King Arthur – The Role Playing Wargame

very good
key review info
  • Game: King Arthur – The Role Playing Wargame
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: N/a
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King Arthur

King Arthur – The Role Playing Wargame is one of the nicest surprises of the later half of the year. Sure, we've reviewed a lot of good games lately but most of them, like Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 or Dragon Age: Origins, were known quantities when they finally arrived, after months of hype, media presence and attention.

King Arthur comes from Neocore Games, a Hungarian development studio that has also created Crusaders – Thy Kingdom Come, and manages to meld together a light role playing aspect with tactical battles, complex heroes complete with powers and artifacts, strategic objectives, town development and research, while also remaining faithful to the setting of the legend of King Arthur.

The closest thing to King Arthur is probably the Total War series from The Creative Assembly but a direct comparison doesn't do justice to the Neocore release. The experience of King Arthur is much more structured, much more linear in a way, but also offers more possibilities for meaningful choices than Empire or Medieval. It really is a role playing wargame and a successful initial release for this new genre.

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Ready for combat
My morality

Story

Britannia was without a ruler, Excalibur was set in the stone and no one was able to take it out and lead the people. Arthur manages to pull it out and is proclaimed king. The game emphasizes that the event, as miraculous as it is, had a complex set of effects on the land, awaking long lost fairies in the central woods, raising the power of the Old Faith, getting knights to prove themselves through adventures and making the rulers of the various kingdoms fearful or hopeful about the future. The player is basically Arthur and is in charge of uniting Britannia, recruiting knights, putting armies together, completing adventures and conquering or getting the approval of the various provinces.

All the various characters from the legend of King Arthur, from Merlin to Balin or to Percival, make an appearance and the whole world feels well put together, a combination between an early medieval England and the fantasy world of legends. The power of steel is there but magic can sometimes prove more powerful than the sword and the bow. It's a good mash up and the people at Neocore are obvious fans of the setting and put a lot of work into integrating it into the wider game mechanics.

Gameplay

King Arthur has two layers. The turn based strategic one is where you get to move around the map, arrange for recruitment, pillage provinces, build things in Strongholds, research for new units and techs and engage in various adventures.

There are four seasons and during winter, only taxes and food get collected; since no movement is possible, plan your moves well. The fact that a turn is basically frozen except for recruitment and other kingdom developments is a nice feature that makes it easier to defend a province, especially if you plan recruitment in advance, and adds some more strategy apart from the obvious “conquer all important locations.”

The other layer is the real-time one, where battles between two armies are fought. Each army needs at least one knight leading it, having an assortment of magical moves based on his specialization and on the choices of the player added to a big heap of hit points; the way the Knight of the Round Table is used also makes a difference. Formations, control of significant objectives and good use of archers are all critical to winning battles.

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Stronghold
Beauty

One problem is that (most of the time) the player cannot see the composition of the armies they will face, leading to some pretty tough battles the gamer is unprepared for. Also, archers are tough enough that a patch introduced an option to actually limit their effectiveness (and I think they need to be toned down a bit more). Other than that, the battles are supremely enjoyable and the magic powers combined with the clashing armies seem more engaging than the recent more tactical bullet and power affairs of Empire: Total War. Just watch out for those damned Welsh units.

Apart from fighting battles, players will also meet NPCs on the campaign map who are interested in trade or in offering an adventure. There are some puzzles to be solved and some bargains to be investigated. It adds to the atmosphere of the game but the various puzzles might be a bit annoying for those who believe that in the time of King Arthur, the steel of the blade could actually solve all problems.

Visual and audio

King Arthur – the Role Playing Wargame seems to be based on the same engine as Crusaders – Thy Kingdom Come, albeit with a few upgrades. It looks good, especially on the strategic level, where Britannia really looks like a fantasy land of legend. The tactical battles are mostly watched from high above, so the looks are not crucial but the game does not look as polished as Empire: Total War did earlier in the year.

The sounds are also appropriate to the setting and the music can be suitably engaging. The voice acting can be a bit weak at times but it's not a huge part of the game and there's always the option to turn it down and focus on the sounds of the battle. Multiplayer

Players who are tired of fighting against the Artificial Intelligence can try a bit of multiplayer. The game helpfully offers army setup ups based on the various alignments that you can achieve in single player and there are some pretty interesting match ups to try out. Of course, it would have been much more interesting to be able to play the whole campaign in multiplayer but the complexity of the game does not allow it. After all, Empire: Total War is just getting a beta for campaign multiplayer this month, so maybe the next Neocore Games title will also have this feature.

Conclusion

King Arthur – The Role Playing Wargame is a very competent strategy title that manages to do justice to the Arthurian setting and offers the player a chance to fight complex tactical battles while also making strategic choices and develop their knights and armies between the fights. It can be frustrating at times, as some battles are so crucial that players cannot afford to lose them, and it can get repetitive if you try to see how all the alignments pan out but other than that, it is solid, offers interesting choices and can deliver a gamer hours upon hours of battle management. Neocore Games has done good and I am eagerly waiting to see what other titles it can conjure up.

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story 8
gameplay 9
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 8
multiplayer 8
final rating 8.5
Editor's review
very good
 
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