Sunday, February 6, 2011

King's Bounty: Crossworlds Review

Gamerman back for another grand review!
Due to a 'special request' (one person), I have decided to do a review on an RPG for the PC that I truly enjoy.
So here goes the review for..

King's Bounty: Crossworlds
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Quick back story. I bought this game, along with a hundred others, when it was on sale during the epic Steam Christmas sale. At first I had no idea what to expect, I like RPGs but this seemed to delve into the hardcore Might & Magic audience and it does but it has its own specialties. 

Story
You are a princess and your kingdom is under attack by a large demon that was had supposedly beaten in the first game. It is back for revenge and it is knocking on your door ready to kick your ass. Luckily you are not without a plan, your father gives you the Hourglass of.. something that allows you to travel to another world in order to find the brave knight who defeated the demon in the last game. Your task was to give the hourglass to the king's counselor but your bullheadedness causes you to go yourself into the vast world and search out the knight. In this crazy new world you experience monsters like none before, you are given a task to collect these magic stones in order to make yourself more powerful, and you've still got to find the knight! It tries to do a lot but sadly it fails at sucking you in. In the end it's just a block of words preventing you from fighting some battles. You don't really care if you get the knight, just that you are level 100 before it happens.

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This ain't your regular tomb.

Gameplay
The gameplay is what makes and breaks this game. It gets really difficult very fast and you WILL die multiple times so you better save. The battles take place in a Might & Magic strategy RPG setting. You control multiple units through battle (5 tops) and place them around the board each turn. You can attack and you can defend. You are also given a pet dragon that attacks for you every so often, it also levels up with how often you use it. It can be very useful when you are in a bind with a powerful enemy. There really isn't a strong loot system in place. You often don't get weapons or anything from enemies and when you do they usually are worse than your starter equipment (why?!). Instead you buy all your supplies at stores on nearby islands.

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The majority of the game takes place on islands and the enemies are visible on screen and on radar. Clicking above them will also show you the power of the group and whether you stand any chance of taking it on. It's good fun to try to take on strong enemies and even more fun seeing weak enemies cower in fear. However it quickly wears off and you get to many points in the game where the enemies are always just too strong, no matter what you do. It involves a lot of grinding and unnecessary quests to even stand a chance to these enemies. This may scare off a few easy-going players but the hardcore RPG fanatics will see this as a plus.

Presentation

The world discovered in Crossworlds isn't the greatest fantasy world of the ages but it is simple and colorful though. It doesn't strive for anything new. It's set in an animated environment akin to those found in Might & Magic but a little more cutesy. Each island has a nice  feel to it. Even if all that changes is simple weather changes or enemy changes, you feel like you're on a different place every time you travel. It's good tactic to draw the player in.

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Overall
King's Bounty: Crossworlds is a great game but it throws a few lacking punches. The dialogue in this game is horrendous, you will hate talking to any NPC because all they do is jabber on about quests in the longest way possible. They could have made speaking to them more interesting but instead you'll find yourself skipping what anyone has to say and concentrate on the quest objective. The soundtrack is pretty generic too. It doesn't necessarily add to the experience most of the times and you'll usually hear a few repeating tunes.

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Giant.. turtle monster. Does it get any better than that?

But that doesn't change that this is still a fun game, it's just. not for everyone. If you are a hardcore RPG enthusiast, you'll be playing this for the grindfest, not the story. It's not a hugely deep experience but once you hit your stride, you will not want to put this down (I've got 17 hours on it). If you are not into the other type of games into this genre, you will probably want to give this game a pass.

Overall I'm giving this a Gamerman

7/10

Please give me suggestions for anything else to review, I'm always open to ideas.

Let me clarify. The 35$ comes with Armored Princess, Crossworlds, and The Legend.


     
 







The 15$ one just comes with the new Crossworlds game.

40 comments:

  1. What? There's a blog? I was busy oogling the scantily clad chick that looks a bit too much like my ex. <_<

    Solid review though! I don't think I have a spare $55 at the moment, though. :(

    Curse you, Marvel vs Capcom preorder!!!

