Every so often a game releases to the world in which the premise is so interesting that you just have to play it.
That’s the case with the latest from NeocoreGames, as a new entry in the tactical strategy game genre going by the name of King Arthur: Knight’s Tale emerges. Now, normally in this kind of game you’d expect to be taking on the role of the titular king himself, perhaps saving the day and making Camelot great again. But hold on tight, as that isn’t the story here.
Having first released on PC, and now on console, this is billed as a cross between a traditional character centric RPG and a tactical game. So come with me, way back to the age of knights and chivalry in hope of finding out what the hell is going on.
Yet again, as is very usual in these types of games, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is a tale of two halves. There is the combat screen, which, in common with every other game ever created in the tactical genre, sees us placed on a battlefield covered with a grid. It’s here where the actual battlefields are large and varied, whilst the enemies and characters we manage to have on our team are designed really well. The camera in the battle screen is also extremely adjustable, so grabbing the best view of the action is a cinch.
The other half of the game is based around menus, as knights and ladies level up via new abilities and skills based on their available skill points. We can also appoint them to various positions in Camelot; this ties in to a loyalty mechanic. And in terms of the presentation, the cutscenes are fully voice acted (really well done in fact), and the battle sounds are as you would expect; hearing our characters grumbling that they didn’t expect to get smacked about is always entertaining.
Before getting into the meat of the game, it’s probably best to touch on the story.
We are Sir Mordred, King Arthur’s arch enemy and famous as being an all-round bad egg. In a final battle, we have finally struck down King Arthur, but in his dying breath, he killed us as well and so we died together. Not a promising start to a game, is it? Well, it appears that while Arthur died, he didn’t stay dead, coming back as something else; something evil. In order to put an end to Arthur’s undeath, the Lady of the Lake has decided to awaken us, Mordred, to go and finish Arthur off once and for all. Waking on the Isle of Avalon, we are tasked with not only getting a band of knights together to fight alongside us, but also with restoring Camelot to its former glory. Can we get a strong enough force to finish Arthur off once and for all? Well, the future is in your hands.
The gameplay, like the graphics, sees King Arthur: Knight’s Tale as very much a game of two halves. The management side of the game requires quite a lot of thought, as maintaining loyalty from the people that you meet means you need to do some juggling. Choices that you make out in the world will have a knock on effect in the castle, as certain knights will either join your team or leave, based on what decisions you make. As an early example, fighting with two brothers, Sir Balin and Sir Balon, sees them both wanting the same thing – to have control of a vital bridge that belonged to their father. As we get to the end of the mission it’s up to us to decide who gets control of that bridge. Whoever we choose will be kept in the team, while the one we spurn will depart, leaving us behind. Choosing wisely is key. Once that mission is finished, you can then appoint the remaining brother to be the Protector of the Bridge, increasing their loyalty and keeping them sweet. And that is only one of the many choices that await you down the line.
There is an amazing amount of depth to this side of the game, with heroes to assign to the Round Table, new heroes to train and send on missions and much more besides. Even assigning an injured knight to the infirmary to heal their wounds is an important element, and so there is enough here to keep you going.
However, that is only half the game as the combat and exploration phases are also quite intriguing.
Each of our heroes has abilities that can be used in synergy with each other, and unlocking these tactics is a good approach to utilise. As an example again, the first two heroes we have, Mordred and Sir Kay, have a good way of working together – Mordred is complete with an ability that will make enemies weaker, whereupon Kay can chop them down in one attack. Teaming up in this way is a great thing to learn, whilst putting a status effect on enemies who are attacking before getting rid of them is great fun.
The combat is suitably crunching and visceral, but there is a down side – if you get one of your heroes killed, they are gone forever. I’ve had to reload a number of times to try and keep people alive, and this certainly helps to focus the mind on the job in hand. It’s fair to say that you learn quickly to not leave your squishier characters, like archers, in harm’s way. Having a man mountain encased head-to-toe in metal in between them and the enemy is a great idea. The combat gets tricky very quickly, so keeping up with new skills to unlock and new weapons to be bought or crafted, allows the two halves of the game to feed into each other in a pleasing way.
However, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale does tend to feel a bit grindy in places, with missions having multiple fights to clear. But the grinding seems to serve a good purpose, making your team of heroes stronger. The thing that bugs me though is that even with a huge roster of heroes to play as or with, there are limitations on how many you can take on a mission at once. What are the rest doing? Obviously, having a few spare heroes is a good thing when someone is injured, but it seems a shame to leave so many famous knights on the bench.
Other than some small issues, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is very good indeed. If you like King Arthur, this story gives a whole new perspective on the history and tales.
