COMEBACK KING

Hunt down a legend as his arch-nemesis in KING ARTHUR: KNIGHT’S TALE

- Fraser Brown

Tactical RPG King Arthur: Knight’s Tale begins with an ending. The legendary monarch’s adventures, love triangles, and battles are behind him – we’ve heard them all before – and the future’s looking grim. Because he’s dead. His killer, Mordred, is right behind him. A two-for-one deal. But thanks to magic, the rivalry is far from over.

Magic has stopped Arthur from passing on, instead turning him into a source of corruption threatening the misty and mystical isle of Avalon. The Lady of the Lake, not one for original ideas, decides to bring back Mordred, too, tasking him with re-killing his corpse-king, but only after an appropriate series of trials, tribulations, and turn-based scraps.

“King Arthur is an iconic character, familiar to most people, and his whole mythology is a trove of fascinating stories and heroes,” says NeocoreGames narrative designer Viktor Juhász. “He also has been subject to numerous interpretations for centuries, and these highly different variations provide an excellent background to create our own mythology that also remains true to the core of the myth.”

So the old king is now the Big Bad, with Mordred usurping the role of hero. Kinda. While Neocore cites XCOM as the progenitor of its battle system, outside of these fights you’ll find moral conundrums and character development that promises to do more than just change your stats. Maybe you’ll redeem the blackguard, if you can withstand the seductive lure of being a titanic arsehole.

KINGDOM COME