Is this turn-based strategy RPG worth your time?
As the fighting rages in the Hundred Years’ War, you are the head of a noble family seeking glory in this tactical turn-based strategy game. Fight enemy factions and battle an evil force that has corrupted the highest echelons of power and is exploiting the conflict for its own gain through a violent and mysterious cult. From your castle – your seat of operations – recruit, equip and train your soldiers to fight your enemies and protect the population. Build your squads to suit your needs as you set out to find the source of the Evil and thwart the malevolent plot. With the world on the brink of collapse, there can only be one solution: Evil must be defeated.
If you’ve ever played a turn-based strategy then you’ll know what to expect here. Crown Wars: The Black Prince ticks all the boxes you would expect from a game like this, but is it a good console transition or should it have stayed exclusively on PC?
The answer is somewhere in the middle. While it clearly looks and feels like it belongs on PC, the console controls aren’t the worst I’ve come across from the genre. I will say that the UI can be clunky to operate at times such as selecting where you want your fighter to move or simply attacking an enemy can be a pain. It’s not the worst offender I’ve come across, but it still doesn’t fully cut it as a console game.
It doesn’t help that the game’s cutscenes are a mixed bag with laughably bad voice-acting and the visuals in these aren’t that much to write home about either. The framerate has it’s issues from time to time, while the soundtrack does redeem it somewhat. I didn’t come across any glitches though, which is always a plus.
The Verdict
Crown Wars: The Black Prince feels like it probably should have stayed on PC. As a turn-based strategy RPG, it does things well but the UI is clunky and the game has performance issues, both visually and in terms of voice-acting.