Rating: 
Summary: The Legacy of the Crusader. . .
Review: "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader" is a good, if not quite great, role-playing game that may not live up to the usual standards of Black Isle Studios, but regardless it's yet another deep and vastly entertaining jewel in the company's sparkling crown. The game casts you as the scion of King Richard the Lionhearted in an alternate reality setup which blends magic and historic fact into an interesting, and refreshingly unique, world. It assumes that the events immediately following the Crusades caused a disjunction in time and space, and magical spirits and creatures were unleashed upon the Medieval world. Naturally, it is your job to defeat a great evil (or become a great evil if you prefer), and you begin this endeavor by joining one of four factions that actually determine how the first portion of the game plays out. You can ally yourselves with the Inquisition (who seek out the world's magic-tainted "heretics" and purify them through pain or death), the Knights Templar (who seek to cleanse the world of evil magics), the Wielders (who embrace magic and employ it in secrecy beneath the searching eyes of the Inquisition), or the Dark Wielders (who are much like their good counterparts, but seek instead of acceptance the power to rule the world and remake it as they see fit). Even though the game world can still feel a little bit Dungeons & Dragon-ish, it remains exceptional enough to make a lasting impression. Expect to bump into all kinds of historic figures, including Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci, to name but a few. Yes, the world is quite interesting, but the storyline doesn't quite live up to that same pervading quality. Even so, you'll find a lot to do in this game apart from the main campaign. Hardcore RPGers rejoice - you will get your money's worth out of "Lionheart." Like many games of its type, it also packs in a high replay value, since there are multiple beginning and endings. If you take up with the Dark Wielders and choose a darker path through the game, the finale will reflect that - and so will the quests your faction requires you to perform. Early on in the game, the Inquisition may want you to remove the magical taint from the Barcelona Temple District, while the Wielders require you to construct a magical staff to prove your worth. "Lionheart" does not force your hand, but offers you choices instead. Thankfully, "Lionheart" does away with the stereotypical roleplaying class system. You will choose your character's race and gender, and the rest you decide through tweaking your statistics, your strengths and abilities. Do you want to be a fighter and a wielder of magic? Go ahead, nothing is stopping you. It's a delightful change of pace. Unfortunately, "Lionheart" has its share of problems, and the worst of those problems is its interface, which takes a lot of getting used to - and even then it's more trouble than it should be. Combat can be mildly engaging, but generally becomes tedious, and isn't all that exciting to witness. The game's production values are a mixed bag as well. On the one hand, it has a beautiful orchestral soundtrack, but repetition of the particular pieces can become monotonous. Some of the game's sound effects do their job nicely, while most of your opponents will do their best to annoy you with their repetitive shrieks and cries. The graphics are crisp and clear, and the game's environments are quite attractive. The game's characters, however, could have benefited from more detail, and they are generally quite badly animated - and they're not always smart either. I once released magic-infused "heretics" from the Inquisition dungeons in plain view of Inquisitor guardsmen who simply looked on dumbly. They did not make any attempts to thwart my rescue efforts, and when I spoke to them after the fact they were very polite and apparently oblivious to my rebellion. That kind of thing can get in the way of the suspension of disbelief, it goes without saying. Oh, yes, and brace yourself for an anti-climactic finale - and I don't just mean the end game sequence, I mean the end game all together. What begins as a genuinely deep and compelling RPG degenerates into a mindless hack-and-slash dungeon crawl with very little story to propel it. And yes, the end game sequence is just plain bad, almost insulting when you've poured so many hours into the game. When will developers realize that endings ARE important to a game's overall level of satisfaction?! Ultimately, I liked "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader," and I would recommend it to any fan of its respective genre with only a few reservations. The game offers you a wealth of roleplaying options and flows at a decent clip. It certainly has its flaws, but none of them are crippling, and its virtues are plentiful. Final Score: C+ (four stars on a curve)
Rating: 
Summary: Another excellent Interplay game ruined by crippling errors
Review: After loosely following the production of this game for several months, a friend informed me that it was out. Being a Fallout buff (the SPECIAL system being used in Lionheart and all) and a (former) fan of Black Isle and Interplay, I immediately ordered it. When it came, I tore into the box, read the instruction manual... installed the game... and six hours later it sat uninstalled. Why is this? After spending three hours playing a game, I experienced a severe error that caused me to crash to the desktop whenever I tried to leave the map I was currently on. I had no saves beforehand, and would have had to start over. Normally, I'd just try over again and hope for the best, but after checking the official Lionheart Support Forum, I found that it is apparently a common occurence, usually happening when you have a companion in your party, and seemingly at random. Since I had Cervantes in my party at the time(an interesting character who acts like a real life version of his creation, Don Quixote), I can only assume that he triggered the errors. Just like so many other Interplay games (Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel comes to mind), it's a great looking, innovative game that is rendered almost unplayable by Interplay's complete and total lack of quality assurance and debugging. I only gave this game such a bad rating because, quite frankly, I can't stand the prospect of playing a game for several days, only to have a small random error destroy the time I've spent on it. If you're deadset on buying it, then it's strongly suggested that you watch out for patches and pay attention to the support forums beforehand to see what you're getting into. Were it not so buggy, it'd probably get four stars as opposed to two. The NPCs you run into are interesting, the gameplay is unique, and it managed to integrate the SPECIAL system into real time combat nicely (without a Fallout: Tactics Continuous Turn Based setup, which surprised me). Hopefully, Interplay will release some patches quickly, but given their track record, it will most likely be too little and too late.
