Techland, the developers of the upcoming 4 player co-op hack-and-slash-a-thon Hellraid, recently spent some time brushing up on the medieval art of "hitting people with sharp things." The animators and programmers met up with ancient weapons expert ARMA-PL in an effort to provide Hellraid's combat with a greater sense of realism. "Realism" here describes what they learned about medieval weaponry, and not practicing to combat hordes of undead and demonic sorcerers.
Check out the dev diary talking about their experiences.
Now, every time a character wielding a two-hander throws down the classic "home run" swing, I'm going to call them out for historical inaccuracy.
I would expect this kind of behavior from the developer of Chivalry or something with a basis in historical warfare, but I've got to grin upon hearing the people making Hellraid are striving for realism in their combat. The fact that I'm utilizing the thrust of the hands to assault a twenty foot undead minotaur with a bastard sword is kind of funny, given that I'm locked in battle with a ferocious, fictional monster. I'm not one to cry foul whenever games cast aside realism for raw entertainment, and I still can appreciate putting time into studying something in order to make it more authentic. I just hope it lends itself in service of gameplay rather than at its expense.