Previous Next

Re-capture the long-lost days of chivalry in this stunning release from Cinemaware

The King is dead, long live the King - whoever that may be. Britain lies in disarray, following the Monarch's premature demise at the hands of Normans. The crowd has been stolen and the future of Britain lies in your hands. Only those of strong heart and noble spirit may attept to deliver the country from the hands of the Norman oppressors and retake the throne in the name of the Saxons.

Defender Of The Crown gives you the chance to re-live the age of chivalry, taking charge of knights and castles in an attempt to conquer the Normans, liberate Britain and thus become its ruler.

After film-style opening credits, you make a choice between four Lords, each having differing strengths in the disciplines of Swordplay, Leadership, and Jousting. Having made this choice, the game proper loads and a screen appears with a portrait of your character and information about his current Income, Wealth, Strength of Army, and individual Characteristics. This screen reappears after each 'turn' (representing a month in game time), and the portrait alters according to the character's mood, which in turn depends on the current state of play.

The action takes place across a map of Medieval Britain which is divided into nineteen areas, including Sherwood Forest. Six of these areas are occupied by castles, with three held by Normans to the South, and three held by Saxons in the North.

Each area has a set income, dependent on the taxes brought in from the working peasants. Land is gained by either annexing unoccupied territory or actually defeating an enemy Lord in combat, therefore driving him from the disputed area.

The main menu appears at the top left of the map, featuring six options: Conquest, Tournament, Go Raiding, Buy Army, Read Map and Pass.

Selecting the Conquest option brings up another menu with the options to Read Map, Transfer and Move Army. This allows you to determine the strengths of your enemies, transfer men and equipment from your garrison to your army, and physically move your army to any land adjacent to that which is under your influence.

Combat takes place on moving into territory occupied by an enemy army. You have several options during the battle, including Ferocious Attack, Bombard or Retreat, but the ultimate outcome is determined by the computer, and is mainly dependent on the strengths of the opposing armies. The battle is displayed symbolically, with the armies represented by single men or mounted knights - corresponding to 25 and 10 units respectively.

When the result of the month's conflicts has been decided, the map displays the newly-acquired territories, positioning the corresponding battle colours in each one. A new month then begins and the income from your lands is added to your account. When enough gold has been saved, you may access the Buy Army feature and purchase Footmen, Knights, Siege Machines or even a Castle.

Tournaments are called as the months roll by (either by yourself or by other Lords), and honour decrees that you must attend. Before the joust itself, you have the choice to fight for land or fame. Selecting land enables you to fight for Territory (which can be won or lost), or Fame which increases your leadership traits.

Following a fanfare of trumpets, an overhead view of the tournament quickly switches to a side view showing the two combatants as they charge towards each other on their mighty steeds. Before they meet, the viewpoint changes again to that of your character, where the final control of the lance falls into your hands.

Correctly positioning the end of the lance on your opponent's shield and pressing the Fire button at the last moment sends him sprawling to the ground. A moment too earyl or too late, however, and you take a similarly ingracious dive, and your day at the tournament has ended. If you are skillful enough to win three jousts in succession, you are named as the champion for the day, and receive a prize of gold.

The option to 'go raiding' allows you to indulge in some clandestine night-time manoeuvres. Having chosen an opponent's castle, you take a group of your best men and fight your way to an inner sanctum where gold booty is your reward. Failing to despatch the guard-at-arms results in your capture, where a hefty bribe is needed to secure your freedom. You then return to your castle, poorer, but wiser.

During your quest for the throne, your destiny lies in the hands of fate, which takes the shape of a 'meanwhile...', whereupon some external factor influences your destiny. This may bode ill, such as a Viking attack upon your castle with the loss of some of your men, or an ambush is made and your finest catapult sabotaged. If good fortune comes your way, Robin of Locksley may bring a gift of gold to swell your coffers, or you may even have the chance to rescue a princess, and who knows what this may bring...

To stand any chance in your bid for the crown, you need to besiege enemy castle in order to remove the opposing Lord from the power struggle, and also take over his lands. To do this, a catapult is needed to demolish the walls of the fortress and allow your army to enter.

On three occasions during the game you are allowed to pay a visit to Sherwood Forest, and your Saxon ally, Robin of Locksley (otherwise known as Robin Hood). He offers his held in rading and sieges and plays an important role in tipping the balance of power in your favour.

Your ultimate aim is to defeat the three Norman Lords and capture their castles. Successfully achieving this results in your character taking the Throne and living happily ever after.

No doubt many of you will have seen screen pictures of this game on a certain 16-bit machine, and thought "What on earth would a C64 version turn out like?" The surprising answer to this is... extremely good indeed. Defender Of The Crown plays very much like many of the classic strategy board games such as Risk or Diplomacy: it's awful when you're losing, but absolutely brilliant when you're winning.

Seeing your small empire grow around you definitely appeals to the more basic instinct of greed for power and wealth. Although fairly simple, the gameplay is still good enough alone to warrant its purchase, but add to this the finest static graphics to grace a C64 game, one essential purchase.

This game is simply in a class of its own. I really can't wait for the next Cinemaware release.

Interactive can be a very misleading word. Sometimes it can mean simply pressing a button to change a page every five minutes, while at other times it can mean the opening of a new world inside your computer - fortunately this is one of the latter.

Both the static and animated graphics are outstanding throughout, giving the producer's claim that this is an "interactive movie" some real plausibility. The music is brilliant too, with some excellent medieval tunes, and wonderful sound effects adding even more atmosphere.

The fact that you can switch between a wide range of interesting and varied activities saves this game from ever becoming boring - even though it can be played for hours on end. Watch out for the 'love scene' which occurs when you rescue the fair maid... but wait until your parents have gone out for the evening.

Re-live the days of chivalrous knights, evil barons and beautiful maidens with this innovative piece of software! The gameplay is simple, but for some strange reason it's incredibly addictive.

Once I started playing I just couldn't stop - as soon as my character bit the dust I was flipping the disk for another go. Even after I'd finished, I was still thinking about how to defeat the other Lords!

As well as the simple strategy of working out which area to conquer and what strengths the army should be, there are also the wonderful arcade sequences. The amazing 3D-style joust is my personal favourite, with the incredibly impressive siege sequence coming a close second.

There's plenty of lasting appeal too, with four characters to choose from and three different starting points of your conquest of England. If you have a disk drive, Defender Of The Crown is what it's been waiting for all its life.

Presentation 95%
Superb documentation and beautiful on-screen appearance. The multi-load is adequately handled, and only marred slightly by the title credit sequence.

Graphics 98%
Probably the best static graphics to be featured in a C64 game to date - the animation's not bad either!

Sound 95%
A multitude of suitably Medieval tunes, and excellent spot effects.

Hookability 96%
The cursor/menu system is easy to use and the game structure is user-friendly and simple.

Lastability 92%
Retains heaps of playability - even after the Kingdom has been conquered for the first time.

Overall 94%
An experience which should not be missed by any disk drive owner.