King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame II Reviews

Paradox and Neocore’s sequel to the strategy/RPG hybrid King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame has received the review treatment a few more times, with scores and opinions that echo the mixed reception the title has been met with by the press.

GameSpot, 5.5/10.

A series of patches have improved the performance and stability of King Arthur II. The frame rates are still horrible (under 10 frames per second) on the main map, but as discussed, frame rates are now better in combat. The game also doesn’t crash as much as it did earlier, though infrequent crashes still occur. This is the second Paradox Interactive-published game in recent months (Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter is still being patched) to be released with significant technical issues; let’s hope Paradox can get these bugs under better control in the future.

King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame delivers as a role-playing game but flounders as a wargame, thanks to a lack of tactical depth. The combat just isn’t good, and that’s sad because King Arthur II tells a fantastic story. It’s better than those seen in most full-fledged RPGs these days, it has a different take on morality systems, and it captures the mysterious and wondrous spirit of Arthurian legend.

NowGamer, 7.5/10.

While not for fans of true strategy, King Arthur 2 instead offers a lighter package for those threatened by the weight of games like Total War. The adventuring is full of charm, and if played in small bursts, King Arthur 2 will keep you busy for a while.

Gamedon, 4.0/5.

In conclusion King Arthur II is a very good game that tries to utilise both aspects of the RTS and RPG genres but doesn’t quite seem to have it perfected yet, there is a large focus on the narrative and story which in itself is a good feature but I found the voice over quite distracting and slowed quests down, worst of all was the decision for the narrator to do different character voices which the first time this happened I couldn’t help but laugh because one moment it’s a gruff male voice then suddenly an imitation of a child.

The idea of individual units levelling up is nice which coupled with the inability to group units during battles made the game rather micro intensive.

The biggest issue I encountered playing this game was the lack of Steam overlay which didn’t allow me to chat while playing which after being so use to it was rather disappointing although I’m sure this will be fixed soon.