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Lionheart

Black Isle return en force with this history-altering epic.

As every good kobold-lover knows, the surprise release of Baldur’s Gate from developer Bioware breathed fresh life into a fading genre. No longer consigned to dark corners and seedy after-school role-playing clubs, the previously oppressed RPG fanatics revelled in their newfound acceptance. Recognising a lucrative market when they saw one, gaming companies released a plethora of quality RPG’s designed to slake the ravenous thirst of the gaming public. To those in the know, however, there was a game released in 1998, a game that deserved at least some of the credit for the revival now taking place – Fallout.

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What made Fallout particularly good, apart from the unusual (for an RPG) post apocalyptic setting, was its innovative character system, known as SPECIAL. SPECIAL is an acronym for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, these being the primary statistics of the main character. SPECIAL uses a skill-based system that was not common at the time, but which we now see incorporated into many new releases. It also uses a system of traits and perks to supplement character distinctiveness. It is a system that has gradually been adopted by most other RPG’s – the oft-hyped 3rd Edition rules used in the likes of Neverwinter Nights reflects this, adopting a similar “feat” system. The end result of the SPECIAL system is that characters can grow to accumulate the skills the player likes and finds most useful, instead of being railroaded into unwanted choices based on a character class picked right at the start of the game.

SPECIAL was an excellent system, and the boys at Reflexive Entertainment decided it was time to dust it off and take advantage of it once again, this time in their new game, Lionheart.

The game is based on an interesting premise, with a skewed version of real history providing the detailed story. Events begin with the Third Crusade, with the eponymous Richard heading off to the Holy Lands hoping to find some trouble. After a few encounters with archenemy Saladin, Richard - taking the advice of his chief advisor - gathers some holy artefacts and unwittingly tears a hole in the fabric of reality. Demons are released; Saladin and Richard join forces, defeating the demon horde and the evil advisor, and patching the hole in reality. But the damage is done, and the world is changed forever by this disjunction.

Reflexive use this story to present to us a medieval Europe that is saturated in magic. History travels a recognizable course, distorted with demons, magic and mythical creatures, until the game begins in the 16th century and the impending invasion of the Spanish Armada. The backdrop to this is a conflict based on the English Queen’s admission that her forces use magic to defend the realm. The Spanish, heavily influenced by the anti-magic Inquisition, prepare to invade. It is into this rich world that the player character enters.

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1. Excellent preview, Nick! Well done.

   Brenzer Saturday, 13 July 2002, 07:37:11

2. Well written. Good to see someone actually analyze the type of RPG'er this will appeal to. Most previews basically just say "2d RPG based on SPECIAL system".

   The more I read about Lionheart, the better it sounds.

   TiG Saturday, 13 July 2002, 21:00:42

3. Great review though I wish you'd touched on computer requirements to run the game.

   Bob C Monday, 15 July 2002, 20:06:32

4. As you said, Torment excelled as regards sculpting the events...I missed that while playing other BlackIsle RPG...the reason why I'm looking forward to Lionheart so much is because I hope it will unite the aspects of Fallout2 and Planescape Torment. Thanks for the preview, makes me wish the team would hurry up and realease the game already ^_^

   Aska Thursday, 18 July 2002, 07:53:47

5. Torment remans the best role-playing computer game. What an incredible story, told with both a flair for the unusual and a grip on the essential. Fallout was bloody good fun an all. This game, if BlackIsle haven't suffered a creative hemorage, will be the business, and will be relsihed by all true RPG lovers.

   Probably won't get the sales again, but as long as they make enough to keep in the business then we can all sleep easy.

   Sam Thursday, 18 July 2002, 08:50:14

6. I think Fallout 2 is the best RPG released.

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