King Arthur isn’t a horrible game. In fact, I wouldn’t even call it a bad game. It’s just an incredibly average game, and the flop movie license doesn’t help. It does pull quite a bit from that license, including lots of movie clips, but those things cannot save it from mediocrity. King Arthur is, at its core, a poor man’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It’s pure hack and slash mixed with movie clips. LotR: RotK had so much more going for it, though, both in terms of license and gameplay. King Arthur is hardly even worth a look this holiday season, what with the glut of AAA titles releasing.

You’ll spend pretty much the entire game hacking your way through hordes of uninteresting foes, although there are three methods of doing so. There’s basic sword fighting, which gives you multiple ways to swing and some special moves. You’ll be doing the most of this, and it’s not incredibly satisfying. There’s no “oompf” to your blade impacts, and the fighting is pretty shallow. Some characters have bows, which are pretty self explanatory. Pull that string and fire, then watch your foe fall over. The transition between blade and bow is really quick, making for some interesting moments as you switch back and forth.

Some segments of the game take place on horseback, which is easily the weakest aspect of combat. Instead of pummeling your way through, the fighting is basically the same as it is on foot, except now its hard to move around and your horse has a few basic kicks. This mode of combat could have offered some real variety, so it’s a shame the developers were content with just tweaking the controls a bit. Most levels give you a choice of characters, and they control differently enough. Some are more skilled at ranged combat, while others are more melee-oriented. Characters also gain experience, which can then upgrade their stats. It’s standard stuff all around. Not particularly bad, but certainly not noteworthy. The two-player cooperative play is a nice touch, though.

Before each level, movie clips advance the plot, and like LotR: RotK, the clips are blended seamlessly with the in-game cinematics. It’s a classy touch, and something I’d like to see in more movie-based games. In most levels, you’ll simply fight until you defeat everyone, then move on and do it again. Occasionally something happens to alter the situation a tad. Perhaps the raiders will begin spawning from across the river instead of up on the cliff. It doesn’t change much, typically, but the little cut scene that accompanies it breaks up the button mashing, at the very least. The biggest problem with level design is that they’re just too damn long. Spend ten or twenty minutes fighting mindless hordes and if they happen to get the better of you, you’ll be replaying the whole level.

King Arthur is all over the place in terms of visuals. Some of the environments look great, sporting a healthy amount of trees and little shrubs and such that actually react to you. Likewise, the player characters look pretty good and actually resemble their real life counterparts. Enemies are competently rendered, but there just isn’t enough variety. You’ve seen one raider, you’ve seen them all. The game sure does throw a lot of enemies around on screen at once, though. There can be a dozen foes or more on screen at once, and the game stays smooth.



Article By: Joe Mackie