King's Bounty : Armored Princess Review

Title : King's Bounty : Armored Princess
Ted Puffer Rating : 2 Stars

This is a game that's hard to hate. It has good graphics and is a turn-based strategy game which is my heart's desire. But there is a fatal flaw that keeps it from becoming 'great'. It's linear. VERY linear.

The story is good, and actually deserves a post of it's own because it is complex, has many characters and immerses the player in intrigue and suspense. But the caviat is that there is no way to play the game where you are given a choice of options to affect the outcome.

You start as the leader of a squad. Pretty standard and a good start for a turn based game. As you explore a series of islands across a mythical world you encounter squads of bad guys you need to wipe out. As you prevail against these encounters, your character and army gathers resources (gold) and experience to make you a more efficient fighter.

But the squads have been placed so that you will constantly encounter tougher and tougher opponents. This makes sense, because there isn't much fun having your hind quarters constantly handed to you over the course of a campaign. This also means that your experience at the grand finale is going to be the same no matter which decisions you make as to what islands to explore. In a sense, you could have just easily had your character start on one end of a vast road, with the main boss at the other end. You take one step on the road, fight, take another step, fight a tougher group, take another step, etc.

So while this game has a lot to go for it, you essentially don't have any decisions to make, and therefore the end seems shallow. No matter what you do, the outcome would be the same. I do like strategy titles which rely on... well... strategy.