth game you've played. "Just in case you forget", it smiles (and I anthropomorphise). No one's to be lost on their umpteenth game here.

It's because, like many competitive games, Strikers Edge's core arcade gameplay is actually very simple; with the potential, of course, for self-taught improvement and eventually mastery. It's at once a jump-in game - "here are the controls before you, have a go" - and a game bordering on self-abuse whilst tackling the toughest AI opponents, or vying for tactical multiplayer domination.

In a real sense, if you've played one match, you've played them all. Strikers Edge's playful bleeding of medieval fantasy projectile throwing into dodgeball principles is a good one, but apart from some minor environmental hazard differences, modifiers, and character special abilities, the hundredth match you play will be the first. Depending then on your affection for the core gameplay loop repeating on a match-basis, and perhaps your willingness to venture into the potential of the eight characters, your mileage may vary. With a demo available, that first match is definitely worth a try!

Physically unharmed but a wounded spirit.

Presentation is simple but pleasing in some impressive pixel art environments, detailed characters and good visual feedback. The music didn't seem diverse but was a suitably exciting accompaniment to tense matches. Sound without any character verbal exclamations is otherwise all good feedback for the various, hits blocks and dodges, etc.

To give that core gameplay its due, there is some satisfying design here. You and your opponent(s) (either 1v1 or 2v2) are placed on parallel sides of some form of arena, complete with destructible objects acting as cover and some kind of environmental hazard to be cognizant of. Whittle off the enemy's health fully in two rounds (so comebacks are possible) and you can call yourself a winner. Standard throws of your character's weapon or dodges eat into a stamina meter that restores with time. Thankfully charging an attack or blocking don't do so, but come with their own drawbacks. Charging an attack leaves you exposed, unable to block or dodge, but both deals more damage and has triggerable character-specific special abilities like triggering an area-effective electric shock in your sword you've lodged in their back wall. Whilst dodging comes with an anti-abuse, post-use delay and its meter, blocking has its own timing to nail and three uses that recharge on a separate meter. It also comes with its own character specific traits on a successful block, like reflecting the projectile back across the arena or health regeneration. In this way, it never feels like you're out of options and there's a definite flow to be achieved in recognising the action for any scenario. The ability to headshot for major, often match-defining damage calls for a particular accuracy that allows higher tiers of play and gives incentive to stun your opponent with abilities to achieve it.

I'd personally go to any football match with a giant football embedded into the stadium wall

A particularly nice design touch is the slow-mo zoom granted when one player is a hit from death and within a glancing blow of a projectile. It gives a repeat second wind to dodge, move or block that can swing the match if used well. Also great is the UI fully exposing your opponent's meters and even their aiming course and cursor to you. Since everything is known to both players, games are almost a tactical full-divide of attention. On one side you need full awareness of your diminishing abilities to throw, dodge and block, as well as your condition and position relative to where they're aiming. Concurrently, you need to take on the exact same mental load in information on your opponent's side to be effectively proactive and reactive. The real core of the game, then, is in your ability to juggle these responsibilities and mentally surmount the physical chasm of the arena and your screen. I think that in particular is brilliance.

So the core gameplay is well designed and fun, undoubtedly. Sheer value proposition content, however, is lacking, admittedly. Eight characters is a fine number given that they sufficiently diversify themselves offensively and defensively in their special abilities. The arena number being limited to just four, though, is a particular shame - especially given the great potential for more environmental meddling in the mix. Eventually, as with any competitive/multiplayer game, it just comes down to visual weariness more than anything else. The single player campaigns are a good idea and add text-based narrative justification for three or so consecutive matchings of opponents for each character. It ends up feeling mostly in name only given the small roster of environments, lack of audible dialogue and the sheer brevity of each. The difficulty setting is a very good touch, though. Particularly as the hardest setting AI is remarkably effective and feels virtually exploit-resistant. The hard setting is the biggest test you'll likely face in-game.

Like all sports, massively enhanced by being at sea (on boats with ripped sails)

That's because the reality is this game is positioned as online-focused. Like with Left 4 Dead or any brawler (probably a better example!), a single player campaign is a poor stand-in for human face-offs and should be taken as good practice material and little more. It's a massive shame that an online opponent appears currently unattainable. Be it that the numbers are just too low or servers focus on matching you with someone local, I was unable to meet a human being. I came close it seems, but I was connecting for yonks and a day to the point that I just had to give up. In the likely event of a dearth of humanity, then, they automatically match you with an AI opponent that seems set to pushover difficulty. A good way to solve the issue of unattainable achievements, but the diametric opposite of a human challenge. It would be nice to toggle this off so you can at least give waiting a chance. Local play is, of course, available and largely the biggest draw. Complete with four player play and modifiers not found in the campaigns, if you have the people, it's ideal.

This is a slight recommendation with some provisos, then. The core gameplay is one of incredibly good design, but with online unlikely to be sufficiently populated, this is effectively a local multiplayer or even singleplayer offering. Content, as with many fighting games, relies on your full exploration of the characters, their abilities and strategies, and can otherwise be quite thin on the ground. If you can surmount these points, there is a somewhat exciting competitive arcade experience here that is well worth throwing your hat in the arena for, if not mastering. I'm just not certain it's quite enough.