Never tought I would see a great Robin Hood game.
Plot (4/5):
Taking the basic story from Robin Hood, game designers have managed to keep things interesting during the entire game. So much we forget we're playing a game based on missions. All the important things are here: from the return of Robin from the Crusades to the return of king Richard, going through the rescue of Robin's allies and the un-concluded marriage of Maid Marian. It all flows quite well and you get that feel of a plot going always at the right pace.
Game-play (4/5):
There are 3 types of missions: missions with specific objectives concerning the plot, robbery missions to raise money, and castle defense/assault missions. The first type is the one where new main areas will be shown to you, even though later you'll be playing missions of the 3rd type at those sites. There will always be something important concerning the plot during these missions; the robbery missions are usually short, played at small portions of the forest, where you will be able to use traps made of logs and ground nets to capture passing carts loaded with gold or supplies, and also call allies hidden in the trees by firing an arrow at the right targets. You won't be setting these traps yourself, they are already there when the mission begins; in the defense/assault missions you basically have to defend or (re)conquer a castle (and its surrounding village). There will be allied units to rescue and several important enemy units which you'll have to kill/arrest in order to complete the mission.
During the game you'll have to kill the less enemies possible (surprisingly, you'll won't miss the blood) if you want many merry-men to join you at Sherwood and produce all the items you'll need during the missions: arrows, bags of money, hunting nets, food, etc.
The game covers 5 large areas and several smaller ones including your hideout at the center of Sherwood. This is perhaps my only relevant complain about the game: you play over 30 missions all of them in the same locations, and even if there are weather and daytime changes, it gets repetitive on this aspect, specially considering how beautiful and catchy these locations look. During the game you alternate between all these locations, going back to Sherwood every time to restore your character's health and items, and also to train them so they can get more skilled at combat.
Combat and Interaction (5/5):
This is one of the best elements of the game.
All your main characters have their own way of fighting and this is perhaps the only isometric game out there on which you can control your weapon using the mouse. You can use it to swing at enemy soldiers, push them back, knock them out, etc, and all will depend on how strong your character (and the enemy character) is. All characters have both a life bar and an energy bar, so when fighting against strong opponents you'll have to be careful not to tire yours too much.
The interaction factor is really great both in combat and during normal game-play: you'll be able to climb walls, jump over rooftops, unlock doors, open draw bridges, push enemy soldiers against each other as they run towards you making most of them fall on the floor, throw objects and make them ricochet on house walls and much more. The physics in this game are so accurate that some punches might miss the target if he moves, the actual length of the weapon you're using will count when you swing it with your mouse, and sleeping soldiers will wake up if you bump into them.
Of course, following similar games' tradition, your characters can run, walk, move quietly, knock enemies out by their back and distract them in all sorts of ways depending on the special abilities they have.
Artificial Intelligence (4/5):
Enemy soldiers' reaction is always difficult to predict. they may call the captain or run away until danger is over, the captain may try to find you or simply tell his soldiers to run the entire village on review to find you hiding in some house or they may look for you and give up rather quickly; they may fight for the bag of gold you thrown at the floor or they may say "that's not my money!..." or simply stop fighting if the captain sees them. Even though you can feel their actions are triggered by specific events, there is still the right amount of randomness on their attitudes.
As for your soldiers, they will usually hold the enemy alive for as long as possible until you pick and control them, and they usually have good enough path-finding.
Visuals (4/5):
I simply love the visuals on this game. Everything is done at the right scale and the pre-rendered graphics look like a mix of 18th/19th century landscape paintings and those didactic coloured books where you could see the interior of castles through a cut on the walls. Yet, they don't kook static at all: there will always be birds flying from roof to roof, small rivers running, windmills rotating, etc. This is why the lack of more areas to explore is so noticeable.
Music and Sound Effects (4/5):
The music on this game isn't the best out there but it sets the right mood and isn't annoying, so that's enough for me. The sound effects are all good, going from the animals to the fights, and you'll notice how detailed they are if you listen to the several footstep sounds used depending if the characters are going through grass, wood, stone or water.
The voice acting is also good enough: without trying to be too serious, every character has the right tone and accent and they are the best vehicle for the good dose of humour this game provides.
Bugs (4/5):
Except the fact that sometimes your characters will stop when they reach the lying enemy soldier instead of tiding him up, there isn't any bug worth mentioning.
Conclusion:
This is a rich strategy/adventure game with lots of possibilities where all important factors were taken into account, and I wonder why this game and specially this graphic engine hasn't been used since (to do a great isometric RPG perhaps?...).