History VideoGame / MaceTheDarkAge

The world as we know it in this one is a complete CrapsackWorld, Europe is in a permanent [[DungAges dark age]] as petty warlords bide for power through war and oppression, Arabia under the cruel grasp of the [[MurderInc Assassin's Guild]] and the Far East is about to witness the destruction brought upon Europe and Arabia. And [[DevilButNoGod God]] is seemingly unable to save the world from suffering or [[GodIsEvil cleanse the world]] and start over.

* BigBadDuumvirate: The Covenant of Seven, Asmodeus' human agents who do evil deeds in his name to maintain their power. Of them, [[EvilOverlord Lord Deimos]] and [[TheUndead Sir Dregan]] are playable, while three others are mentioned in fluff: the Sultan of Shiraq (Al-Rashid's employer), Duke Malanoche de Castillo (Taria's father), and [[ArchnemesisDad the Khan]].
* BittersweetEnding: Takeshi's good ending, his goal was to restore his family's honor and save his brother [[spoiler: but he could not save his brother and is forced to live it down. Even his bad ending has him at least vindicated by history when he commits seppuku rather than betray his homeland]]

* BigBadDuumvirate: The Covenant of Seven, Asmodeus' human agents who do evil deeds in his name to maintain their power. Of them, [[EvilOverlord Lord Deimos]] and [[TheUndead Sir Dregan]] are playable, while three others are mentioned in fluff: the Sultan of Shiraq, [[DaddysLittleVillain Duke Malanoche de Castillo]], and [[ArchnemesisDad the Khan]].

* LadyOfWar: Taria. [[spoiler: Namira, being the lost princess of Arabia, also qualifies.]]
* LethalJokeCharacter: Pojo is a chicken who throws eggs. SHe's surprisingly effective against Asmodeus, as most of his moves go right over her.
* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:Grendal is actually Taria's brother, who was given to Asmodeus by their father in order to trick him into believing he is Taria, who was prophesied to bring about his downfall.]]

''Mace: The Dark Age'' (1997) was the Western FightingGame response to [[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Edge]], except much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] and [[BlooderAndGorier gorier]]. Made by Creator/{{Atari}} and published by Creator/{{Midway|Games}}, it has a small cult following.

''Mace: The Dark Age'' (1997) was the Western FightingGame response to [[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Edge]], except much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]]. Made by Creator/{{Atari}} and published by Creator/{{Midway|Games}}, it has a small cult following.

** LethalJokeCharacter: Pojo is surprisingly effective against Asmodeus, as most of his moves go right over her.

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* [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Descend To A Lower Plane Of Existence]]: [[spoiler:In Taria's good ending, her pursuit of magical knowledge sends her to Hell and turns her into a demon, though she doesn't mind and will probably end up running the place before long.]]

* BlowYouAway: Al Rashid can summon a tornado as one of his specials.

* AIBreaker: A minor version, based on the opponent. Al-Rashid and Ragnar both have attacks they like to use (a twirling attack for Al-Rashid, and a combo that involves rolling for Ragnar) that leave them open to a counterattack. Just guarding and attacking as soon as they finish leaves them open for you to beat them up, and they'll never wise up to it.

* AbusiveParents: Xiao Long's father is a Chinese warlord who [[EyeScream blinded Long]] and left him for dead when he refused to kill an enemy. At twelve years old. This wasn't an impulsive act either. In Long's bad ending, Daddy finds out about the monks who took him in and stages an attack on the monastery.

* AnAxeToGrind: Ragnar.
* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Dregan's good ending.]]

* DropTheHammer: Grendel
* EpicFlail: Mordos Kull.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Executioner.
* FallenPrincess: [[spoiler:Namira.]]

* HandicappedBadass: Xiao Long, who is blind, but when he wants to kick ass, kick ass he will.
* HotWitch: Taria
* ItsAWonderfulFailure: Each character has a different epilogue if you get a Game Over in which you get to read in detail the rather gruesome outcome of his or her failure.

* KungFuMagic: Xiao Long's magic was developed to counter his blindness.

''Mace:The Dark Age'' (1997) was the Western FightingGame response to SoulEdge, except much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]]. Made by {{Atari}} and published by Midway, it has a small cult following.

