Customer Reviews

Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Lionheart starts out promising, with its interesting and (at least among computer RPG settings) unique premise. The game is set in an alternate 16th century Europe, roughly four centuries after the Crusaders were tricked into unleashing demons and magic into the world. The first part of the game works well, centered on the city of Barcelona, which is the stronghold of the Inquisition, which tries to put down magic and demons by extreme means. There are many opportunities for real role-playing, in the sense of an opportunity to make decisions (such as whether you want to operate on the side of the strict Inquisition, or work for less legal groups, such as the magic users). The quests of the various groups intertwine, so that you can't please everyone, and will ultimately be forced to make a choice on who you want as your allies. Barcelona also is home to a number of interesting variants of real-life 16th century people, such as DaVinci, Galileo, and Shakespeare, which adds extra interest.

Unfortunately, once your quests send you away from Barcelona, the game turns into a slogfest of ceaseless combat. When you've finished some of the later areas, the floors will literally be covered wall-to-wall with corpses. With all the fighting, the opportunity for real decision-making vanishes, and the game becomes truly linear. Your only task is to move from one map to the next. This is highly disappointing, as the game starts out with such a fresh premise.

A second problem with the fighting is that it is hampered by a cumbersome interface. The fighting is done in real time, much like Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale, but the enemies move at much greater speeds. Thus, you have no real chance to use ranged weapons, as the enemies close on you after the first shot. Second, because the enemies move so fast, it is hard to click on them. Frequently, you miss, and your character simply walks over to the spot where the enemy was. Inexplicably, the game will not allow you to target an enemy while it is paused.

Lionheart is also terribly buggy. You have a chance to acquire companions during the game, but roughly 10% of the time, having a companion will corrupt your game such that you can't move from one map to another (or, if you can, the next save game may be corrupted). Put together, the collapse of the storyline into meaningless fighting and the bugginess suggest that this game was rushed out the door far too early. It has a lot of promise, but doesn't live up to it.

Lionheart plays like the demo. If you've tried the demo, you know that the combat is a hectic clickfest, with too-fast moving monsters and a poor targeting system. And the latter half of this game is pretty much exclusively combat. Which makes it incredibly unsatisfying.

I call the game a "trick" because of the first half. The first half of the game takes place in Barcelona and another town, and there are interesting characters to talk to, fun quests, and palpable tension among the various factions that control the city (or oppose it). Because the game is set in "real" history (1588) but with a twist (what if magic were real), you find yourself talking to characters such as Shakespeare and Da Vinci, although their personalities and agendas have shifted with the influence of magic. And with the crusades going on, there are some real moral dilemmas: will you support such an oppressive regime, or oppose it and deal with the disadvantages and hostility your character will face? So people who have only played the game a little bit seem to think the game is fine. Then they change their minds after they've played a little more.

The game is built upon an improved version of the SPECIAL engine, which was used for Fallout. So the gameplay is similar, although the combat is real-time, not turn-based. But it just ends up lacking. The real-time combat is a chore, and there is no way to get it back to turn-based. Although you can pause the game, you can't target while paused. Later in the game, the story progression is very linear, with few diplomatic/stealth solutions. The character animations are poorly done, and the interface appears rushed (certain parts are poorly designed or lacking obvious features).

Oh well. If you're willing to buy a game only to play half of it, you'll have fun. If you feel that a game should actually be compeleted, you're in for drudgery and monotonous combat.

I love history, and I love RPGs, so it goes without saying I was anticipating "Lionheart" for a long time. The game has an interesting premise, and it uses Fallout's "SPECIAL" system. I thought that Reflexive and Black Isle could not possibly screw up this great combination. Boy was I wrong. "Lionheart" is poor in every category. This terrible game simply does not have one redeeming quality about it.

To start off with, the 2-year outdated graphics are mediocre, creature and character animations stink, and the artwork is nonexistent. Every screen is covered end-to-end in grey or black and has the visual appeal of an IRS 1040 form or a dirty ash tray. You can let your imagination run wild with how exotic and cool Medieval Europe could have looked after a great big cosmic magical rift. I say "you" could, because the designers for this game obviously didn't. Where are the snow-capped mountains, exotic palaces, beautiful forests, and lakes? They're in "Divine Divinity", that's where. "Lionheart" looks more like Wyoming after a great big forest fire. "Divine Divinity" is but one game puts "Lionheart" to shame in the graphics department (and everything else as well). All of the recent Dungeons and Dragons games look better than this, because of their exceptional artwork and creativity. Even the flop sci-fi "Harbinger" looked better than this.