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  2. Wow, just read through all of that. Seems like a pretty interesting game. And seeing as RPG's are my 2nd favourite genre (fighting games ftw!) I'll have to check this out sometime!

    Thanks for another awesome review, Gamerman!

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  3. I started playing King's Bounty The Legend, a while ago. it really reminds me of the greatness of Heroes of Might and Magic series and I really liked it. Unfortunately I didn't feel too motivated to put all the time into playing it cause it seemed very long.

    I might actually just start on Armored princess instead as I heard its better. Might give it a go in a while again when I feel like it.

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  4. I've played this at a friends house a few nights ago actually. Review is done really, really well and hits all the important points IMO. Being an RPG fan here, I didn't like it a whole lot, but you mentioned that. Not worth $55 dollars for me though :P

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  5. looks interesting, i might check it out

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  6. Looks like something I could get into, I'll check it out.

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  7. Ahh, maybe I'll check it out :)
    Thanks for reviewing, I probably wouldn't have considered it otherwise

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  8. I was considering getting this during the last steam sale, now I'm kinda sad I didn't.

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  9. I was looking at this game during the Steam sale too. I almost bought it but decided not too. Your review makes me think about it again. If only I could play a demo or something to make up my mind.

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  10. I am loving the female lead's character design, but sadly I am not a fan of RPGs. I read through a bit of the review and it seems like something a few pals of mine would enjoy. Thank you!

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  11. Great review and great female in game. Following!

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  12. >the soundtrack isn't to die for
    >don't even suit the location it's playing on
    Okay, that's where the game lost me. I think soundtracks play a big part in the gameplay experience. If you don't get 'em right, you have a pretty big chance of ruining the game..

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  13. Love the graphics style on this!

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  14. Looks pretty interesting, but I don't think I quite have the time to give it a try. Thanks for the review nonetheless.

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  15. looks pretty cool, im a fan of rpg games myself

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  16. On the one hand, the game sounds really generic. On the other, giant turtle monster.

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  17. Another awesome review. This game reminds me of wc3

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  18. Reminds me of gauntlet dood lol, awesome review tho

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  19. OMG I love Crosswords!

    http://anoodle.blogspot.com/

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  20. Gamerman

    I could not find a posted e-mail, so please shoot me an e-mail at TheGameStoreGuy@hotmail.com at your earliest convenience.

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  21. This looks good, great review too!

    To bad I'm trying out magicka now :/

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  22. Great reviews! I also bought this one at the steam sale and I think it might be next in my lineup after I get through Amnesia!

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  23. I never heard of this game till this review, thanks man for the full details gonna put this on my gaming list.

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  24. Hnnnngh look at the ti-I mean what a fantastic review!
    Haha, in all seriousness though, this game looks pretty wicked, curses for not having a steam account *___*

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  25. i can never get into these games.

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  26. The screenshots look very similar to Dragon Age: Origins, but with less party members.

    Still, I like that style of gameplay. Maybe I'll check it out!

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  27. I'm sorry, I didn't read your review past the breasts. The breasts were good, though. The part before the breasts was so-so.

    :)

    twitter.com/#!/mikeyang52377

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  28. I had a lot of enjoyment out of this game. not a classic but fun.

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  29. The problem is, I can't really get into a game where I play the female character. Dunno why. :S

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  30. Doesn't look too shabby. A 7/10 is about as low as I go for games though. I like the graphics and style.

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  31. Seems like it's good. Magicka is just taking up a lot of my time though atm.

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  32. I'm dying to get my hands on a really intriguing RPG game. To be completely frank the only good ones I have played would be Kotor, Mass effect and Tales of symphonia. Why isn't Symphonia available for computer? It was years ago I played it :'(

    Will be following thuogh, this seems as a blog for me!

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  33. Not bad for a steam-discount game. I'm guessing that has worn out by now, though... (I should really check my blogs more!)

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