The reason the world is such as terrible place is due to seven men known as the Covenant of Seven who made a DealWithTheDevil who has the Mace Of Tanis. At the cost of their sanity they are given near eternal life and the power of a demon and in exchange is expected to do evil thing in his name. The recent chain of events made Asia the next target of the warlords who seek the powers.

!Tropes of Mace The Dark Age:

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Dregan's good ending.]]

* CrushingThePopulace: The evil characters do exactly this if they win the game. This naturally causes a stagnation in technological development to the world. [[Several of the more benevolent character's bad ends reveal that it gets much worse without anyone to stop Asmodeus and the Covenant.]]

* FetishFuel: The fact that Namira incorporates belly dancing to her moves (her very fighting stance shows it).

* GameBreaker: Gar Gudrunson/Warmech, a dwarf whose weapon is a ginormous steam-powered mech, is on the tier of sub-boss Grendal in terms of power. Namely, he can't be thrown or Executed, and he has insane reach and a couple ridiculously cheap repeatable moves.

* BittersweetEnding: Takeshi's ending, his goal was to restore his family's honor and save his brother [[spoiler: but he could not save his brother and is forced to live it down.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: The Executioner's bad ending has Asmodeus summon a Grand Inquisitor to teach the Executioner how one really tortures people. Now he is the only one that screams instead of everyone else.]]

* [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Descend To A Lower Plane Of Existence]]: [[spoiler:In Taria's good ending, her pursuit of magical knowledge sends her to Hell and turns her into a demon, though she doesn't mind and will probably end up running the place before long.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Takeshi's ending, his goal was to restore his family's honor and save his brother but could not save his brother and is forced to live it down.

* CrushingThePopulace: The evil characters do exactly this if they win the game. This naturally causes a stagnation in technological development to the world.

The world as we know it in this one is a complete CrapsackWorld, Europe is in a permanent [[DungAges dark age]] as petty warlords bide for power through [[RapeMurderPillage war and oppression]], Arabia under the cruel grasp of the [[MurderInc Assassin's Guild]] and the Far East is about to witness the destruction brought upon Europe and Arabia. And [[DevilButNoGod God]] is seemingly unable to save the world from suffering or [[GodIsEvil cleanse the world]] and start over.

The recent why the world is such as terrible place is due to seven men known as the Covenant of Seven who made a DealWithTheDevil who has the Mace Of Tanis. At the cost of their sanity they are given near eternal life and the power of a demon and in exchange is expected to do evil thing in his name. The recent chain of events made Asia the next target of the warlords who seek the powers.

''Mace:The Dark Age'' was the Western FightingGame response to SoulEdge, except much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]]. Made by {{Atari}} and published by Midway, it has a small cult following.

* Stripperiffic: Unsurprisingly, the female fighters' outfits, with Namira's being one of the first uses of transparency (her see-through dancer's outfit) on a character model.

* AbusiveParents: Xiao Long's father is a Chinese warlord who [[EyeScream blinded Long]] and left him for dead when he refused to kill an enemy. This wasn't an impulsive act either. In Long's bad ending, Daddy finds out about the monks who took him in and stages an attack on the monastery.

* AlwaysLawfulGood: Most of the Asian characters seek to destroy the Mace at all costs.

* DownerEnding: Anyone who works for the Covenant of Seven such as Executioner, Deimos and Al Rashid will usher in a permanent age of hell to the world.

* [[TranscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Transcend To A Lower Plane Of Existence]]: [[In Taria's ending, her pursuit of magical knowledge sends her to Hell and turns her into a demon, though she doesn't mind and will probably end up running the place before long.]]

* [[TranscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence TranscendToALowerPlaneOfExistence]]: [[In Taria's ending, her pursuit of magical knowledge sends her to Hell and turns her into a demon, though she doesn't mind and will probably end up running the place before long.]]

* AlwaysLawfulGood: The non unlockable Asia characters seeks to destroy the Mace at all costs.

* BambooTechnology: War Machine, made by dwarves (and piloted by one of them) is a humongousMecha made of ''wood''. Way before steam power was even discovered.

MaceTheDarkAge was the Western FightingGame response to SoulEdge, except much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]]. Made by {{Atari}} and published by Midway, it has a small cult following.