But graphics don't really matter that much do they? I guess not - I could easily ignore them, but the gameplay is terrible too. The way that the turn-based SPECIAL system has been butchered in this game is inexcusable. A real-time game that uses a turn-based system can succeed if you can pause the game to issue orders. That is why real-time Dungeons and Dragons have been so successful. However, this game has the mind-bogglingly stupid feature of NOT letting you do this. You can pause the game, but not to issue attack orders. There is no autopause feature that stops the game for you when someone rushes onto the screen. The tactical genius and elegance that made Fallout's combat great is nonexistent. That leaves you with a real-time, extremely low quality Diablo clone, complete with a red bulb for health, and a blue bulb for mana. You left-click to attack, you use a hotkey to select your active spell, and then right-click to cast the spell.

How groundbreaking.

"Diablo clone" would be a compliment for "Lionheart" though, because the combat engine is pitiful otherwise. Enemies are unoriginal and poorly animated. You reveal the fog of war by exploring ugly areas and run into ugly, repetitive enemies bit-by-bit. They simply yell out a "raawwrrr!" and rush at you at light speed, before you can cast more than one spell or fire an arrow from your useless bow. If you specialize in ranged combat or magic, you literally will not survive the first area of this game, no matter how many times you reload. This game is more unbalanced towards melee characters than "Arcanum" was.

The game's intrusive interface blocks your view of the world by taking up almost a third of the screen, but it somehow still manages to be functionally inadequate. (A dubious accomplishment). You only get 7, that's right, 7 hotkeys for spells, and other actions. Compare that with games like Neverwinter Nights, which made full use of the "F" keys for 36 total hotkeys. Expect to find yourself casting the same few unimpressively-animated spells over and over.

Needless to say, I did not finish this game, so I cannot comment about the story from start-to-finish. However, I can say that the portion of the game that I played through offered no indication that it would be special. "I am some sort of mysterious chosen one, and some bad men want to kill me because of it" is the basic premise. A cliche storyline is nothing new, and some games are still great in spite of it, but it's not enough to make you want to toil through a game that is just plain bad.

I wanted to love this game, but I can't. I tried to like it, but I failed. Reflexive alienated hardcore RPG fans by screwing up the "SPECIAL" system, and then screwed up the mindless action so that "Diablo" fans could hate it too. I wish that I could say that it's a simple hack-and-slash adventure, but I can"t, because the hack-and-slash aspects of the game stink. "Lionheart" is by far the worst RPG that I have played since before Baldurs Gate, and I am thinking it might be the worst I have ever played. A trashpile like this doesn't even deserve the bargain bin.

I had this for years before really playing it. I would start a game, and lose interest. Hearing the negative reviews didn't help either. Recently, I reinstalled it and decided to stick with it this time... and I'm so glad I did.

I've played every similar ( 3/4 view, 2D point and click RPG ) game to death. The Baldur's gates, the Icewind dales, even going as far back as the gold box D&D games, and every non-D&D one I could find. And I can truly say that this one stands out from all the rest as a unique, and superior title.

As a matter of fact, I think people were expecting another DnD game here, or didn't play enough of Lionheart to appreciate it, hence the amount of less than stellar reviews out there. It's the only excuse that makes sense to me, as this should have been at the top of every RPGers list of faves.

Game-play is as smooth as glass, and creative. How many other games let you target specific areas of the enemies bodies? Or decide how reckless to fight? The perk system is truly inspired, as are many items and weapons in the game. Using weapons that cause continued damage over time, wearing items that cause enemies to take elemental damage. There are even items that reflect a percentage of magic damage back at the attacker.

Lionheart starts off a little hard, and can be difficult in spots later on, but if you stick with it, and play smart, you are greatly rewarded.

The graphics are the cleanest, smoothest, and most detailed out of Black Isle's previous titles. The music is a real treat for the ears, as is the voice acting. And character developement is fun and rewarding.

All in all, one of the best RPGs I've played. And worth numerous replays, as well. If you're a fan of similar games. Stick with it... and completely ignore the negative reviews.

I knew this product was Black Isle, so I was hoping it was on the same level as the Fallout series. I was not disappointed.

This game is not a straight dungeon crawl. There are a multitude of quests to go on, and a lot of them involve running back and forth to places you have already been. (I personally hate that!)

I think this may be more combat oriented than Fallout, and there isn't that dreaded timeline you have to beat. You simply get a quest, and accomplish it.

Also, unlike Fallout, this game doesn't appear to have a turned based mode. It is live, which is fine, because that enforces more tactics, while still allowing you to function easily.

I'm almost done with it, and I am looking forward to loading it on the wife's computer, so we can try multiplayer. A solid game.

This game should be a wake up call for Black Isle and Interplay.

Graphically the game is fine, with decent background, characters, and special effect (i.e. spells). The first third of the game is defining your character (good or evil, mage or warrior, etc.) through "errand" style quests. It offers some decent role playing, but since there isn't any long term interaction with NPC's the player never develops an affinity for anyone. With very few exceptions, most of the NPC's that join the party, are too weak and die off quickly. Once your character proceeds to the main quest of knocking off the bad guy, it's purely hack and slash, i.e. Diablo style. Puzzles, while they do exist, are trivial.

