Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen. The legend has been portrayed in various guises, from the good (Disney's roguish fox) and the bad (Kevin Costner), to the downright awful (Jason Connery - if you can't remember it, you're lucky). Considerable success however, was achieved through Cinemaware's Defender Of The Crown games on PC a few years ago, which now make the leap onto Xbox.

Strategy games are something of a unique entity. Some love them, some loathe them. Often RTS games are too complex and time-consuming to interest the casual gamer, but Robin Hood dares to be different by combining several different types of game into one, all standing proud on their steeds under Ye Olde Strategy banner. That's right, there's a bit of interaction in between lots of little people killing each other.

We pick up the story with the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham out for young Robin's blood. We need to muster up some gold to build an all-conquering army, so hi ho it's off to rob we go. Soldiers in the countryside are attacked on forest pathways via a first-person perspective bow and arrow. Initially fun, this can quickly become infuriating, as added to picking off moving horsemen (no easy feat), three hits received from enemy archers and you're outta there. Avoid their projectiles by hiding, but by doing this you're unable to fire, thus missing juicy targets. Raid a castle though, and things become a basic hack 'n' slash. Simple two-button combos are the order of the day, as you race against time to the treasure troves.

After relieving fat merchants of their ill-gotten gold, it's time to build yourself an army. Little John turns up to help out and, by purchasing archer and troop units, you can start to invade the enemy territories. Here game type number three manifests itself as a fairly flat and bland battlefield scenario and, through a simplistic combat mode, you must defeat the advancing forces to capture the area. Things are pretty uninvolving, and victory seems to be dependant on numbers, rather than tactics.

And events continue to follow the same pattern through the course of the game, where using these three techniques, along with winning jousting tournaments and siege warfare, Robin must conquer the whole of England. Defeat regional Lords and Dukes, capture every county and build up your army to finally topple King John and save the day. However, much like a jack of all trades is master of none, Robin Hood: Defender Of The Crown fails to shine in any of the game genres on offer, and results in a slightly disappointing experience.

1. It's Robin Hood!
2. Varied styles of gameplay...

1. ...that aren't executed very well.
2. Bland graphics.
3. Simplistic combat system

Power
The simplified graphics and combat can't lay siege to the mighty Xbox fortress.

Style
Bright and colourful landscapes but the overlong dialogue scenes are a tad annoying.

Immersion
After the opening tutorial level the novelty wears off and things quickly become repetitive.

Lifespan
A large campaign but, once finished, is unlikely to be replayed in a hurry.

Overall Somewhere between an action title and RTS. A good bet if you are intrigued by strategy games but don't want to be bored.