Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

This was supposed to be Fallout in an Arthurian Fantasy world, and the first third of the game really sets that tone, but then it is all abandoned for a straight hack and slash adventure. It's not bad, the combat here is fun and the world is creative, but it should have been so much more. Black Isle was going bankrupt and had to rush this game out. I could clearly see where it's wings were clipped while playing. It's still worth a play if you loved Black Isle.

Non-linear quests. Interesting dialogs. Dozen of playable builds with absolutely different gameplay. Captivating buildmaking. The problem is most of new players cant create proper build. Moreover, there are no useful guides about builds (except russian guides on steam of course, but not everyone speak russian). For example the most frequent mistake is Mage have serious problems with mana replenishment. If you think so try to google "Lionheart Red Witch Build". Its the full walkthrough for fire mage. Better to see once than hear a hundred times. All of known proper mage classes (Inquisitor, Heavy Priest, Red Witch) have no mana problems. If you have any then you do something wrong.

I can't add much more to the excellent reviews on here (as they have covered most aspects completely) except to say this... i played it to the end as the Mage AND the Warrior Though I never could beat the final scene as the warrior, my own lack of skill I suppose. The big draw to this game is you DO have to figure out HOW to proceed even when it seems impossible (trust me it IS possible), and it draws you deeper into the game until you won't quit until you see it through. I played it twice and then gave the game to a children's home...I am going to get it again and see if the warrior in me CAN win the game. I recommend it as it is inexpensive and you old timers might have missed it. You will get your monies worth!!

Lionheart is not a game that will be remembered fondly by those who bought it back in the day, and for good reason. It's setting was awe-inspiring - medieval Europe split asunder by a magic portal? The Spanish Inquisition leads the crusade against all things magical? The use of Fallout's intuitive SPECIAL system to create your character? Unfortunately, none of these ideas are very well-realized, and you can literally see when Black Isle decided to pull its hands out of the development (after the very first city), and where the developers then decide to make it into a rather mindless dungeon crawler. The problem is, Lionheart doesn't have the sort of equipment necessary to be a fun dungeon crawler, or an extensive array of abilities to use against enemies. Combat becomes the main source of gameplay, and the combat isn't that great, in other words. The music is rather nice, however. With all that in mind, if you're still interested in the setting and an adequate RPG experience to go along with it, by all means give it a go. GOG's price won't make you regret it.

The premise of an alternate medieval world with magic and magical creatures as well as real historic characters in it was enough to sell me onto this game, and I really enjoyed the first half of it. Admittedly, the story is very linear, and even though you do get some choices, which at the time might look important (such as which faction you join), in the end the decisions you make amount to absolutely nothing. You do get a lot of conversation options, plenty of side-quests to do and areas to explore though, the soundtrack is great, and the graphics, while slightly dated, is quite pretty. You start off by choosing whether you play as a human or one of the "magic-touched" races, which will affect how some people react to your presence and will also impact somewhat on the choice of what you can teach your character. The choice of how you build it is entirely up to you though, and you can come up with a lot of "career paths" that are perfectly viable. Sadly, all I’ve said above only applies to the first half of the game. The moment you leave the city, you are stuck with a poorly balanced hack-and-slash aRPG, where non-melee characters find themselves significantly disadvantaged. Oh yes, and you can't forget the companions. While in theory designed to help you, they soon become a source of intense frustration. You can’t control them beyond switching between “follow me” and “stay here” modes, they are so dumb as to be suicidal, and for most part they are weaker than many of the enemies you meet. Effectively, what this means is that you end up inching slowly forward and rapidly running away at the first sight of an enemy, hoping to separate an individual from the group, so that you can easily kill him. And then you repeat. And again, and again, and again. Still, for £4, the game is worth trying even if only just for the first half, and perhaps, despite all the problems mentioned above, you will find yourself liking it enough to actually finish it. I know I did.