This is an interesting game, previous reviews have rated this game anything from 4/10 to 8-9/10, and I can see why. The game has lots of aspects which make it an involving and enjoyable experience, yet at the same time moments that make you want to tear your hair out and question if this game is serious? Fortunately the former outweigh the latter, leading to game that I quite enjoy, yet I still have a guilty feeling for liking it!
This is a strategy based game set in the midst of the 100 years war, a war between England and France starting in the 14th Century. Battles are taking place all over France and so there is certainly no shortage of battles to get involved in. During this campaign you adopt the role a new mercenary. So you are loyal to the coin and can change sides almost at will. The action unfolds in real-time with the armies of England and France going head to head and you can get stuck in almost any way you want.
The battles take place on relatively large maps, which are scattered with a variety of French towns of many different sizes. The usual geographical features are all there, impassable forests, rivers etc, all of which require careful navigation. One major critique of the game starts here, in the end all of the maps are very similar and there aren’t that many, so the lack of any other environments does weigh this down.
On the field you don’t fight alone, or if you do you won’t last long. Upon entering the battle your first job is to find a unit to control. This is one of the best aspects of the game. There is a huge variety in the types of units to control, they are organised into categories, spears, swords, bows etc, then further broken down into specifics, short bows, bows, long bows etc. There are then different types of ‘short bow’ units, in the field I’ve seen troops that look like Roman Legionaries, camels and Vikings. Each unit feels and controls differently, with different special abilities and attacks. Getting a unit is simple, you often start near some and control them simply by approaching and pressing the X, alternatively you can ‘hire’ units before hand and ‘summon’ them on the field.
Once you have your unit and you’ve seen the enemy, the attack command is activated by holding down the R1 button. The extra abilities unique to each unit, for example shield attacks or protection, are activated by the face buttons and recharge after use. However, especially when your unit is weak, going in by yourself is often dangerous and can lead to the annihilation of your unit. Small armies, usually of 4/5 units, move around the map attempting to capture the opposing towns. For extra support your best bet is to group with one of these armies.
Your base of operations is a tavern, where with the help of your best mates, the landlord and merchant, you organise your men, equipment, listen to gossip and select contracts. So again, all you do is go from the very similar battlefields to the tavern and then back to the battle field. You are also given the opportunity to upgrade your units, weapons or amour at a price, and skills, attack strength etc via experience earned.
The game does have a story, featuring both sides, that unfolds slowly but surely. Its not particularly riveting, though there are a few likeable characters. It is big though, at times there are so many different elements of the story going on and new characters introduced that is hard to keep up. As a result though its long, I remember after 20 hours I wasn’t even half way through and it could have taken a lot longer.
The battle sound and game music is actually alright, building atmosphere, setting the scene etc. However the voice acting is a complete JOKE, was it even meant to be taken seriously? The voices are as stereotypical as you can get. I actually like it for the comedy value, but anyone looking for serious and quality voice acting should check out Heavenly Sword, or even most other games. The lines of dialogue are also to few and repeated often, so all in all not good on this front.
The graphics are a mixed bag. The frame rate is often solid, only slowing down very occasionally when there are lots of men on the field. The graphics do the job, there are nice touches, such as dear leaping past as you go through the woods. However the draw distances are apparent and the texture details only come into effect when you get even closer. So solid, but I thought as they only had a limited selection of maps they could have made them look better. There is an optional install process that uploads about 4 GB of data to the HDD and does make loading times almost non-existent, well done for that.
So strangely this game offers amazing variety, with the units, and features a long and at times involving story line. However at the same time it is very constraining, with regards to the battle locations and variety of actions you can undertake outside of battle. The graphics are a mixed bag and the sound is just awful, though comically so. In the end though I find this game a lot fun, if you can overlook a few issues, charging my English knights through French forces or seeing my archers unleash a volley is always fun (you may have guessed I’m English).
