Crusader: No Remorse™

...known this game has ridiculous controls. Couldn't play with mouse; keyboard is required. Ah, such a shame. Looks like it could be a fun game; graphics are still attractive; interactivity with the environment enjoyable. However. Those controls!

Crusader is a game about one player's struggle against an evil and unforgiving cabal of controls -- oh yeah, also including the occasional enemy combatant to fight. How I managed to finish both this game and the sequel when they first came out is a mystery to me now. Not only are the controls sluggish and imprecise, but the designers' solution to collision is often to teleport the player character several feet to the side. Also hate the cheap tactic of using a jump-scrolling screen rather than smooth scrolling in order to place ambushes that would actually be within range and line of sight in reality. I did my best with super frequent saving, but trying to navigate a room with a rolling treadmill and tiny hoverpad exhausted my patience. Uninstall.

I cannot believe how high rating this game has on GOG. Come on people, this game is totally unplayable. I spent a few hours trying to progress through the first mission and I managed to advance through a several corridors, but what a horrible pain that was... Controls are TERRIBLE, just terrible. Things stumble in the way of main character and block his movement, other times he somehow "teleports" around them. Turning the guy left or right takes ages. Aiming is even worse - totally random, sometimes he shoots with great precision, sometimes he misses all his shots and you'd think there is no line of sight, but enemies can shoot him really well where he is standing. Camera is fixed, half of the time you don't see what is around the corner. other times you cannot see where your guy is. I really like old games and I play them all of the time, but this one, my god, is among the worse I have ever seen. Save yourself pain and frustration, it is not worth it for a laughable plot, setting and characters.

Crusader No Remorse hits a lot of sweet spots with its presentation. The corny live-action FMVs are tasteful. The interactivity of the environments shows creativity. The levels are full of detail. Great emphasis was put on the sheer actions The Silencer can do. The music is high-quality, and strangely has one of the best pause menu themes ever. It's all good let down by own problem. The game does not work. For a tactical corridor shooter, Crusader No Remorse has some unacceptable problems. Collusion interaction is awful. If the Silencer so much as brushes against an object he'll jolt a few meters in some direction, often blowing past cover and getting himself killed. It's not always obvious if a shot will hit a target, because the targeting reticle is fickle. Sometimes you'll clearly be able to shoot something and the reticle just won't appear. Even when an enemy is currently shooting you, you may not be able to shoot back ought to strange angles. Basically, line of sight is so poorly communicated in an isometric shooting game. Turn-based strategy games like Fallout communicate basic elements like this better. The game doesn't have side-scrolling because of technical limitations brought by trying to render these high-quality environments. The game uses prefixed camera angles with a "center camera to character key" instead. To avoid getting shot off-screen, enemies can't shoot you unless they're on screen. This can lead to weird scenarios were you'll bump into an enemy 1 meter ahead of you, the camera will change, causing an awkward arms-length shoot-out. These aren't even the worst engagements. Occasionally the game will flat-out spawn enemies behind you. No alerts. Some random guard will have been hiding in a dumpster and decide now is his time to flank you. Stylish game. Hits a lot of the right notes. Fails at its main goal. I want to be a cool one-man infiltrator, not a stumbling dolt that phases through door frames, unsure of what can and cannot be shot.

Great Game, Great Classic. Wish they would make a remake of this game and the sequel No Remorse as this is the era of remakes.