An enjoyable return to Mallory's Britannia through the misty and shadowed lens of Neocore's unique vision.

User Rating: 9.5 | King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame PC
Lighter on the 'Wargame' but longer on the 'Roleplaying' than its predecessor, this second entry into the series still manages to capture all of the unique flavor and atmosphere of the first.

The gameplay itself is vastly similar to the first, though there are a few obvious omissions and additions. Most notable, probably, would be the excising of the 'kingdom management' aspects of KA1. There is still a strong measure of geographical control on the attractive campaign map, but each region has been streamlined to provide only upgrade tiers instead of the full economic/political model of yesteryear. Though I was initially reluctant to embrace this change, 25+ hours spent on the game have warmed me to it considerably.

The storyline is interesting and unique, as well. Darker than the original, it conveys the growing sense of dread and menace quite well and is immersive, engaging, and a lot of fun to follow.

Character development is deeper and less erratic, with more focus on specific skill trees and a much greater emphasis on gear progression.

The diplomatic model is much closer to KA1's dlcs than the original itself, but even then it has been greatly expanded and deepened. A very worthwhile substitute for the otherwise-absent motif of actual management.

Performance-wise, there has been a hotbed of controversy on most of the forums surrounding this game's release. Many users complain about bad FPS and sub-par performance. I'm not going to address those complaints at any length because, quite frankly, the game plays absolutely perfectly for me. I get 50-60 FPS with most settings maxed and the whole product looks and feels breathtaking and beautiful.