Rating: 
Summary: Play the first chapter, then quit
Review: As the title says, the first chapter of this game is very intruiging. You get to choose which factions to follow, how to develop your character and have an interesting world at your fingertips. Unfortunately, after that, the rest of the game is a major letdown. The plotline is obvious and very linear (your beginning choices no longer matter) and it quickly becomes boring and painful to play. If you can find this game cheap and used, go for it, play the first chapter and then stop. You'll be left with happy memories of a fun game.
Rating:
Summary: Play the first chapter, then quit
Review: As the title says, the first chapter of this game is very intruiging. You get to choose which factions to follow, how to develop your character and have an interesting world at your fingertips. Unfortunately, after that, the rest of the game is a major letdown. The plotline is obvious and very linear (your beginning choices no longer matter) and it quickly becomes boring and painful to play. If you can find this game cheap and used, go for it, play the first chapter and then stop. You'll be left with happy memories of a fun game.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe they should have Beta tested it.
Review: Don't buy this thing until you see a patch. I bought this around 8/28/03. Constant crashes to desktop. I went to their website to see what the problem was, and I am NOT the only one experiencing this problem. Don't hand them [the money] until they fix it. Game is worth playing but it's much more efficient when it WORKS.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn!
Review: Dull, dull, dull... This game is really not up to the standard we have come to expect from Black Isle and Interplay. Primary Headaches: Inability to pause and target enemies during combat. (Makes archers and magic users just about useless), Boring quests - the kind we expected in the early days of roleplaying. Games is not the most stable I have seen either. All in all, you are better off going back and paying an earlier Black Isle game.
Rating: 
Summary: Best RPG since Planescape...
Review: From the name behind the Fallout series and Planescape Torment comes Lionheart. Ive put many hours into this game already, and I can easily say its the best computer RPG since Planescape. The story is instantly deep and satisfying, this game is worth the $$$ all the way!!
Rating:
Summary: Unplayable for me
Review: I bought this game and was hoping for a fun RPG experience. I thoroughly enjoy almost every RPG type game I play, and I was really excited about this one. My fiance and I both bought copies so we could play the multiplayer version as well! We instantly had problems installing and loading the game, we each had to uninstall and reinstall it once in order for it to work. We have high-end systems, since we both work in the computer game industry. We finally got them both working and we started playing. The character generation is pretty fun - I give them points for that. It's complex and interesting, I enjoyed making my character. So then we do this getting out of jail quest, and get a spirit and that all is interesting too. Finally we get unleashed in to the game and that's where it all goes downhill. First thing is you're in this gigantic town and you basically have to talk to everyone. I enjoy this part of RPGs, but in moderation. We spent about 30 minutes talking to different NPCs, then decided to go find something to kill. We immediately got our butts kicked by some critter, I can't remember what. My fiance quit at that point and I decided to go back to the town and talk to more NPCs. I get one to give me a quest - Go find this guy and talk to him (yippee!). So I go find the guy, he immediately calls over a bunch of thugs, they kill me, game over. At that point I quit, because playing a game is supposed to be FUN, not frustrating. I don't recommend this game, I think it's a waste of money. There are so many good games out there! Try Dungeon Siege for a much more fun RPG, or even the D&D games like Temple of Elemental Evil and Pool of Radiance. Also, Morrowind is much better than Lionheart. Any of those would be a better choice!
Rating:
Summary: Unplayable for me
Review: I bought this game and was hoping for a fun RPG experience. I thoroughly enjoy almost every RPG type game I play, and I was really excited about this one. My fiance and I both bought copies so we could play the multiplayer version as well! We instantly had problems installing and loading the game, we each had to uninstall and reinstall it once in order for it to work. We have high-end systems, since we both work in the computer game industry. We finally got them both working and we started playing. The character generation is pretty fun - I give them points for that. It's complex and interesting, I enjoyed making my character. So then we do this getting out of jail quest, and get a spirit and that all is interesting too. Finally we get unleashed in to the game and that's where it all goes downhill. First thing is you're in this gigantic town and you basically have to talk to everyone. I enjoy this part of RPGs, but in moderation. We spent about 30 minutes talking to different NPCs, then decided to go find something to kill. We immediately got our butts kicked by some critter, I can't remember what. My fiance quit at that point and I decided to go back to the town and talk to more NPCs. I get one to give me a quest - Go find this guy and talk to him (yippee!). So I go find the guy, he immediately calls over a bunch of thugs, they kill me, game over. At that point I quit, because playing a game is supposed to be FUN, not frustrating. I don't recommend this game, I think it's a waste of money. There are so many good games out there! Try Dungeon Siege for a much more fun RPG, or even the D&D games like Temple of Elemental Evil and Pool of Radiance. Also, Morrowind is much better than Lionheart. Any of those would be a better choice!
Rating:
Summary: I have enjoyed this game
Review: I knew this product was Black Isle, so I was hoping it was on the same level as the Fallout series. I was not disappointed. This game is not a straight dungeon crawl. There are a multitude of quests to go on, and a lot of them involve running back and forth to places you have already been. (I personally hate that!) I think this may be more combat oriented than Fallout, and there isn't that dreaded timeline you have to beat. You simply get a quest, and accomplish it. Also, unlike Fallout, this game doesn't appear to have a turned based mode. It is live, which is fine, because that enforces more tactics, while still allowing you to function easily. I'm almost done with it, and I am looking forward to loading it on the wife's computer, so we can try multiplayer. A solid game.
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