Knights of Honor is the rare game that revolutionalizes the depth and breadth of the strategy genre. A true classic!
User Rating: 9 | Knights of Honor PC
Let me begin by stating that I am a fan of the medieval world. Don't get me wrong, you won't see me at any Renaissance Fairs wearing a month's salary on homemade armor. Nor do I don't fantasize about damsels in distress, jousting matches, and mysterious wizards in the forest. But when it comes to movies or games, I'm a sucker for a guy clad in plate armor stuck on a white horse galloping toward overwhelming enemy forces screaming "Honor!". With that said, I must also admit that I have never attempted my own review of a game on gamespot.com nor any other gaming website. Even despite the three months of my life that I lost to World of Warcraft or the hundreds of hours I lost to online Halo 2 multiplayer matches, I've never quite felt the necessity to write a review. Part of the reason, most likely, is because the reviews of those games says enough (I believe they both scored above 9.5). What more can be said?! When I read the reviews of "Knights of Honor", I was almost ready to pass it off as another strategy title whose goal was lofty and who success was shortcoming. But something within me told me this game was going to be different. After dedicating over 20 hours of gameplay in four days (alot for a guy with a family and a full-time job), I must now confess that "KOH" is one of the most addictive and engrossing games I've ever come across. Yes, some would say that the learning-curve is steep. Some would say that the game tries to do so much. These arguments may hold up if you compare "KOH" to games such as the "Command and Conquer" series or "Warcraft". True this game causes the gamer to think more than act, especially at the early stages of the campaign. However, if you are someone who wants something other than memorizing keystrokes and massing gigantic armies, you may want to try "KOH". The game manages to boil several complex elements of democracy, clandestine operations, town management and even battles into several easy to manage steps. Battles can either be fought first-hand (i.e. Total War: Rome style) or from the strategic view (i.e. Risk). While the first-hand battles are good, they don't compare to the detail and scale of Total War. Oddly enough, you probably won't miss the battles. When you have several armies operating on several fronts, it's much easier to watch your success from the throne rather than the hillside. What's most difficult to describe is the addictive nature of the game. While all of these elements sound familiar, I've never found them to be so well integrated into a single gaming package. The joy of arranging a marriage with an opposing king just before having your spy assassinate him is something I've never experienced before. Watching your war machine march across Ireland only to find a band of rebels tearing apart your home country is a frustration that's actually fun to behold. While this game may not be for all (a single campaign can last tens of hours of gameplay), the payoff is so much greater. And if you don't think you're in the mood, go watch Braveheart. Then you'll be itchin' to play the province of Highlands, just so you can create those Highland soldiers with those two-handed Claymore swords. "For Freedom!"
