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King Arthur II the Role Playing Game
Reviewed by
Edwin Millheim
on
King Arthur II the Role Playing Game PC Preview. Neocore Games has delivered a spectacular game indeed in the form of King Arthur II the Role Player War Game.
Rating:
3.5

Gameplay PREVIEW
Graphics PREVIEW
Sound PREVIEW
Value PREVIEW
Developer: Neocore Games
Review Date:
Jan 2012
Reviewer:
Edwin Millheim

PREVIEW
NO SCORE GIVEN


King Arthur II the Role Playing War Game

Neocore sends us a preview code for their latest Game, King Arthur II the Role Playing War Game.

Neocore Games takes another visit into legends, sword and sorcery and battles. King Arthur II the Role Playing War game builds on the ideas that worked in the first game and expands on them exponentially. It’s like a mixing of Total War’s turn based strategy styles and a pinch of RPG characters for good measure.

Like any good Sword and Sorcery themed game, it draws some of its ideas from myth and legend with magical abilities and mythical monsters to stand against the player. England’s northern borders are settled by Roman Soldiers and their families. The soldiers guard Hadrian’s Wall against savage tribes of both man and creature.

The gaming world has changed from what players will remember on their last visit to the realms. A more ominous feel permeates these beautifully game illustrated lands. The campaign map is larger, with spectacular topographical features and even weather effects, all are a thing of beauty to behold. Like in the real world, players with a successful strategy will consider the landscape. Valleys, forest, open fields, hills and mountains and bodies of water all can aid or hinder.

Staying on the subject of graphics, King Arthur II the Role Playing Wargame does a spectacular job at capturing the dark moody atmosphere of this gaming world. From mist shrouded areas, to craggy peaks, the sense of grand adventure calls out with the visual treat that is KAIITRPW.

Heroes in the game are here once again, after all how can you have such an incredible game of mythic proportion without legendary heroes? There heroes in the game serve the King in all aspects for the realm. These characters are formidable in battle and even have magical abilities to enhance their robust fighting powers. All abilities can become enhanced as the game progresses and the character gain battle experience.

This time around the game has become more accessible to casual gamers, with everything seeming to flow faster. The turn based parts happen very fast now, with clearer goals in mind and less brain work on the player. There are still times that the player has to make choices of course, though those choices seem far simpler this time around. This speeds up the game play.

The preview build we took a look at was playing very solid, as to if this will be the final build on release who knows.

During game play one of the window options that can be found on the left side of the screen is the chronicle, this is sort of like a diary of events that takes place. Only it is a bit more in depth because it tells more of the back story not only about events, but also characters. Players do not have to use it to play the game, though players looking for a far deeper experience will make use of it to get a grip on the story and events and the characters.

Battle take place with units on the battle field, and reminds me of the Total War series. Only with this game you get to wield magic in your arsenal. Bear in mind though so can your enemy. The is nothing like the feeling of advancing your troops in a pincer movement only to see a blast of lightning send dozens of them falling to the ground dead from the assault from an enemy. Enemy are not all human either, there can be all forms of creatures coming against the player.

Tactical choices need to include all of the player’s abilities, be that cavalry, or the use of either defensive or offensive magic’s. Again and smartly I might add, much like other large scale tactical games, the player can opt to fight the battle and micromanage things, or they can do a quick battle where the computer decides on the outcome of the battle. Be aware though, if things are stacked against the player, then the outcome will be the end of the player. Once in a while if the player opts to play things out on the battle map, they can pull off some victories against the odds, with smart use of troops and characters and of course magic’s.

Both sides have the ability to protect their forces with a magical shield. As the magical shield is struck by offensive magic, it weakens. It’s a bit of a strategically balancing act to keep the players shield fortified, while using magic to damage the enemies and not leaving the heroes mana reserve so depleted that they are magically useless.

Much like the first game there are points on a battle map that are of interest to capture, a player does not have to capture them to get a victory in battle. These are now optional locations, but there are some added bonus items to be had if the player does capture these points during a battle. Usually in the way of new spells and things that effect a characters abilities.

The roleplaying aspect of the game reminds me a lot of a choose your way or choose your quest adventures. Certain points of the game have rather lengthy story telling going on, so the computer Narrator acts like a game master (Or Dungeon Master), the person that tells the tale and introduces new aspects of the adventure, and also offers choices for your character during key points of an adventure. While these points are a nice break in the game from the standard gaming, I did a couple of times find myself clicking the skip button because I wanted to get on with it. It just sort of started to feel like it was dragging on a bit too long.

So the RPG elements choose your path is present in the game, though I did try different paths after trying play through a couple times, there did not seem to be any ramifications from trying one path over another. All paths seemed to lead to the same conclusion. One path got to the desired results sooner than the other one though.

As noted earlier on in this preview, it is unsure if this build is the final build for the game, but everything seems to be in place. Having the game at the highest levels of graphics seems to make the systems processing power go into over drive, though knocking down the level of detail is an option so most gamers these days should not run into any issues in that respect. Spells and special abilities are the major draws of King Arthur II, mix in the formidable creatures and the RPG elements and we can see that Neocore Games has delivered a spectacular game indeed in the form of King Arthur II the Role Player War Game.


Have fun, play games.

Edwin Millheim






 
 



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