Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

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Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader
multiplayer

Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader is an

medieval history by allowing demons and other similar beings to enter the mortal realm. During the game, the protagonist encounters and interacts with numerous historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei who are represented as non-player characters
.

Lionheart utilizes the

SPECIAL role-playing system, which was first used in the Fallout series
, and in this game functions primarily in adding points to specific skills in separate trees to strengthen a character's "Spiritkind", which has a personality and nature chosen by the player at the start of the game.

Gameplay

As Lionheart implements the

SPECIAL system, the character creation is similar to that of the Fallout series. Players begin by setting the values of their characters' strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck, and selecting "traits", which alter a character's inherent abilities for either better or worse, for the duration of the game. In addition, the player must distribute points to "skills" – abilities which a character uses to achieve various effects. One skill, "diplomacy," allows the player to talk their way out of situations gone awry, while another, "sneak", allows the player to move undetected by enemies. Unlike the Fallout series, Lionheart also allows the player to select magical
skills – an example being "discord", which turns hostile enemies against one another.

Players also select "perks" during the course of the game – abilities similar to traits, which affect a character's abilities in some form. For example, the ability "Superior Senses" grants the player character a +1 bonus to his or her perception and +15 skill points in the "find traps/secret doors" skill.

Another element newly introduced by Lionheart is the player's selection of a "Spiritkind" for their character, which is done during character generation at the game's start. A Spiritkind is a spirit, which is either demonic, elemental or bestial, that resides in the player character and occasionally rouses to explain happenings or gameplay mechanics, or advance the plot.

The character generated by the player is the only character a player has direct control over, and though characters will occasionally join a player's adventuring party, they are AI-controlled without exception.

Plot

The setting of Lionheart is an

Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade, a decision exploited by a mysterious source to fuel a ritual that tore the fabric of reality and caused magic to enter the world from other dimensions.[1]

The game takes place in 1588 and initially set in an alternate history version of Barcelona. In this time, the Spanish Armada is almost set to invade England, and the Inquisition is rampant. Lionheart features several Renaissance figures who make ahistorical appearances in the game, including Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Leonardo da Vinci.

The plot of Lionheart sees the player character, discovered to be a descendent of Richard the Lionheart, inherit the powers obtained during the Disjunction. Players follow the story through aligning with one of the four main factions in the game – the Knights Templar, the Inquisition, the Knights of Saladin and the Wielders – and are tasked with stopping an attempt to permanently open the dimensional rift, and alter the course of European history.[2]

Development

Fallout fan interest".[5]

Production of Lionheart was strained, with both developer and publisher in financial stress. Ion Hardie notes Reflexive Entertainment was "literally one day away from making hard choices that might have shut us down for good when we got the contract (for Lionheart)". Interplay also bore significant financial issues that prevented them from providing the developer with milestone payments, with Hardie stating "(Interplay) had issues getting us the initial payment.[5]

Release

The game went gold on July 16, 2003. As with other Interplay titles at the time,

Avalon Interactive
handled European distribution.

Reception

Lionheart received "mixed" reviews according to the

hack-and-slash gameplay after a more dialogue-driven approach in the earlier stages of the game. IGN's Barry Brenesal wrote, "the problem of deciding what kind of game it really wants to be, RPG or Diablo clone, is probably the most serious problem it's got." He continued that Lionheart "feels like a good game got lost somewhere en route, and ended up being pushed out the door with some basic features missing."[14] RPGamer's Steven Bellotti assessed that the game "starts out so promising," but "once you get out of Barcelona and into the wider world, [it] falls flat on its face."[18]

Conversely the game was praised for both its musical score, which was described as "excellent," and voice-acting, which was exclaimed to be "top-notch."

SPECIAL system-fueled character creation was called "great."[18]

References

  1. ^ "Lionheart: An interview with Ion Hardie – The stories". The Gamers' Temple. 2003. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Lionheart: An interview with Ion Hardie – The game world". The Gamers' Temple. 2003. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ^ Knudsen, Kurt (12 August 2003). "Lionheart Interview". Gamers Hell. Archived from the original on 19 August 2003.
  4. ^ "Ion Hardie of Reflexive Entertinament". Eurogamer. 5 August 2002. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Ion Hardie on Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader". RPG Codex. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader goes gold".
  7. ^ a b "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  8. ^ Coffey, Robert (November 2003). "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 232. pp. 134–35. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader". Game Informer. No. 126. October 2003. p. 141.
  10. Game Revolution. Archived
    from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b Kasavin, Greg (18 August 2003). "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  12. ^ Abner, William (2 September 2003). "GameSpy: Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  13. ^ Lafferty, Michael (25 August 2003). "Lionheart [Legacy of the Crusader] – PC – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  14. ^ a b c Brenesal, Barry (26 August 2003). "Lionheart [Legacy of the Crusader]". IGN. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  15. ^ "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader". PC Gamer UK. October 2003.
  16. ^ Peckham, Matthew (November 2003). "Lionheart [Legacy of the Crusader]". PC Gamer: 132. Archived from the original on 15 March 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  17. X-Play. Archived from the original
    on 21 September 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  18. ^ a b Bellotti, Steven (2003). "Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader – Review". RPGamer. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2006.

External links