So I gave this game a tumble after reading all of the good reviews of it, but I must say that I just don't see it. At best, this game is a functional clone of Commandos. What that means is that It is an isometric squad based stealth action game. Unlike Commandos, it isn't incredibly unforgiving and hard. It is still quite difficult, mind you, but if you botch the stealth you can still get by on your sword swinging skills. I'd put that as one of the few positive points for the game. What the game does particularly well is level design. Although you have a linear set of objectives for each level, how you choose to accomplish those objectives is completely up to you. You can stealth your way through, you can pick foes off from a distance, you can get them to fight eachother, or you can run in swords swinging. There are multiple paths to take, and multiple challenges to be met. Going against the game is the appalling user interface. The mouse feels incredibly sluggish, and the entire game is controlled through click commands (there are esoteric keyboard shortcuts if you can figure them out). All in all, controlling this game is a mess and not at all a pleasure, and is the single worst aspect of this game. The graphics hold up poorly, being from that era where everybody thought pre-rendered sprites looked good (they don't). The voice acting is virtually non-existent. There is a story, told entirely through text, which just serves to give a tiny bit of context to the set of increasingly difficult scenarios that you have to run through. All in all, I'd say avoid this game unless you REALLY love Commandos, Robin Hood, or both. Actually, if you love Robin Hood I'd recommend the much better "The Adventures of Robin Hood" from 1992. That game also controls like garbage (although it is much more forgivable, coming from a 1992 game), but has several innovative and unique gameplay elements, unlike this derivative mess.
Crusader: No Remorse is a game about one thing and one thing only: Bringing out your inner sadist. Let me explain by starting from the top: On the surface, C:NR appears to be your average every day isometric view shooter. Every level consists of you trying to get from point A to point B. You probably have to find a keycard or two on the way, and you probably have to flip some switches, but mostly you'll just be killing chumps. To add some depth to the combat you can duck, jump, and roll to evade baddies and reposition yourself for a better shot. The controls for all of this are quite clunky, but given enough time anybody can be rolling around and shooting like they are Samus Aran (and in the very tough later levels, you really have to be that good). It is entirely possible to go through the game of C:NR and just take careful, considered shots at all of the baddies until the end. But if you do that, you are missing the point. The real point of Crusader is to dispatch your foes in the coolest ways possible. How? Like shooting the floor out from under their feet and watch as they fall screaming into a puddle of industrial acid waste. Or opening up a gas valve and igniting your foes, then sitting back and watching as they run around the screen screaming and flailing. Or taking command of a sentry robot and gunning them down. Or shooting them with a gun that strips all of the flesh from their bones. None of this is mandatory. In fact, a lot of the time it isn't even efficient - meaning you'll have to go out of your way to do it, perhaps even sacrificing some health and ammo. But just trust me, it is worth it. All of this is made possible in part by a truly innovative destructible environment system. Almost everything you see can be shot and blown up. The levels are littered with dozens of strategic possibilities, like the aforementioned gas valves and sentry guns, adding a bit of non-linearity to the way you choose to approach each mission. Other considerations: The graphics are decent. They consist entirely of pre-rendered sprites, which were all the rage at the time but they just don't age as well as cartoony or hand drawn art. Cutscenes are all done with live actors ala C&C or Wing Commander. Like early C&C and unlike Wing Commander, the acting is awful and the unintentional funny camp value is through the roof. The voice acting in general is pretty low value, but you're mostly just going to hear people scream anyways. Final analysis: Lots of pure fun. Unfortunately, the graphics and especially the controls do a lot to date the game, but if lighting someone on fire and then making them fall into a vat of acid, for no particular reason other than that you can, sounds like a good time for you then you'll enjoy what Crusader: No Remorse has to offer.
...but darn close to it. This game had a lot of really neat and innovative ideas that, in the end, just don't come together to form a good gameplay experience. The gameplay is somewhere in between Tribes, Warcraft, and at times even Metal Gear. Only, by "in between" I really mean "composed of all the worst parts of". Sloppy shooting mechanics, half implemented RTS features, and some stealth sequences so awful that they will make you cry. The MP fits right in with the rest of the half arsed execution of the game, and good luck even playing it on anything other than a LAN as the netcode is super shoddy. So then, why doesn't this game get a 1 star? The answer: The humor. The humor in the storyline and ingame cutscenes is very British and often hilarious. It is just too bad that the rest of the game is such a mess. Bottom line: Some interesting concepts that don't even come close to coming together to make a good game.
