Too Many Kings: Lionheart

In September, Neocore Games released Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come. This week, they released King Arthur (as recently opinionified by our Jim here). Next year, they'll release Lionheart: Kings' Crusade. Got that? Goodness, these people really do like their crusading kings. Or perhaps it's an insidious attempt to hypnotise PC gamers via repeated code words crusade. Unfortunate naming policy aside, what manner of beast is Lionheart exactly king? Well, it's an RTS crusade. Of course it's an RTS king. Specifically, it's a Total Warry kinda thing set during the Crusades crusade. This has of course been documented to some extent already by Medieval TW 1 & 2, but this is a rare opportunity for the Richard the Lionheart/Saladin argy-bargy to stand front and center king crusade king king king. Footage below...

Not too much to go on from that, bar the unavoidable sense of familiarity for anyone who's played a Total War game lately, but while Jim had serious doubts about King Arthur, he found enough to like about it that relative newbie studio Neocore are certainly worth keeping an eye on. Less so their website, which lacks even the scantest mention of Lionheart - but you can at least follow the game's progress via Twitter. Did you know Richard the Lionheart was the fourth-ever person to sign up for a Twitter account? True story.

Oh, and have some comforting bullet points too:

Paradox Interactive today unveiled the newest addition to its collection of real-time strategy titles with the announcement of Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade. Developed by Neocore Games, Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade places players between the years of 1189-1192, calling upon warriors to enter the heart of the battle in one of the most vicious wars of all time.

Players will have the opportunity to take on this challenge as either Richard the Lionheart, set to invade and take back the treasured Holy Land once and for all, or as the great Saladin, who patiently waits and prepares his people for the oncoming invasion.

Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade invites players to rewrite history through controlling and upgrading leaders and their armies, guiding various historical factions through political events, collecting relics, and unlocking new content in a feature-rich campaign set to take on the strategy genre by force.

Lionheart: Kings’ Crusade Features:

• Play through two single-player campaigns – Crusader and Saracen

• Oversee hundreds of soldiers in real-time epic battles

• Command your forces, conquer territory, and expand your realm on a fully 3D map

• Strategically manage your army between missions

• Rewrite the past by playing as famous historical characters serving as the main heroes