Some other complaints:
The skill point system is very frustrating. A chart should have been released to display the advantages/disadvantages of points per skill (e.g. at 100-200 points you will do 36 pts of damage with a fireball, with a 67% chance of knockdown). As it is, you don't know where the point system tops out, and if you're wasting your time pumping up a given skill. I had to recreate a character 3 times before I found something worth sticking with.

You can't give items in your inventory to an NPC so you can buff them up.

A major annoyance is the lack of autonavigation. On a completely explored map, you have to lead your character by the nose to get it to walk across it.

Automaps don't show major points of interest, e.g. Leonardo's workshop, Eduardo's smith, entrances and exits, etc.

Melee combat is pretty flat, just click on an opponent and watch your character hack away. Some feats (like BG II's whirlwind) would have been nice.

Finally, the treasures are purely random. I built a character loaded with one-handed melee skills, but most of the treasure was two-handed items or ranged weapons. I'd understand this approach if it was feasible to create a character with broad skills but if you don't max your skills, you die a lot.

Overall, I really can't say the game is worth the price.

This game is pretty annoying in many ways.

The combat is simply clicking on people and watching them unil they die.

The magic system is poorly thought out and playing as a mage is very tedious because the simplest spell costs too much mana, yet spending massive spellpoints barely increases their power. Heal heals 4-5 points of damage at level one, and 12-13 at level 81!!!

NPC tagalongs are useless in combat because they are destroyed with amazing ease by enemies and there is no way to bring them back, and worse than useless since they like to run around and lure lots of monsters to you.

Once you get out of barcelona, there is really no questing just more hacking and slashing. Even this might be ok if it was more involving; you just watch you guy hack them to pieces and occasionally run away. The spells are pretty useless in combat and hard to select anyhow so you do not end up using them much.

There is no marking of exits/entrances etc. even after you have been through them, so that walking around is VERY tedious and annoying at higher levels, especially since in the first half of the game you will be going to the same places in the sewers OVER and OVER. Finding all the entraces to the various levels takes careful attention to detail, too.

Anyhow, I think this is the last black isle game I will buy; maybe I will get Baldur's gate III if such a thing is ever made, or fallout 3, but only from the ten dollar clearance rack....

This game is just foul. It seems like Interplay and Reflexive were trying to create a game like Diablo but with more RPG elements, and failed disastrously. The "alternate history" theme is very interesting, but poorly executed. An on top of it all, the game is extremely short. I really wish I hadn't wasted $50 on this garbage.

After loosely following the production of this game for several months, a friend informed me that it was out. Being a Fallout buff (the SPECIAL system being used in Lionheart and all) and a (former) fan of Black Isle and Interplay, I immediately ordered it. When it came, I tore into the box, read the instruction manual... installed the game... and six hours later it sat uninstalled.

Why is this? After spending three hours playing a game, I experienced a severe error that caused me to crash to the desktop whenever I tried to leave the map I was currently on. I had no saves beforehand, and would have had to start over. Normally, I'd just try over again and hope for the best, but after checking the official Lionheart Support Forum, I found that it is apparently a common occurence, usually happening when you have a companion in your party, and seemingly at random. Since I had Cervantes in my party at the time(an interesting character who acts like a real life version of his creation, Don Quixote), I can only assume that he triggered the errors. Just like so many other Interplay games (Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel comes to mind), it's a great looking, innovative game that is rendered almost unplayable by Interplay's complete and total lack of quality assurance and debugging.

I only gave this game such a bad rating because, quite frankly, I can't stand the prospect of playing a game for several days, only to have a small random error destroy the time I've spent on it. If you're deadset on buying it, then it's strongly suggested that you watch out for patches and pay attention to the support forums beforehand to see what you're getting into. Were it not so buggy, it'd probably get four stars as opposed to two. The NPCs you run into are interesting, the gameplay is unique, and it managed to integrate the SPECIAL system into real time combat nicely (without a Fallout: Tactics Continuous Turn Based setup, which surprised me). Hopefully, Interplay will release some patches quickly, but given their track record, it will most likely be too little and too late.

I enjoyed this game a lot. To me it was one of the "sleeper" games of its year. Not a lot of hype when it came out so not everyone knew about it. It is an old style RPG, not like the new FALLOUT3, mcuh like Diablo 2. There is some reasonable character creation, decent spells and weaponry and armor, and some humor. If you are a history buff you will not like the game because it bastardizes history by changing it, even mixing it up. This is part of the game premis but I can imagine that someone who studies history would not like that. Otherwise, it is just part of the game world. There is not a lot that will surprise you in the game. You will get familiar with the controls quickly and there are no major hangups. No crashes to desktop, no stuck characters, no looping sound, and no minimum performance requirements to meet.

Once again, it is an older game; its basic attraction is the 2d rendered backgrounds which look good, and its old style game play and controls. If you are looking for a traditional RPG to tide you over till the next new game comes out, this might suite you.

Hail Flavius!