Lionheart

Black Isle return en force with this history-altering epic.

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Humanity has evolved into four distinct races, each of which is playable. There are pureblood humans, the original stock, with no magical abilities. Then there are the three magical races – the Sylvant, the Demokin and the Feralkin. The Sylvant are descended from those affected greatly by the disjunction, and they are the most affinitive to magic. The Demokin are descended from those aligned with fiendish spirits, while the Feralkin are descended from those associated with animal spirits. As well as being playable, the races also populate the game world, and your choice of race will greatly affect how people receive you. If you’re seven foot tall with red skin and big horns, for instance, the arch conservative Inquisition are not going to like you much. Reflexive promise interesting competition and bias between the races, the prejudice generated against certain of them will ensure a more visceral gaming experience.

Players will also be able to align themselves with various factions. The aforementioned Inquisition is a powerful group of hysterical witch hunters, always looking for (and finding, no doubt) demonic influence. Another faction Reflexive has announced is the Knights Templar. In real history, the Templar Knights were an immensely rich and powerful group. Their power was based on their control of the lucrative pilgrim trade – pilgrims setting off to the Holy Land from Western Europe could lodge funds in a Templar barracks in Paris and receive a note of credit to be redeemed when they reached Jerusalem. Essentially, they became Europe’s first bankers. Their power aroused the jealousy of other holy orders and Phillip of France, resulting in a conspiracy that caused their downfall in the 14th Century. In the alternative history provided by Reflexive, the Templars did not suffer this fate, but survived to become another of the game’s powerful factions, with their chief aim the prevention of another disjunction. Obviously things like race and previous actions will affect which factions are more favourable towards you, and which would like to give you a good kicking.

The geography and demographics of renaissance-era Europe are also featured, but with a darker, post-cataclysmic feel. The disjunction destroyed most of old Europe’s population centres, as well as a good portion of northern France and England. Familiar cities feature in the game, displaying a darker and twisted version of their real counterparts. The starting city, for instance, is called Nueva Barcelona, and is a thriving and dangerous metropolis dominated by the politics of the Inquisition. Europe is much darker, more chilling, in Lionheart’s world.

To bring all this to life, Reflexive use their own Velocity Engine. It’s no radical departure from previous RPG’s like Baldurs Gate, and the detailed 2D backdrops should be familiar to fans of the genre. While not as cutting-edge as recent 3D based RPG’s, the engine does the job well, and allows the developers to avoid the myriad pitfalls of a 3D engine and concentrate on what a good RPG does best. That said, the engine does have its niceties. The character models are essentially 3D models, but are rendered on the fly during the game into 2D sprites. This affords the game several advantages. The models gain the benefits of extra 3D detail, and altering the models becomes much simpler, allowing a more complete armour and clothes wearing system. Converting the models to 2D ensures that they do not look out of place amongst the pre-drawn 2D backdrops. Personally, I’m pleased to see another 2D RPG. I like to see RPG developers concentrate on a great story and a well-realised world…something that can be lost in the race to keep up with technology. Having played Neverwinter Nights almost to its conclusion, I can say that I am aching to play a more traditional 2D Black Isle RPG again. The 2D backdrops have more character, in my humble opinion…