The game’s called Strength of the Sword: Ultimate, but it might as well be named Fan Edition since if you compare the list of features we’re bringing this time around to those requested by our friends and fans you’d get 100% match. That's no coincidence, the support we received from the small but passionate community of the original PS3 game has been nothing short of amazing, so why wouldn't we pay them back by listening. People played the game and then sought us out to tell us all about their experience. For two guys that spent years cooked up in a sequence of small apartments working on their first independent game, finally getting it out and seeing people enjoy it – best feeling in the world.

Ivent Games has a kickstarter campaign, looking for $14,000, to finish development of Strength of the Sword: Ultimate. With 8 days to go several stretch goals have already been reached but more funding will see the game get extra content, as well as potential PS4 and Xbox One versions.

“Wow, have we got crazy lucky! We were recently approached by Team17, who seemed quite excited about what they had heard and seen, and offered to help in any way they can. Obviously, after Lyubo had finished geeking out over the fact that the makers of Worms liked what we were doing, he composed himself and replied "Me, Ivent. You, Team17... Marketing scary! You help!"

Debbie Bestwick, Team17’s Managing Director added, “Recently someone told me if Carlsberg could create a Publisher it would be Team17’s Indie Label. If Carlsberg could create games creators Ivent would be on that list.  We are very proud to welcome them into our family of Indie studios from around the world. So far we have announced around a dozen partners all with the same vision and focus to become sustainable studios with successful self-owned IP. Together we are building something the games Industry has needed for decades. A Label that puts the creators first and helps them build long term.”

We’re sticking with the hard but satisfying to master gameplay mechanics we enjoy. Call us old-fashioned, though we much prefer ‘with an old school attitude’, but we enjoy our brand of unforgiving mixture of a 3D brawler and a fighting game. Beating a game used to mean something to us as we were growing up and we want to give the same satisfaction to the player. We are also deadly allergic to button-mashing and if you get to spend some time with our game, we’ll be happy to see you contaminated with the same affliction. Mind your enemy and environment and plan every move before you execute it with intent and precision. You are a deadly war machine after all.

The entire original game is ported and polished as part of the new Ultimate game. Every location, every blood-thirsty monster from the original campaign will be back with as much bite if not more. We're very proud of our critters of various sizes and minds, and can't wait to introduce them to a wider audience of victims.

OK, WHAT'S NEW:

• PvP Mode: It was awesome to have people compete over leaderboard scores, but nothing resolves the 'who is the best' argument better than an old-fashion PvP. Back in the original game we were more interested in the player challenging himself rather than facing others. Well, since then... lets just say arguments were had inside the studio, gauntlets were thrown, words were spoken that cannot be taken back, so the PvP mode is as much for us as it is for everybody else.
• Co-op: But maybe you don't have a wise-ass co-worker that doesn't realize he's no match for your awesomeness. And instead have a trusted friend to take with you in battle. CO-OP will also be a part of the ULTIMATE experience. After all the minions of darkness come in numbers, so it's only natural that there's a place for a second War Golem on the battlefield.
• Dark Mode: The third multiplayer mode (yeah, when we do multiplayer we do ALL the multiplayer), is something that we'll talk about more in the months before the release of the game as it will need more time to refine and then be explained. It's called DARK MODE and it's going to be an AWESOME asymmetrical PvP marathon where one player gets infused with the power of the Darkness and goes on a Wargolem-slaying spree.
• Extended singeplayer experience: Singleplayer will get polished up and we have several ideas on bringing in the some new stand-alone levels that will extend the lore of the War Golem sent from the Almighty Mechanic in the sky. That also means new enemies with entirely new ways of thinking that will have even veterans from the original game sweating. As always button-mashing will not save you.