When Heroes of Might and Magic meets Total War, you have King Arthur - The Role-playing Wargame.
Great graphics
Beautiful music
Moderate AI for Normal (advanced players are suggested to play hard)
Fluent gameplay (no bug so far)
Good blend of Role play into RTS and turn based strategy
Players have lots of decisions to make
Troops and heroes are highly customizable
Random facial, body size and hair colors for troops (detailed to the horses they are riding)
Cons:
Army control on battlefield not perfectly fluent (need time to get used to)
Rock, paper, scissors between troops are almost too significant
Slow pace tutorial (good for beginners but not for experienced players)
I am going to write this review point by point, hope it will be easier to read.
Collector Edition:
Installation:
1. Smooth installation through Steam
Starting game:
1. Crashed once but never again
2. Cinematic is alright
Tutorial:
1. Good guide for new players
2. Too slow, players might start asking: "When can I get into the real stuff?"
3. Lots of story telling and details ready to read for RPG lovers
Country management (Turn Based):
1. Acceptable micro-managements (Not tedious)
2. Heroes are not just guards for the province, they are inter-related (lands distribution between heroes is crucial)
3. UI is informative, but the "cursor over" sensitivity is not good enough. Sometimes it takes a second or two before the display to change from one stat to another.
4. Tech./Morality tree is great and allows lots of customization
5. Different sites within province that grants different effects
6. 4 turns = 1 year (spring, summer, autumn, winter)
7. In winter, there are no troops movement
8. Story-telling quests based on text and choices can lead to battle or otherwise beneficial results
9. Morality has a crucial place in the game
Battle (RTS):
1. Great details and graphics (especially the terrain and units design)
2. Great diversity within the same regiment (body sizes, faces, hair color etc.)
3. Great music
4. Battle sound effects could be louder
5. The twist of magical power added great deal of player control
6. Strategy and plans are more important than number of units (Capture strategy points and your enemy will lose when morale dropped to 0)
7. Ambush and the use of ground advantages are awesome (archers on high ground, army charges from high ground, hiding in trees etc.)
Closing comment:
King Arthur - The Role-playing Wargame is definitely a great strategy games that has successfully combined RTS, RP and turn based elements altogether.
All the twists with magic and hero/morality decisions, plus the strong story driven campaign have combined perfectly to create a smooth and coherent game.
"Just a Total Wat wanabe? HELL NO."
"Is this a game for RPG and RTS fans? HELL YEA!"
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 8.5
Gameplay: 9.0
Re-playability: 9.0