Kingmaker

Kingmaker is a damn fine strategy game and will appeal to beginner just as much as the expert, thanks to the handy Help option.

An historical soap opera in the best blood-and-guts tradition. So-so graphics and steep base memory requirements; complex gameplay will frighten newcomers. A great game for hard-core strategy fans that has the added value of unraveling a confusing historical area.

The mouse controlled system makes playing the game simple enough, and US Gold are particularly pleased with the fact that there is no 'perfect' strategy which wins time and time again. Fans of the original boardgame and novice strategists alike should find that Kingmaker provides them with an ample slice of "Aha - this isn't half bad" cake.

Konverteringen av Kingmaker till datorspel är annars mycket lyckad. Det enda som saknas är den härliga råa stämningen runt ett spelbord med mänskliga motspelare, och så Black Adder förstås.

Kingmaker is a great recreation and if you liked Civilization and want a similar game with more battles, then take a look at this one.

Kingmaker is not purely icon clicking – there are graphic interludes and you can control the visual combat scenes using the mouse. Similar to a board game in that you move, and then your Amiga counters it, Kingmaker is an enjoyable, if bloody, romp through one of England’s most turbulent periods. Even though it is well researched, £38 is a tad too steep for even the most enthusiastic battler.

As far as I can tell, the only people that would find Kingmaker appealing are those that have played it as a board game. Everyone else will be scared by its complexity and look for something simpler like Dune 2. So if you have the board game you must theoretically have someone to play it against and as well all know, the human brain is infinitely more cunning than any computer. It's a simple message - if you're anything other than a hard-core strategy fan then stay away, you'll only get lost. If you are a strategy buff and don't have the table-top version, give it a go. It'll certainly challenge you.

Mit Versen auf William Shakespeares "Heinrich VI." beginnt die Einleitung von Kingmaker, doch danach liegt es an Ihnen, welcher der königlichen Erben wirklich den Thron besteigt. Sieben gab es davon im Rosenkrieg, der von 1455-1485 England erschütterte und in dem zwischen den Häusern Lancaster (rote Rose) und York (weiße Rose) um den Thron gefochten wurde. Ihre Aufgabe als englischer Fürst ist es, eines Erben habhaft zu werden, für den Tod aller anderen zu sorgen (auf dem Schlachtfeld oder auf dem Richtblock) und dann ihren Favoriten zu krönen. Dann winkt der Titel des Königmachers, eben "Kingmaker".

As the title suggests, all you need to do is raise a king from your army and get him on the throne. While you are doing this, up to five other factions are also trying their luck, and before you know it bloody war breaks out all over the land and the whole game starts to look like a poor man's Defender of the Crown. Visually, the thing is flat and lifeless, and the full map of the UK just doesn't look right. I don't remember seeing mountains in Cornwall, and isn't there supposed to be a river in the south east of England? Poorly designed and scrappily laid out Kingmaker looks like it was thrown together - a complete disappointment.

Ansonsten könnte man über die Maussteuerung sogar noch diskutieren, bei den eingestreuten Bugs und sonstigen Merkwürdigkeiten des Programms hört der Spaß dagegen auf: Manchmal verschwinden ganze Armeen vorübergehend einfach vom Screen, und siw die Schlachten ausgehen, bestimmt anscheinend der nackte Zufall. Nö, diese Rose hat eindeutig ein paar Dornen zuviel..